EFL Learners’ Private Speech, Logical Reasoning, and Language Achievement: A Path Analysis Approach

مطالعات زبان و ترجمه

Article 4, Volume 52, Issue 2, July 2019, Pages 99-125   

Document Type: Research Article

DOI: 10.22067/lts.v52i2.81212

Authors

Sepideh Mirzaee; Parviz Maftoon^* ; Parviz Birjandi

Department of English Language, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

 
Vygotsky’s Socio-Cultural Theory stimulated lines of research seeking its effect on second/foreign language learning. The current research makes an endeavor to ignite the relationship between one of the central aspects of this theory, that is to say, private speech (PS), with logical reasoning (LR), and language achievement (LA) of Iranian EFL learners. This association is based on a dynamic interaction between reasoning power and learners’ PS as well as the association of each of these constructs with their academic achievement. To attain the purpose of the study, a total of 200 advanced EFL university learners from different Universities in Iran completed the questionnaires. The participants were asked to do three parts of tasks (i.e., Deduction (D), Inference Making (IM), and Evaluation of Arguments (EA)) in “Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal” (W-GCTA) designed by Watson and Glaser (2010). Furthermore, they were requested to answer a “Self-verbalization Questionnaire”. The Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was run to analyze the model based on the data. To determine the incongruities detected in the model, each individual path demonstrating the causal relationships was scrutinized. The data supported the theoretical expectation of an association between using learners’ LR and PS. Subsequent data analyses also indicated that the learners’ PS is positively correlated with the three elements of reasoning and also it has a great predictive power for them. Besides, the three components of reasoning strongly and positively predict the students’ LA. Finally, it can be concluded that the PS is indirectly and positively correlated with LA.

Keywords

Deduction; Evaluation of Arguments; LA; LR; PS

References

کتابنامه

پیش‌قدم، ر.، هاشمی، م. ر.، و حسامی ارانی، ش. (2012). تفکر انتقادی و ترجمه: بررسی ارتباط میان مهارت تفکر انتقادی و توانایی در ترجمه. مطالعات زبان و ترجمه، 44(4) 15-33.

شادلو، ف.، شهریاری، ح.، و قنسولی، ب. (1395). بررسی پیچیدگی دستوری در متون استدلالی زبان‌آموزان ایرانی از سه سطح مختلف توانش زبانی. مطالعات زبان و ترجمه، ۴۹(۴)، 61-75.

 

Abadikhah, S., & Khorshidi, A. (2013). An investigation of the private speech phenomenon in the collaborative interaction of Iranian adult EFL learners. The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies, 19(3), 71-85.

Allen, M. (2004). Smart thinking skills for critical understanding and writing. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.

Anton, M., & DiCamilla, F. (1999). Socio-cognitive functions of L1 collabortaive interaction in the L2 classroom. Canadian Modern Language Review, 54(3), 314-342.

Best, J. W., & Khan, J. V. (2006). Research in Education. London, England: Pearson Education.

Bivens, J. A., & Berk, L. E. (1990). A longitudinal study of the development of elementary school children's private speech. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 36(4), 443-463.

Centeno‐Cortes, B., & Jimenez Jimenez, A. (2004). Problem‐solving tasks in a foreign language: The importance of the L1 in private verbal thinking. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 14(1), 7-35.

Dabaghi, A., Zabihi, R., & Rezazadeh, M. (2013). Argumentative and narrative written task performance: Differential effects of critical thinking. International Journal of Research Studies in Language Learning, 2(2), 3-14.

Diaz, R., & Berk, L. E. (2014). Private speech: From social interaction to self-regulation: Hillsdale, MI: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

DiCamilla, F. J., & Anton, M. (2004). Private speech: A study of language for thought in the collaborative interaction of language learners, International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 14(1), 36-69.

Donato, R. (1994). Collective scaffolding in second language learning. In J. P. Lantolf & G. Appel (Eds.), Vygotskian approaches to second language research (pp. 33-56). Norwood: Ablex.

Duncan, R. M., & Cheyne, J. A. (1999). Incidence and functions of self-reported private speech in young adults: a self-verbalization questionnaire. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 31(2), 133-136.

Ee, J., Moore, P. J., & Atputhasamy, L. (2003). High-achieving Students: Their motivational goals, self-regulation and achievement and relationships to their teachers' goals and strategy-based instruction. High Ability Studies, 14, 23-39.

