private speech

Categories: Site glossary

is talking to one self

Piaget considered private talk in young children to be a sign of their egocentricity, but Vygotsky thought it reflect the adoption of a socially mediated tool, language, that could be used to support individual thinking, e.g., planning

"Talking to ourselves, whether out loud or internally, invites an explanation… Vygotsky suggested that private talk actually had a strong social element, as language had its origins in the need for people to communicate to each other.Vygotsky considered that the child adopted the tools of communication with another as a means to help plan and carry out actions – even when no one else was present. Later such talk would be internalised, but in its origin private talk is social in nature…" (Taber, 2020)

Author: Keith

Former school and college science teacher, teacher educator, research supervisor, and research methods lecturer. Emeritus Professor of Science Education at the University of Cambridge.