PSYCHOLINGUISTIC FEATURES OF DEVELOPING ORAL SPEECH IN FRENCH

Abstract

The development of oral speech in French as a foreign language is not merely a linguistic task; it is also a psycholinguistic and pedagogical process that involves perception, memory, attention, internal speech, motivation, and self-regulation. This article examines the psycholinguistic foundations of oral speech development with particular attention to the relationship between listening and speaking, the distinction between receptive and productive speech activity, and the cognitive mechanisms that underlie oral production. Drawing on foreign-language teaching methodology and psycholinguistic research, the article discusses the principles of verbalization and correlation, the transition from knowledge to skill and from skill to communicative competence, and the role of inner speech in the formation of coherent external speech. Special emphasis is placed on the stages of speech production, including conceptual planning, linguistic encoding, and articulation, as well as on transfer and interference in Uzbek learners of French. The article argues that successful oral development requires not only knowledge of grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation, but also systematic classroom practice that supports confidence, automaticity, self-monitoring, and meaningful communication.

Keywords

oral speech, French as a foreign language, psycholinguistics, speaking, listening comprehension, memory, attention, interference, inner speech, motivation.