Teaching Readers to Recognize Negative Thoughts and Use Positive Self-Talk

Abstract

The contribution of self-regulation to academic achievement is supported by robust research evidence. Incorporating practices to enhance self-regulation during small-group reading instruction is associated with improved outcomes for upper-elementary students with learning disabilities in reading. Two evidence-based self-regulation practices are (a) recognizing negative thoughts and (b) using positive self-talk. However, there are challenges with effectively teaching these self-regulation strategies during reading instruction. In particular, special education or reading intervention teachers may find it difficult to incorporate this kind of self-regulation instruction during reading lessons in a way that does not overburden student working memory or take too much time from explicit, systematic instruction in reading skills. This article defines self-regulation, describes how to support students in recognizing negative thoughts and using positive self-talk, and provides guidance to enable teachers to implement self-regulation strategy instruction in a way that complements reading instruction.

Self-Talk: An Interdisciplinary Review and Transdisciplinary Model

“…However, researchers still distinguish between positive and negative self-talk without clarifying whether these are controlled or uncontrolled cognitive processes (e.g. Basset et al, 2022; Dahl-Leonard et al, 2022). Strategic self-talk interventions are still extensively studied, with a major focus on two types of cue words: instructional and motivational (e.g.…”