Making sense with private speech

Private speech, as conceptualized by Vygotsky, has been studied primarily as a means of self direction or executive function. It is reconsidered here in terms of its relation to social speech and to thought. A portion of the “crib speech” of a 2-year-old is presented in the context of her representation of her father’s account of a prospective event, focused on the problems of comprehension of adult talk, and of understanding the complex relations involved in the perspectives of self and other. The function of private speech for the young child is seen in its value as external representation, a major function of semiotic forms in human cognition.