Learning to use inner speech for improving reading and writing of poor readers

Abstract

Two experiments were conducted to see if teaching poor readers to use inner speech could improve their reading and writing. In the first experiment, there were 8 third grade children, 4 in the experimental group and 4 in the control one, matched from a pre-test of reading. In the experimental group, the children were trained to use inner speech in 27 tasks, from explicit self-speech of the adult and of the child to implicit self-speech by the child alone. The results show significant differences between the two groups in the post-test of reading. In the second experiment, there were 6 students in second grade, 3 in the experimental group and 3 in the control one. In the experimental group, the children were trained to use inner speech in 18 tasks: 6 cognitive tasks that do not requireshort term memoryas in thefirst experiment, 6 reading tasks, 6 writing tasks. In the experimental group, the children were trained to use self-speech to process the tasks whereas, in the control group, the adult's help was mostly visual. The results were that the experimental group succeeded significantly better in the post-tests of reading and writing.Research on psychogenesis of literacy (Ferreiro & Palacio-Gomez, 1988;Fijalkow J., 1989;Fijalkow & Fijalkow E., 1992) shows that, in the beginning, children look at written language as an object just as they look at other objects in the surrounding world. He/she memorizes, for example, the shape of the words, their length, the shape of some letters, the first in the word specifically. To identify a written form, he/she recognizes it visually. When he/she begins to write ("invented spelling"), he/she proceeds in the same way : letters are treated as if they were objects. Words and letters are written in this period by putting a letter after another letter so his written product looks like a written text. In time these written forms are linked to a personal meaning, a meaning related to some characteristic or attribute of the referred object. These graphical representations have a symbolic value, as a feather is an Indian or a hat is a cowboy. "Milk" is a very long word because there is much milk in the bowl. During all this time, even if he/she learnt letters, and is able to recognize or to spell them, he/she uses them as if they were common objects.

The Effectiveness of Using Inner Speech and Communicative Speech in Reading Literacy Development: A Synthesis of Research

“…Liva, Fijalkow, and Fijalkow [12] conducted two experiments to see if teaching poor readers using inner speech can improve their reading and writing skills. The authors proposed that in the first stage of learning to read, children recognize words as graphical representation for symbolic meanings while in the second stage children can relate the written language to things that they say or hear, which means they realize that written language is a form of oral language.…”

“…Inner speech appears at the same stage of discovering what written language is and inner speech is thought of as a mediator between the children and the text. Liva et al [12] assigned children to experimental groups and control groups based on a pre-test and trained the children in the experimental groups to use inner speech or self-speech in reading. The result of the post-tests indicated that inner speech help children do significantly better in reading and writing.…”

examination of innovative pedagogical practices for turning around or enhancing student persistence rates

“…Scholarly research in the field of SD has generated a diverse range of perceptions and contexts about its causal factors and remedial solutions (Duncan & Johnston, 1999;Liva, 1994; motivation on a continuum (see Appendix A) from intrinsic (internally-driven) to extrinsic (externally-driven) per Martin, Galentino, and Townsend (2014). Further, Griffin (2006) identified that between these two extremes lie introjected, identified, and integrated regulation styles that balance varying degrees of intrinsic and extrinsic sources of motivation.…”

“…Additional characteristics that can be found in individuals with this condition are weak visual perception and speed of processing abilities (Duncan & Johnston, 1999). Liva and Fijalkow (1994) informed that dyslexia is caused by a variety of factors, including genes and heredity, brain anatomy, and brain activity.…”

“…The intrinsic disability, mental and cognitive impairment category of causes includes anhedonia (the lack of the ability to derive pleasures), a fear of failure, dyslexia, myopia, individuals lacking syntactic and morphological awareness, ADHD, and differences in long-term memory contribution (Beidas et al 2013;Chan et al, 2014;Duncan & Johnson, 1999;Kayis & Cethan, 2015;Liva & Fijalkow, 1994;McCarthy et al, 2015;McDougal & Donoghue, 2002;Nag & Snowling, 2011;Tong & Deacon, 2013;Turnock et al, 1998).…”