1. Model of the mechanism of generating a speech utterance by A.A. Leontiev

Lecture



Based on numerous experimental data and analysis of theoretical studies of the leading psycholinguists of the world A.A. Leontyev developed a holistic concept of the structure of the act of speech activity, in which the model of generating a speech statement occupies a central place. [218]

According to the model A.A. Leontiev's process of generating a speech statement includes five consecutive, interrelated stages (or “phases”).

• The starting point (“source”) of the statement is the motive. Motivation generates speech intention (intention) - the focus of consciousness, will, feelings of the individual on any subject (in our case - on the subject of speech activity). “The starting point for any utterance is motive, that is, the need to express, convey certain information” (119, p. 41).

Considering this stage of speech generation, A.A. Leontiev gives a very successful, in his view, the definition of J. Miller - "the image of the result." “At this stage, the speaker has“ Image of Results ”, but does not yet have an Action Plan, which he must produce in order to get this result.” [219] According to B. Skinner, the motive of a speech statement can be: a requirement (to perform a certain action) or a “mand”, an informational appeal (message) is “tact” and, finally, a desire to express in an expanded language form (i.e. to formulate ) any thought - "chain" (327). The motive itself does not have a clearly defined semantic content.

• At the next stage of the generation of a speech utterance, the motive to the speech action brings to life the idea, which, in turn, is “transformed” into a generalized semantic scheme of the utterance. Based on the theoretical concept of A.R. Luria, A.A. Leontiev believes that at the design stage for the first time there is a selection of the topic and the future of the future utterance and their differentiation, i.e. it is determined what to say (the subject of the utterance or its topic) and what exactly needs to be said about this subject (situation, fact, phenomenon surrounding reality) - rema statements. At this phase of speech generation, these two main structural and semantic components of the statement “exist” (and, accordingly, are realized by the speaker) “globally”, in the so-called simultaneous, undifferentiated form (119, 120).

• The next - the key stage of speech generation - the stage of internal programming. A.A. Leontiev made a statement on the internal programming of a statement, considered as the process of building a certain semantic scheme, on the basis of which a speech statement is generated. Such programming can be of two types: programming of an individual concrete statement and a speech integer (118, p.7).

Based on the views of LS Vygotsky concerning the psychological analysis of the process of speech, A.A. Leontiev believes that when generating a separate RV, programming consists in two interrelated processes of operating with units of an internal (subjective) code. This includes: a) attributing to these units a certain semantic load; b) the construction of a functional hierarchy of these units. The second process forms the basis of the syntactic organization of the future utterance (119, p. 183).

The main operations on the basis of which this stage of speech utterance construction is realized are:

- The operation of determining the basic semantic elements (semantic "links", or units) of the subject content of the speech utterance. These elements (in their potentially possible number) correspond to the actually existing elements (objects) of the subject content of that fragment of the surrounding reality, which should be displayed in this speech. As part of these operations, it is very important to select those units of semantic content (from among all possible ones) that are “relevant” for speech communication that is speaking or writing in a given situation. The latter, in turn, is determined by the motives and target setting of the speech of the first subject of speech activity (speaker or writer).

- The operation of determining the "hierarchy" of semantic units in the "context" of the future RV, the definition of the main and secondary, the "main" and clarifying points in the content of the speech utterance. At the same time, it is important that the speaker's attention is focused (for example, on the subject or object of the utterance), what are his attitudes to the listener. “The internal program of utterances is a hierarchy of propositions underlying it. This hierarchy is formed by the speaker on the basis of a certain orientation strategy in the described situation, depending on the “cognitive weight” of a particular component of this situation ”(133, p. 114). So, the famous example of L.S. Vygotsky: “I saw today a boy in a blue blouse and running barefoot down the street” (45, p. 355) allows a different interpretation of the statement depending on what is essential for the speaker and what is secondary.

- The operation of determining the sequence of displaying semantic elements in a speech utterance.

As indicated by A.A. Leontiev, there are three possible main types of processes for operating with programming "units". First, it is a switch-on operation , when one code unit (image) receives two or several functional characteristics of different “depth”. For example: (Cat + scientist) + walks. Secondly, the enumeration operation , when one code unit receives the characteristics of the same "depth" (mighty + Tribe + dashing). Thirdly, it is a joint operation , which is a special case of the start operation and occurs when the functional characteristic simultaneously refers to two code units: Warlock + (carries + (hero)) or ((warlock) + carries) + Hero (133, s . 115).

Based on the concept of N.I. Zhinkin about the codes of internal speech, A.A. Leontiev believes that the nature (or “type”) of the programming code “may vary widely, but the most typical case is a secondary visual image arising on a language basis” (119, p. 184).

The compilation of the semantic program at the stage of internal programming is carried out on the basis of a special, very specific code of internal speech.

