Applied Neuropsychology: Adult

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Private speech in simultaneous and early Spanish/ English bilinguals

Alfredo Ardila, Kate Benettieri, Yoandra Church, Angela Orozco & Carlos Saucedo

To cite this article: Alfredo Ardila, Kate Benettieri, Yoandra Church, Angela Orozco & Carlos Saucedo (2017): Private speech in simultaneous and early Spanish/English bilinguals, Applied Neuropsychology: Adult, DOI: 10.1080/23279095.2017.1370422 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23279095.2017.1370422

Published online: 04 Oct 2017.

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Download by: [Florida International University] Date: 04 October 2017, At: 08:48 APPLIED NEUROPSYCHOLOGY: ADULT https://doi.org/10.1080/23279095.2017.1370422

none defined Private speech in simultaneous and early Spanish/English bilinguals Alfredo Ardila, Kate Benettieri, Yoandra Church, Angela Orozco and Carlos Saucedo Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, USA

ABSTRACT KEYWORDS This study analyzed private speech in a group of sixty Spanish–English bilinguals. A Private Speech Private speech; simultaneous Questionnaire including questions about seven different conditions, that is, spiritual thinking (e.g., bilingualism; Spanish/ praying, meditating), dreaming, thinking, problem-solving, recalling past events, recalling English bilingualism; information, and dealing with stress, was designed. Furthermore, the sample was divided into successive bilingualism; verbal thought two subgroups: born in the United States (simultaneous bilinguals) and born outside the United States but arriving to the country before the age of 10 (early successive bilinguals). In both groups and for all the seven conditions, English was more frequently used in private speech, and English was also the dominant language in our participants. Early bilinguals, however, more frequently used Spanish in different private speech situations. These findings suggest that the linguistic environment during early life has a significant impact on the language selected in different internal language situations, but the dominant language is more frequently used in private speech conditions.

Introduction plays an important role on diverse situations, including but not limited to memory, problem solving, thinking, The idea that there is a private speech—internal and emotional release. Private speech may be converted language for ourselves—has a long history. Beginning in inner speech. Examples of inner speech include with Plato (Theaetetus 189e–190a and Sophist 263e) silently recalling past events, going over future plans, frequently has been proposed that thinking means to and creating mental scenarios to recreate a particular use a private speech; this idea has been expressed situation or solve a problem (Morin, 2012). According by diverse authors throughout history. Vygotsky to Pavlenko (2011), inner speech is expressed in an (1934/2012) systematized the concept of inner speech identifiable linguistic code. Assuming that there is a when he referred to three different types of speech: language that we use for thinking and other subjective “external speech” (or “social speech,” that is, the activities, the following question arises: What language speech used in social interactions), “egocentric speech” do bilinguals prefer to use? (or “private speech,” the speech for ourselves), and Larsen, Schrauf, Fromholt, and Rubin (2002) studied “inner speech” (internalized social speech). Important Polish immigrants in Denmark and their use of inner to note, there is a process of “internalization” in which speech for autobiographical memories retrieval. The the first is transformed into the second and finally into authors found that memory recalls in the native

Downloaded by [Florida International University] at 08:48 04 October 2017 the third. As a matter of fact, private speech represents a language (i.e., Polish) dropped significantly after immi- kind of halfway between “external” and “inner” speech gration to Denmark. In addition, they found significant but with very distinctive properties. Private speech is differences in inner speech usage relative to age of neither social communication nor silent thought, but immigration. Those individuals who migrated later in vocalized thought (Ehrich, 2006; Jones, 2009; Vygotsky, adulthood tended to have more instances of inner 1934/2012). speech in Polish when compared to those who migrated The analysis of private speech, or the “activity of in their early years. Such findings might indicate talking to oneself in silence” (Morin, 2012, p. 436), that memory representation and retrieval are closely offers a window to the individual’s subjective world. associated to the linguistic system in which those events The language we speak may also be used for recalling (i.e., autobiographical) took place. Therefore, memories past-events, engaging in deep-thought, or thinking may be linguistically encoded and dependent on the before giving a solution to a problem. Private speech