Ehrich, J. F. (2006). Vygotskyan inner speech and the reading process. Australian Journal of Educational and Developmental Psychology, 6, 12-25.

Ellis, R. (2003). Task-based language learning and teaching. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.

English, L. D. (2013). Mathematical reasoning: Analogies, metaphors, and images. New York, NY: Routledge.

Facione, N. C., & Facione, P. A. (1996). Externalizing the critical thinking in knowledge development and clinical judgment. Nursing Outlook, 44(3), 129-136.

Feigenbaum, P. (1992). Development of the syntactic and discourse structures of private speech. In R. M. Diaz & L. E. Berk (Eds.), Private speech: From social interaction to self-regulation (pp. 181-198). Hiisdale, MI: Erlbaum.

Flavell, J. H., Beach, D. R., & Chinsky, J. (1966). Spontaneous verbal rehearsal in a memory task as a function of age. Child Development, 37, 283-299.

Frawley, W., & Lantolf, J. P. (1985). Second language discourse: A Vygotskyan perspective. Applied Linguistics, 6(1), 19-44.

Ghanizadeh, A., & Mirzaee, S. (2012a). Critical thinking: How to enhance it in language classes. Germany: LAMBERT Academic Publishing.

Ghanizadeh, A., & Mirzaee, S. (2012b). EFL learners' self-regulation, critical thinking and language achievement. International Journal of Linguistics, 4(3), 451-468.

Gholami, M., Salehi, N., Azizi, E., & Fazli, B. (2016). Private speech and cognitive development: A review of the two theories. IIOAB Journal, 7, 262-269.

Hashemi, M. R., & Ghanizadeh, A. J. S. (2012). Critical discourse analysis and critical thinking: An experimental study in an EFL context. System, 40(1), 37-47.

Hooks, B. (2010). Teaching critical thinking: Practical wisdom. England: Routledge.

Johnson, M. (2004). A philosophy of second language acquisition. New Haven, CT: Yale Language Series.

Jonassen, D. H., Carr, C., & Yueh, H.-P. (1998). Computers as mind tools for engaging learners in critical thinking. TechTrends, 43(2), 24-32.

Khodadady, E., & Ghanizadeh, A. (2011). The impact of concept mapping on EFL learners' critical thinking ability. English Language Teaching, 4(4), 49-60.

Kuiper, R. (2002). Enhancing metacognition through the reflective use of self-regulated learning strategies. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 33(2), 78-87.

Lantolf, J. P. (2000). Sociocultural theory and second language learning. Oxford, London: Oxford University Press.

Lantolf, J. P., & Frawley, W. (1983). Second language performance and Vygotskyan psycholinguistics: Implications for L2 instruction. In A. Manning, P. Martin, & K. McCalla (Eds.), The tenth LACUS forum (pp. 425-440). Columbia: Hornbeam Press.

Lantolf, J., Thorne, S. L., & Poehner, M. (2015). Sociocultural theory and second language development. In B. vanPatten, & J. Williams (Eds.), Theories in Second Language Acquisition (pp. 207-226). New York, NY: Rutledge.

Lee, J. (2008). Gesture and private speech in second language acquisition in SLA. SSLA, 30, 169–190.

Lee, S. K. F., & Loughran, J. (2000). Facilitating pre-service teachers' reflection through a school-based teaching programme. Reflective Practice, 1(1), 69-89.

Leibniz, G. W., & von Leibniz, G. W. F. (1996). Leibniz: New essays on human understanding. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

Leung, D. Y., & Kember, D. (2003). The relationship between approaches to learning and reflection upon practice. Educational psychology, 23(1), 61-71.

Lloyd, P., & Fernyhough, C. (1999). Lev Vygotsky: Critical assessments. London, England: Taylor & Francis.

Locke, J. (1841). An essay concerning human understanding. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.

Mazzocco, M. M., & Kover, S. T. (2007). A longitudinal assessment of executive function skills and their association with math performance. Child Neuropsychology,13(1), 18-45.

McCafferty, S. G. (1992). The use of private speech by adult second language learners: A cross‐cultural study. The Modern Language Journal, 76(2), 179-189.

McCafferty, S. G. (1994). The use of PS by adult ESL learners at different levels of proficiency. In L. G. Appel (Ed.), Vygotskian approaches to second language research (pp. 117-134). Norwood, NJ: Ablex. approaches to second language research (pp.135-56). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.

