Stages of Language Production:

While there is not necessarily a consensus among researchers as to the precise nature of human language production, one widely accepted view is the information processing approach (Robinson-Riegler, 422). In that framework, language production generally occurs in four specific stages: (1) conceptualization, (2) planning, (3) articulation, and (4) self-monitoring.

In that regard, the conceptualization stage refers to the internal process whereby the individual develops the desire to communicate a specific thought to others (Robinson-Riegler, 422). The planning stage consists of the decisions pertaining to how the thoughts to be communicated are organized into a linguistic plan within the framework of the language in which the individual hopes to communicate. The articulation stage involves the actual expression of the thoughts formulated in the conceptualization stage through the linguistic plan developed in the planning stage (Robinson-Riegler, 422).

Finally, the self-monitoring stage consists of the individual's purposeful awareness of the manner in which the articulation of the message achieves the communication objectives of the intended informational transmission; that includes monitoring the tone of the message and the apparent effect of the message on the intended recipient (Robinson-Riegler, 422). The self-monitoring stage also involves a preliminary evaluation by the individual to gauge whether or not the reaction of the message recipient is consistent with the individual's purpose in initiating the communication (Robinson-Riegler, 422).

The Relationship between Semantic Memory and Language Production:

That is because communication through complex language requires the automatic knowledge of specific word associations, syntax, phonology, morphology, grammatical structure, and other aspects of contextual meaning and common understanding. None of those elements of language relate to episodic memory because the individual is not ordinarily aware of the specific circumstances in which he learned the meaning of particular words or the linguistic mechanisms of communicating temporal (and other) references in communications (Robinson-Riegler, 387).
Different human languages use very different combinations of sounds, to the extent that individuals who learned to communicate in certain languages develop linguistic capabilities that are unique to those languages and which can no longer be learned (at least not without great difficulty and obvious foreign accents) by individuals beyond early childhood. In most cases, these profound differences between different languages and the complex rules for linguistic organization are completely arbitrary (Robinson-Riegler, 384) and therefore cannot be deduced logically. The vocabulary, syntactical rules, grammar, and word association of human language must be learned gradually through socialization. Even where more advanced linguistic concepts are taught through formal language education, it is primarily a function of semantic memory.