CONTACT Dr. Alfredo Ardila [email protected] Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Florida International University, 11200 SW 8 Street, Miami, FL 33199. © 2017 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC 2 A. ARDILA ET AL.

language in which the individual experienced those females, 419 males) speaking a total of 77 different L1 s, memories. a further analysis of internal speech in bilinguals and Grosjean (2010) conducted a survey with bilinguals multilinguals was advanced. There were 221 bilinguals, and trilinguals in which the question “in what language 362 trilinguals, 390 quadrilinguals, and 486 pentalin- you think” was presented; that is, what is the internal guals. Data were collected through an on-line question- language (private speech) used to talk to ourselves: naire (Dewaele & Pavlenko, 2001–2003). Analysis of 70% of the participants replied “both languages” or variance (ANOVAs) confirmed that languages acquired “all languages” (for trilinguals). Grosjean consider that later in life are less likely to be used for internal this answer is not surprising, because bilinguals use (emotional) speech compared to early acquired their languages for different purposes, in different languages. Significant differences in language choice domains of life, and with different people. Therefore, for general use, inner speech, and inner emotional the private and inner speech in bilinguals can be either speech in the L2, L3, L4, and L5 were disclosed. These one, depending the specific context. languages were used less frequently for inner speech Jimenez-Jimenez (2013) studied bilingual’s than for general use and even less frequently for production of private speech during problem-solving emotional inner speech. tasks. Thirty bilingual individuals were divided into Similarly, a study by Dewaele (2015) compared the three groups: English dominant, Spanish dominant, language preferences of 1,454 adult multilinguals for and balanced bilinguals (i.e., individuals who expressed inner speech and for emotional inner speech in their to be equally comfortable using both languages). The different languages. It was found that bilinguals tend author concluded that language dominance plays a cen- to use their first dominant language for emotional inter- tral role in the language participants’ used to express nal dialogs (i.e., “the language of the heart”). Language their verbalized thinking, especially when solving logic, dominance was again a determining factor for recreat- mathematical, and visual-spatial problems. Instances of ing feelings and expressing anger. Those individuals private speech were consistent with the dominant lan- who acquired a second language (L2) later in life signifi- guage of the individuals. Balanced bilinguals, however, cantly reported using their native/dominant language use both languages fairly equally during different tasks. (L1) more frequently for emotional internal speech This study suggests that internal speech may be directly expression. However, when individuals do use their L1 linked to language dominance: when individuals and become totally assimilated in the L2 culture, L1 acquired higher levels of proficiency in both languages, ceases to serve this function, and L2 becomes the they can encode “thought” in any of the languages avail- preferred language for emotional internal speech. able to them when encountered with problem-solving Language used in dreaming represents a very tasks. De Guerrero (2005) analyzed inner speech and idiosyncratic type of communication. Grosjean (2010) mental rehearsal in second language (L2) in a sample found in a survey that almost as many bilinguals as of 472 Spanish-speaking university English as a second trilinguals (64% in all) said that they dreamed in one language (ESL) students. She concluded that inner or the other language, depending on the dream (when speech serves the following functions: as a memory a language was involved, of course). The conclusion aid for L2 words, self-instructional, evaluative, prepara- seems evident: depending on the situation and the tory, dialogic, play, and affective. person we are dreaming about, we will use the one

Downloaded by [Florida International University] at 08:48 04 October 2017 It has been suggested that L1 is preferred for language, the other, or both. Grosjean refers to the emotional internal speech even when this language is interesting observation that some people have reported partly attrited (Söter 2001). Dewaele (2011) studied speaking a language fluently in a dream when they are 386 bi- and multilingual adults. Participants were not actually fluent in that language. proficient in both L1 and L2 and have a continuous These studies suggest that language dominance, age active use of both languages. A quantitative analysis of acquisition, and language use play an important role revealed participants preferred to use L1 for communi- in determining the language of choice for private cating feelings or anger, swearing, addressing their chil- speech. This can be observed in the way bilinguals use dren, performing mental calculations, and using inner it when recalling autobiographical experiences, solving speech. They also perceived their L1 to be emotionally logic, and mathematical problems and feel anger and stronger than their L2 and reported lower levels of com- emotion. municative anxiety in their L1. Participants reported The present study was aimed to find what language is that their multilingualism and multiculturalism gave used in different private speech tasks; two groups of them a sense of empowerment and a feeling of freedom. Spanish/English bilinguals were analyzed: simultaneous Using an extended sample of 1,459 multilinguals (1,040 bilinguals, and early sequential bilinguals. APPLIED NEUROPSYCHOLOGY: ADULT 3

