The Effect Of Different Tasks-driven Private Speech On Chinese Second Language Learners

The role of private speech in second language learning has been confirmed by some preliminary researches.Although the current research on private speech is just unfolding at home and abroad,the effect of private speech on foreign language learners is worth researching.First of all,the monitoring of private speech is very complicated,and it needs higher requirements,so most of the studies are restricted to the study of literature review.Secondly,there has not been any research connecting private speech under the condition of the combination of a variety of tasks with foreign language learning achievements.But in China,adult foreign language learners take up a large amount.So in order to study this topic further,this research,from the perspective of the sociocultural theory,studies the influence of different types of task-driven private speech on adult learners’ achievements,aiming to answer the following two questions:(1)What are the characteristics(eg.form and content)of second language learners’ private speech during five tasks?(They are: jigsaw task;information-gap task;problem-solving task;decision-making task and opinion exchange task.For detailed explanation,please see Chapter 3.3.1.)(2)What are the differences of the effects among the five tasks-driven private speeches on foreign language learning?On the basis of the previous studies,the present study takes the sociocultural theory as the theoretical foundation.This research takes adults as the experimental subjects.And it studies private speech elicited by different tasks.Those are the innovative points of this research.Twenty post-graduate students from Sichuan International Studies University,majoring in English Language and Literature,are acting as the participants of this study,aging from 23 to 27.This research emphasizes the private speech of the learners when they are completing the tasks.And the collected data is analyzed by SPSS 16.0 quantitatively with a qualitative analysis of the collected data from an interview.Finally here come the results:(1)There are two main forms of adult private speech: read loud and whisper,including a few abbreviated forms.The types of content of private speech are rich,including question oneself,answer and explain to oneself,repetition,emotional expressions,and description of the tasks,etc.(2)Private speech has a positive effect on foreign language learners,especially for these tasks that require a lot of cognitive activities,including answering riddles and idioms,writing a composition and preparing for a speech,etc.Because of their higher requirements for oral production,the subjects could produce richer private speech,in order to guide their own tasks thus achieving the goal of self-regulation,and accomplishing various tasks better.This thesis provides a new perspective for further study of the private speech.This study gives enlightenment to second language teaching,which prompts us to think about the teacher guidance in second language acquisition process as well as the teachers’ knowledge of private speech.Their influence on language learning effect may also have a significant difference in different language learning activities.And teachers need to adopt different ways to promote learners’ language acquisition process in order to achieve the best learning effect.