McCafferty, S. G. (1998). Nonverbal expression and L2 private speech. Applied Linguistics, 19(1), 73-96.

Mirzaee, S., & Maftoon, P. (2016). An examination of Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory in second language acquisition: the role of higher order thinking enhancing techniques and the EFL learners’ use of private speech in the construction of reasoning. Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education, 1(18), 1-25.

Miyake, A., Friedman, N. P., Emerson, M. J., Witzki, A. H., Howerter, A., & Wager, T. D. (2000). The unity and diversity of executive functions and their contributions to complex «frontal lobe” tasks: A latent variable analysis. Cognitive Psychology, 41(1), 49-100.

Mohseni, N. (2017). Theories in growth psychology.Tehran, Iran: Jajarmi.

Pajares, F., & Schunk, D. (2001). The development of academic self-efficacy. In A. Wigfield & J. Eccles (Eds.), Development of achievement motivation (pp. 15-31). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

Patrick, E., & Abravanel, E. (2000). The self-regulatory nature of preschool children's private speech in a naturalistic setting. Applied Psycholinguistics, 21(1), 45-61.

Peters, M. A. (2008). Kinds of thinking, styles of reasoning. In M. Mason (Ed.), Critical thinking and learning (pp. 12-24). Oxford, England: Blackwell.

Phan, H. P. (2011). Interrelations between self‐efficacy and learning approaches: A developmental approach. Educational Psychology, 31(2), 225-246.

Platt, E., & Brooks, F. B. (1994). The acquisition-rich environment. The Modern Language Journal, 78(4), 497-511.

Roebuck, R. F., & Wagner, L. (2004). Teaching repetition as a communicative and cognitive tool: evidence from a Spanish conversation class. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 14(1), 70-89.

Saville-Troike, M. (1988). Private speech: Evidence for second language learning strategies during the ‘silent’period. Journal of Child Language, 15(3), 567-590.

Siegrist, M. (1995). Inner speech as a cognitive process mediating self-consciousness and inhibiting self-deception. Psychological Reports, 76(1), 259-265.

Sokolov, A. (2012). Inner speech and thought. London, England: Springer Science & Business Media.

Sonmez, S. S. (2011). A study of private speech and cognitive regulation in native-nonnative speaker interactions. Florida, FL: The Florida State University.

Stanley, F. (2011). Vygotsky–From public to private: Learning from personal speech. In T. Waller, J. Whitmarsh, & K. C. içinde (Eds.), Making sense of theory and practice in early childhood (pp. 11-25). Milton Keynes, England: Open University Press.

Stella, C. (2005). Critical thinking skills: Developing effective analysis and arguments. New York, Ny: Palgrave Macmillan.

Stuerzenhofecker, K. (2008). Developing Thinking; developing learning: A guide to thinking skills in education. New York, NY: Open University Press.

Sumner, W. G. (2013). Folkways:A study of the sociological importance of usages, manners, customs, mores and morals. VancouverCanada: Read Books Ltd.

Tomlinson, B. (2001). The inner voice: A critical factor in L2 learning. Journal of the Imagination in L2 Learning, VI, 26-33.

VandenBos, G.(2015). APA dictionary of psychology. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Vygotskie, L., Embong, A. R., & Muslim, N. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Vygotsky, L. S. (1986). Thought and language. Cambridge: MIT Press.

Watson, G., & Glaser, E. (2002). Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal. UK: Psychological Corporation.

Watson, G., & Glaser, E. M. (2010). Watson-GlaserTM critical thinking appraisal. London, England: Pearson Education.

Winsler, A., Fernyhough, C., McClaren, E. M., & Way, E. (2005). Private speech coding manual. Fairfax, VA: George Mason University.

Winsler, A., Manfra, L., & Diaz, R. (2007). Should I let them talk?: Private speech and task performance among preschool children with and without behavior problems. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 22(2), 215-231.

Winsler, A., & Naglieri, J. (2003). Overt and covert verbal problem‐solving strategies: Developmental trends in use, awareness, and relations with task performance in children aged 5 to 17. Child Development, 74(3), 659-678.

Zimmerman, B. J., & D. Schunk. (2001). Reflection on theories of self-regulated learning and academic achievement. In B. Zimmerman & D. Schunk (Eds.), Self-regulated learning and academic achievement: Theoretical Perspectives (pp. 289-307). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.