Method received a GED, 5 earned their associate’s degree, 22 earned their bachelor’s degree, 18 earned their master’s Participants degree, and 2 obtained their PhD. Sixty participants from south Florida, 23 males and 37 females between the ages of 18 and 40 (mean Inner speech questionnaire age ¼ 28.08; SD ¼ 5.13) were selected. Participants were separated into the following two groups: (1) 29 parti- A Private Speech Questionnaire was developed includ- cipants born in the United States (20 females, 9 males) ing different areas. The following seven questions were and (2) 31 participants born outside of the United States used: (17 females, 14 males). The first group met the 1. What language do you use for spiritual thinking (e.g., following criteria: born in the United States, raised in praying, meditating)? a Spanish-speaking household with Spanish as their 2. In what language do you dream? first language, but exposed to English since early in life 3. When you engage in thinking (e.g., planning, reflect- (simultaneous bilinguals). The second group was com- ing), what language do you use? posed by participants born in a Spanish speaking coun- 4. What language do you use for problem solving or try and migrated to the United States before the age of reasoning (e.g., solving math problems)? ten (early sequential bilinguals). For the 31 participants 5. In what language do you recall past events or auto- born aboard, the mean age of arrival to United States biographical experiences (i.e., childhood experiences, was 6.2 years (SD ¼ 3.2). For all the subjects, parents anecdotal events)? were Latin American native Spanish speakers and the 6. What language do you use to recall knowledge (e.g., home language during childhood was Spanish. None recipes, think about a movie you saw, or a book you of the participants had a history of language develop- read)? ment delay, dyslexia, or any neurological condition, 7. When faced with a high stress situation, which such as traumatic head injury or epilepsy. language do you automatically think in? Participants were asked to answer questions based on an ordinal scale in multiple choice format from (a) Instruments English, (b) mostly English, (c) Spanish, (d) mostly Spanish, to (e) both. Choices (a) English and (b) Mostly Bilingual questionnaire English were further merged into one category (English) A Bilingual Questionnaire adapted from Paradis (1987) as well as choices (c) Spanish and (d) Mostly Spanish was employed to obtain demographic information, the into one Spanish category. As a result, only three cate- percentage of Spanish and English used per day, and gories were used: English/mostly English, Spanish/ the participant’s own proficiency ratings in Spanish mostly Spanish, and both. and English based on a scale from 1 (almost nothing) to 7 (excellent) while speaking and reading in each Procedure language. The percentage of participants who reported English as the language spoken at home was 3%, Written consent was obtained from each participant Spanish 45%, and a combination of English and Spanish prior to initiating the study. Each participant filled out

Downloaded by [Florida International University] at 08:48 04 October 2017 constituted 52%. The majority of participants (66%) the Bilingualism Questionnaire and the Private Speech reported speaking English to siblings, 24% reported Questionnaire. Instructions were presented in English speaking both Spanish and English to siblings, and only because English was the dominant language in both 10% reported speaking Spanish to siblings. In compari- groups of bilinguals. son, the language(s) spoken to parents was 35% (Span- ish) and 65% (both English & Spanish). Participants’ Results rated themselves as to their English and Spanish reading proficiency, as well as their English and Spanish speak- Table 1 shows the general results obtained. It is evident ing proficiency: 96% of the participants considered that that participants overwhelmingly chose English as the his/her ability to speak and read English was excellent or language they use for private speech. However, some dif- very good; only 84% considered his/her spoken Spanish ferences can be observed between the two groups. In excellent/very good; and 81% of the participants stated contrast to individuals born in the United States, those that they could read Spanish excellent or very good. who were born in Spanish-speaking countries more fre- There was a diverse level of education within the quently used Spanish in each situation presented in the participants; 12 earned their high school diploma, 1 questions in the private speech questionnaire. These 4 A. ARDILA ET AL.

