Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T20:36:02.788Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

GESTURE AND PRIVATE SPEECH IN SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 April 2008

Jina Lee
Jina Lee
Affiliation:
Sangmyung University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Within sociocultural theory, and particularly from a Vygotskian perspective, private speech refers to speech-for-the-self, as opposed to social speech. Private speech is a crucial window on how language mediates and regulates thought processes (Lantolf & Thorne, 2006). In the case of second language (L2) learning, the use of private speech, whether in the first language (L1) or L2, facilitates engagement with the L2 in relation to personal learning needs (e.g., studying for an exam, the task in the current study). Another, more recent area of investigation within L2 learning and sociocultural theory focuses on how forms of gesture mediate and regulate thought as well. This study examines how these forms of mediation operate in a dialogic capacity. Seven adult Korean-English bilingual students at a North American university were video- and audio-recorded during 3 h of solitary exam preparation in a private room. In microdiscourse analyses, participants are shown to use gestures together with private speech as a form of dialogic interaction with the self in cognitive activities for self-regulation.

Type
Research Article
Information
Studies in Second Language Acquisition , Volume 30 , Issue 2 , June 2008 , pp. 169 - 190
Copyright
© 2008 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Alibali, M.W., Heath, D.C., & Myers, H.J. (2001). Effects of visibility between speakers and listeners on gesture production: Some gestures are meant to be seen. Journal of Memory and Language, 44, 169–188.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alibali, M.W. & Nathan, M.J. (2007). Teachers' gestures as a means of scaffolding students' understanding: Evidence from an early algebra lesson. In R. Goldman, R. Pea, B. Barron, & S. J. Derry (Eds.), Video research in the learning sciences (pp. 349–365). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Allen, L.Q. (2000). Nonverbal accommodations in foreign language teacher talk. Applied Language Learning, 11, 155–176.Google Scholar
Bakhtin, M.M. (1981). The dialogic imagination: Four essays by M. M. Bakhtin (M. Holqguist, Ed., C. Emerson, Trans.). Austin: University of Texas Press.
Campbell, N. & Reece, J. (2002). Biology. San Francisco: Benjamin Cummings.
Choi, H. (2002). Function of repetition in the talk of EFL learners at the computer. Language Research, 38, 83–115.Google Scholar
de Guerrero, M.C.M. (1994). Form and function of inner speech in adult second language learning. In J. P. Lantolf & G. Appel (Eds.), Vygotskian approaches to second language research (pp. 83–116). Westport, CT: Ablex.
de Guerrero, M.C.M. (2004). Early stages of L2 inner speech development: What verbal reports support. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 14, 90–112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DiCamilla, F.J. & Antón, M. (2004). Private speech: A study of language for thought in the collaborative interaction of language learners. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 14, 36–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DiCamilla, F.J. & Lantolf, J.P. (1994). The linguistic analysis of private writing. Language Sciences, 16, 347–369.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frawley, W. & Lantolf, J.P. (1985). Second language discourse: A Vygotskian perspective. Applied Linguistics, 6, 19–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frawley, W. & Lantolf, J.P. (1986). Private speech and self-regulation: A commentary on Frauenglass and Diaz. Developmental Psychology, 22, 706–708.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gass, S. & Mackey, A. (2000). Stimulated recall methodology in second language research. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Goffman, E. (1981). Forms of talk. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Goodwin, C. (1986). Gesture as a resource for the organization of mutual orientation. Semiotica, 62, 29–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gullberg, M. (1998). Gesture as a communication strategy in second language discourse: A study of learners of French and Swedish. Lund, Sweden: Lund University Press.
Hutchby, I. & Wooffitt, R. (1998). Conversation analysis. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Keller, C.M. & Keller, J.D. (1996). Imaging in iron, or thought is not inner speech. In J. J. Gumperz & S. C. Levinson (Eds.), Rethinking linguistic relativity (pp. 115–129). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Kohlberg, L., Yaeger, J., & Hiertholm, E. (1968). Private speech: Four studies and a review of theories. Child Development, 39, 691–736.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lantolf, J.P. (2000). Introducing sociocultural theory. In J. Lantolf (Ed.), Sociocultural theory and second language learning (pp. 1–26). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lantolf, J.P., DiCamilla, F., & Ahmed, M. (1997). The cognitive function of linguistic performance: Tense/aspect use by L1 and L2 speakers. Language Sciences, 19, 153–165.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lantolf, J.P. & Thorne, S. (2006). Sociocultural theory and the genesis of second language development. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lazaraton, A. (2004). Gesture and speech in the vocabulary explanations of one ESL teacher: A microanalytic inquiry. Language Learning, 54, 79–117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, J. (2006a). Dialogic aspects of private speech: Self-regulatory functions of question-answer sequences. Korean Journal of Applied Linguistics, 22, 93–114.Google Scholar