"The internal programming code is a subject-circuit or subject-image code by N.I. Zhinkin. In other words, the basis of programming is the image to which some semantic characteristic is attributed. This semantic characteristic is the predicate for this element. But what happens next depends on which component is the main component for us ”(133, p.115).

• The next stage of speech generation is the stage of the lexical and grammatical unfolding of the utterance. This stage is possible, according to AA. Leontiev, correlated with the transition from the plan of internal speech to the semantic plan (according to LS Vygotsky). Within its framework, in turn, the nonlinear and linear stages of lexical and grammatical structuring are distinguished .

The nonlinear stage consists in the translation of a compiled (semantic) program from a subjective (individual) code to an objective (commonly used) language code, in “assigning” to the semantic units (semantic elements) a “functional load” having grammatical characteristics. According to AA Leontiev, this process can be schematically represented as follows:

  1. Model of the mechanism of generating a speech utterance by A.A.  Leontiev

The main operation implementing this sub-step is the operation of selecting words (less often - whole phrases) to designate elements of the semantic program - semantic units of the subjective code. The choice of words in the process of generating speech, according to A.A. Leontiev is determined by three groups of factors: the associative - semantic characteristics of words, their sound image and subjective probability characteristic (119, p. 186). As a result of the implementation of a non-linear stage , a set of language units of an objective code is created, for example, a set of words like “Girl / Apple | red / is " . [220]

"Linear deployment" of RV consists in its grammatical structuring - the creation of the corresponding grammatical construction of the sentence. At the same time, based on the selection of the “initial” predicative pair (the subject is the predicate [S – P]), the syntactic “prediction” of the utterance begins to be implemented. The process of grammatical structuring includes: [221]

- finding (choosing from the available “standards”) grammatical construction;

- determining the location of the element (selected by the word meaning) in the syntactic structure and endowing it with grammatical characteristics;

- fulfillment of the role determined by the grammatical form of the first (or key) word, in a phrase or sentence. For example, the fulfillment of "grammatical obligations", determined by the type of a phrase (the word defined is “the grammatical form of the word being defined; the core word is“ - ”the form of the controlled word, etc.).

All the missing parameters for the full linguistic characteristic are ascribed to the sequential elements of the utterance: a) a place in the general syntactic scheme of the utterance; b) “grammatical obligations”, i.e., a specific morphological realization of the place in the general scheme, plus grammatical signs; c) a complete set of semantic features; d) a full set of acoustic-articulation (or graphic) signs (133, p. 117) The endowing of a word (lexeme) with grammatical characteristics implies the choice of the necessary word form from the corresponding number of grammatical forms of the word.

This stage ends with intellectual operations of the semantic-syntactic “prediction” of the correspondence prepared for the realization of a speech statement to its “target setting” (in other words, it is determined whether the composed speech statement corresponds to the tasks of speech communication). The compiled version of the speech utterance correlates with its program, the general “context” of speech and the situation of speech communication. Based on the results of such an analysis, the subject of the RD makes a decision on the transition to the final phase of making a speech statement - the phase of its external realization. There are three possible options for the “solution”: the decision to “launch” the RV in the external plan, i.e., its “dubbing”; the decision to make a "correction" in the content or language design of the RV and, finally, the decision to cancel the speech action. (For example, a variant of the RD implementation in a dialogic form, when one of the participants in the communication process who “prepared” the clarifying question during the perception of the interlocutor’s speech, suddenly gets interesting information from his partner in the dialogue. In this case, his own statement of “clarifying nature” becomes redundant.)

• The final stage of generating a speech is the stage of its implementation “externally” (in external speech). This stage is carried out on the basis of a number of interrelated operations that ensure the process of phonation, sound formation, reproduction of successive sound combinations (syllables), operations of producing whole "semantic" sound complexes (words), operations that provide the required (in accordance with the semantic program and language norm) rhythmic melodic and melodic-intonational organization of speech. This process is carried out on the basis of the implementation of phonational, articulatory, rhythmic-syllable and tempo-rhythmic “automated” programs of external speech realization, which are based on the corresponding speech and speech skills.

As A.A. Leontiev, the above-presented scheme of speech-generation, “appears more or less completely in spontaneous (unprepared) oral monologue speech: in other types of speech, it can be reduced or significantly changed — up to the inclusion of first-signal (according to IP Pavlov) speech reactions” (133, p. 113–114).

Thus, the basis of the proposed A.A. Leontiev’s speech-generating model is a conceptual idea of ​​“internal programming”. Scientific views A.A. Leontyeva, as noted by T.V. Akhutin, in many respects determined to conduct a number of scientific studies of domestic and foreign scientists on this issue (13, 36, 90, 202, etc.).


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Psycholinguistics

Terms: Psycholinguistics