Table 1. Private speech questionnaire. General results. Simultaneous bilinguals Early bilinguals Question Spanish (%) English (%) Both (%) Spanish (%) English (%) Both (%) 1. What language do you use for spiritual thinking (i.e., praying, meditating?) 7 86.0 7.0 29 58 13 2. In what language do you dream? 0 83.0 17.0 3 58 39 3. When you engage in thinking (i.e., planning, reflecting), what language 0 89.7 10.3 13 64 23 do you use? 4. What language do you use for problem solving/ reasoning? (i.e., solving math 0 93.1 6.9 16 68 16 problems, thinking about book?) 5. In what language do you recall past events or autobiographical experiences? 10 59.0 31.0 29 32 39 (i.e., childhood experiences, anecdotic events) 6. What language do you use to recall knowledge (recipes, think about a movie 0 0 100.0 16 65 19 you saw, or a book you read)? 7. When faced with a high-stress situation, which language do you 10 76.0 14.0 22 52 26 automatically think in?

results suggest that the individual’s dominant language concepts are usually acquired during the first years of becomes predominant for private speech. schooling and are internalized in the language they were Those participants who were born outside of the first introduced. Since these individuals received all their United States had a longer experience with Spanish. education in the English language, it has become main They lived a portion of their childhoods immersed in vehicle for accessing and verbalizing this knowledge. a culture where Spanish was dominant and were edu- This also holds true for those individuals in the other cated, at least during the elementary school years, in group, who may have begun schooling in Spanish and that language. This would explain why categories (1) therefore encoded this early knowledge in that language. and (5) (i.e., spiritual thinking ¼ 29% and autobio- The dreaming category (question #2) has not been graphical memories ¼ 29%) received the highest scores sufficiently explored in previous studies yet. We found in Spanish among this group. that language dominance is directly related to the lan- guage perceived as the dream language. Participants born in the United States reported dreaming only in Discussion English or in both, while participants born in the out- Both bilingual groups overwhelmingly reported using side of United States reported more instances of dream- English in all of the seven private speech questions. ing in Spanish or both languages. However, region of birth (United States vs. Out of Uni- For private speech, language dominance seems to ted States) played a significant role in determining the determine the way individuals encode thought across language choice for situations that required the use of the life span. Differences are found when the indivi- this internal language. For example, questions spiritual dual’s cultural experiences with their first language are thinking (question #1), autobiographical memories significant enough to be internalized. This private (question #5), and language used in high-stress situation speech is also in some aspects, context-dependent, since (question #7) received higher scores in Spanish within its retrieval is, at times, determined by the language, the Born Outside of the United States group. This pat- which was originally experienced or acquired. Implica- tern of results supports the premise of Larsen, Schrauf, tions for future research should be conducted using

Downloaded by [Florida International University] at 08:48 04 October 2017 Fromholt, and Rubin’s (2002) findings, which state that bilingual groups from different regions and different memories are usually retrieved in the language they cultural backgrounds. were experienced. Those born in a Spanish-speaking Current results have important clinical country had an extended experience with the Spanish consequences. language and have strong cultural and emotional bonds 1. When evaluating bilinguals, clinician should be with their first language, which explains why there are aware that using a single language may limit the more occurrences in Spanish than in the other group. bilingual’s cognitive resources; for instance, if using The language used for problem solving appeared to be either L1 or L2 when testing autobiographic memory mostly English for both groups, with only 16% in or problem-solving ability may result in a decreased Spanish for those participants born abroad. This obser- performance; autobiographical memory may be vation suggests that the language used throughout coded in a single language and in bilinguals problem schooling may be a determinant factor for the internal solving can be easier in one of the two languages, language used when solving problems. None of the part- usually in the school language. icipants in the born in the United States group reported 2. Bilinguals with different neurological conditions, using Spanish for this task. Noteworthy, mathematical such as traumatic head injury and cerebrovascular APPLIED NEUROPSYCHOLOGY: ADULT 5

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