Lee, J. (2006b). Talking to the self: A study of the private speech of adult bilinguals. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Markee, N. (2000). Conversation analysis. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Marková, I. (1992). On structure and dialogicity in Prague semiotics. In A. H. Wold (Ed.), The dialogical alternative: Toward a theory of language and mind (pp. 45–64). Oslo: Scandinavian University Press.
McCafferty, S.G. (1992). The use of private speech by adult second language learners: A cross-cultural study. Modern Language Journal, 76, 179–189.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCafferty, S.G. (1994a). Adult second language learners' use of private speech: A review of studies. Modern Language Journal, 78, 421–436.Google Scholar
McCafferty, S.G. (1994b). The use of private speech by adult ESL learners at different levels of proficiency. In J. P. Lantolf & G. Appel (Eds.), Vygotskian approaches to second language research (pp. 117–134). Westport, CT: Ablex.
McCafferty, S.G. (1998). Nonverbal expression and L2 private speech. Applied Linguistics, 19, 73–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCafferty, S.G. (2002). Gesture and creating zones of proximal development for second language learning. Modern Language Journal, 86, 192–203.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCafferty, S.G. (2004). Space for cognition: Gestures and second language learning. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 14, 148–165.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCafferty, S.G. (2006). Gestures and the materialization of second language prosody. International Review of Applied Linguistics, 44, 197–209.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McNeill, D. (1992). Hand and mind: What gestures reveal about thought. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
McNeill, D. (Ed.). (2000). Language and gesture. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRef
McNeill, D. (2005). Gesture and thought. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRef
Ohta, A.S. (1998, March). The role of language play in the acquisition of a foreign language by adult learners: Evidence from the classroom. Paper presented at the American Association of Applied Linguistics annual conference, Seattle, WA.
Ohta, A.S. (2001). Second language acquisition processes in the classroom. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Roebuck, R.F. (1995). Private writing and orientation: An activity-based approach to L1 (English) and L2 (Spanish) text recall. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.
Rommetveit, R. (1992). Outlines of a dialogically based social-cognitive approach to human cognition and communication. In A. H. Wold (Ed.), The dialogical alternative: Toward a theory of language and mind (pp. 19–44). Oslo: Scandinavian University Press.
Schegloff, E. (1984). On some gestures' relation to talk. In M. Atkinson & J. Heritage (Eds.), Structures of social action (pp. 266–296). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Shotter, J. (1993). Vygotsky: The social negotiation of semiotic mediation. New Ideas in Psychology, 11, 61–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sime, D. (2006). What do learners make of teachers' gestures in the language classroom? International Review of Applied Linguistics, 44, 211–230.Google Scholar
Sokolov, A.N. (1972). Inner speech and thought (G. T. Onischenko, Trans.). New York: Plenum.CrossRef
Vocate, D.R. (Ed.). (1994). Intrapersonal communication: Different voices, different minds. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Vološinov, V.N. (1973). Marxism and the philosophy of language (L. Matejka & I. R. Tirunik, Trans.). New York: Seminar Press. (Original work published 1929)
Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Vygotsky, L.S. (1981). The genesis of higher mental functions. In J. V. Wertsch (Ed.), The concept of activity in Soviet psychology. Armonk, NY: Sharpe.
Vygotsky, L.S. (1987). Thinking and speech. In R. Rieber & A. Carton (Eds.), The collected works of L. S. Vygotsky: Vol. 1. Problems of general psychology (pp. 39–285). New York: Plenum. (Original work published 1934)
Wertsch, J.V. (1979). The regulation of human action and the given-new organization of private speech. In G. Zivin (Ed.), The development of self-regulation through private speech (pp. 79–98). New York: Wiley.
Wertsch, J.V. (1985). Vygotsky and the social formation of mind. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Wertsch, J.V. (1991). Voices of the mind: A sociocultural approach to mediated action. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Young, R. & Lee, J. (2004). Identifying units in interaction: A contrastive study of the roles of reactive tokens in Korean and American conversations. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 8, 380–407.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zivin, G. (1979). Removing common confusions about egocentric speech, private speech and self-regulation. In G. Zivin (Ed.), The development of self-regulation through private speech (pp. 13–49). New York: Wiley.