Private speech of multilingual English learners: a genetical/developmental approach

From a Vygotskian perspective, the process of speech development has three main stages: social speech, private speech and inner speech. Social speech happens in interactions of human beings in the form of dialogues. Inner speech is the individual and intrapsychological process. However, there is a significant bridging stage in the process of speech development that is private speech. In the present chapter, we report on a study of the private speech of multilingual learners of English. This chapter explores private speech as a system of explosions and pauses by considering its intermediary position in its dialectical relationship with inner speech. By investigating the explosions and pauses of adult multilingual English learners as they solve problem-solving tasks written in English, the researchers seek to show how insights can be derived from a genetical/developmental approach to the analysis of private speech.