Inner Speech in College ESL Reading: A Mixed Methods Study

• In Event: Division D Graduate Student in Progress Research Gala

Abstract

Inner speech is a silent talk or voice one hears in the mind; it has been identified as a memory rehearsal tool in silent reading. Although inner speech has been studied in first/native language reading, the research on inner speech in the second/foreign language-reading context is lacking. This empirical mixed methods study investigates how the spoken language (first or second) of pre-reading conversations relates to inner speech and the qualitative and quantitative aspects of English reading among Chinese-speaking college-aged English-as-a-second-language (ESL) students. Seventy Chinese college ESL students participated in this study through Zoom meeting in three procedures: conversing in their first (Chinese) or second (English) language with the researcher for 30 minutes, finishing an English reading comprehensive test, completing a questionnaire on their inner speech experience, and participating in an interview to elaborate on their inner speech and reading experiences. The quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed through inferential statistical data analyses and thematic analyses, respectively. The preliminary results show significant differences in reading performance between the two pre-reading conversation groups in terms of the participants' silent reading fluency, speed, and reading time. The qualitative and mixed methods analyses are still in progress. This study bridges the gap between inner speech and second-language instruction research. In addition, the mixed methods design with an embedded experiment makes a methodological contribution by illustrating how theories from educational psychology can be used to investigate practical pedagogical problems. Future studies are necessary to extend our understanding of how pre-reading conversations in classrooms influence silent reading performance.

Author

• Na Yang, University of Cincinnati