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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 June 2025
Introduction: Physical, Environmental, and Anatomical Foundations of Speech
Social interaction is necessary for the development of language to proceed normally. Studies conducted by sociologists over hundreds of years show that social interaction is necessary for average to superior language development. A second important factor is intact sensory processing in the developing child. A child with a learning disorder may not only be affected in speech development but also early cognition. A child born lacking visual sequential memory abilities from birth on until school age will not remember the sequence of things taking place in their environment. When this situation is recognized by an adult(s), teaching can take place to aid this child in forming memories of action sequences. Memory of their early childhood will not match that of their siblings or parents, affecting cognition of their early world. Another facet of speech development is anatomical, and speech anomalies occur with cleft palates, harelip, and other anomalies of the throat and mouth articulators. Many can be corrected surgically, but some will leave a small speech impediment. It is the goal of this chapter to present the normal rudimentary learning that must take place for competence in speech to form.
Prenatal development
Emergent literacy begins in the womb (Broemmel et al. 2015). Two predominant factors impact the future production of the native language: the sounds and prosody. Chinese and English differ in prosody effect on the developing infant (Zhou et al. 2012). Developing infants hear the sounds of language for half of the gestation period and develop motor skills. The ability to suck a finger is noticeable on many sonograms as well as the infant's ability to scurry from the sonogram. Upon birth, the infant distinguishes human sounds from sounds of the environment. There is a degree of rudimentary knowledge in the womb. The fluid environment has some effect on sound quality. Infants recognize their mother's voice and process phrasing and prosody even though the words are not yet intelligible.
Vision, unlike the auditory channel that matures around the age of eight, continues to mature until about age 16 (Nelson 2001). The newborn infant has seeing ability, but it is not clear. Large items of black and white contrast are the best (Schlesinger 2001).
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