If you think about your own thinking, of what does it consist? In other words what are the ‘tools’ you use for thinking? Well, we hope you will have replied that you talk to yourself, and also have pictures in your minds. Thus, you think mostly in words and in visual images. When we are ‘talking to ourselves’ - sometimes even aloud, we are often trying to solve a problem, or come to a decision. In this section, we are going to explore the way that Vygotsky explained the development of these types of thinking. He believed that words spoken between people are internalised to become thoughts.

In his book Thinking and Speaking, Vygotsky (1962) describes the way in which he observed young children at play. In the observations, he noticed that children often ‘speak to themselves’ - this is called ‘egocentric speech’. Vygotsky was interested in this speech. He noticed that younger children’s egocentric speech often sounds like the words that someone else has said to them, or sounds like they are talking to someone else. (Have you noticed, for example, how young children copy the things their parents might say?)

Vygotsky then noticed that as children grew older, their egocentric speech changed. It became much shorter, less like sentences, and more just isolated words. He believed that this showed a shift from the ‘thinking aloud’ that younger children do. He believed that older children talk silently to themselves. He described this shift from talking aloud to oneself to talking silently as the internalising of words so that they became thoughts. Vygotsky showed that children speak to themselves as a way of self-guidance, and that this gradually disappears as they speak silently to themselves (in thoughts). The developmental process is thus from external egocentric speech to internalised inner speech.

As adults, our inner speech is very complex, and has been influenced by all the communication with people we have had over the years. We have formed many ideas from many different sources, and we make links between ideas we have and new ideas that we come across. This is an ongoing process. (Do you have times when suddenly you understand something better than before, because you have made a link between ideas?)

Our inner speech is not identical to speaking the ideas aloud. Have you noticed that though you might think you understand something, when you have to explain it, you find that hard? In explaining something we often can’t find the words we want, and might struggle to put our thoughts into sentences.

Vygotsky noticed this, and concluded that inner speech is:

a distinct plane of verbal thought ... the transition from inner speech to external speech is not a simple translation from one language to another. ... It is a complex, dynamic process involving the transformation of the ... structure of inner speech into ... speech intelligible to others
(1962, p.148).

A spoken exploration of one’s thoughts means that the thoughts become more expanded, and links between concepts can be made. Vygotsky emphasises the need for learners to have a great deal of opportunity to translate thoughts into speech. He sees the value of speaking about activities because he believes such speaking enables thoughts to be better organised. Hearing oneself speak about a topic or explain a concept often plays an important role in improving understanding.

Vygotsky’s ideas about turning thoughts into words have various applications in the classroom. (Remember, learning about theorists has limited meaning to us if we cannot apply what they say to our teaching practices in the classroom.) As an educator, think about the following:

• Classrooms where learners are not able to talk about their learning may not encourage the expansion and exploration of ideas.
  Therefore, to put Vygotsky’s theory into practice we, as teachers, need to build in opportunities for our learners to reflect on and talk about their learning.
  
• Processes of explaining one’s ideas and thinking need time. When learners are asked questions for which they have not prepared, they often need time for reflection.
  Teachers often do not allow learners time to reflect before they answer. We often feel uncomfortable with long silences where it seems as is nothing is happening. As teachers we should remember to give our learners time to reflect and think about their answers after we have posed questions. We should be careful not to jump to the conclusion that when our learners are not ready with answers immediately and perhaps seem to stare back at us blankly, that they are not responding in any way. It is also helpful to rephrase our questions, ie. put our questions in other words / ask our questions in another way. This gives our learners further time to order their thoughts and formulate their answers.
  
• It is valuable for learners to try out their ideas with their classmates first when they are solving problems, before expecting them to speak to the whole class.
  It is quite intimidating for most learners to stand up in front of the whole class. It is rather a vulnerable position for them to be in. It is always better, then, to get learners to work in pairs or in small groups, where they feel more comfortable bouncing their ideas and thoughts off a few other classmates, rather than the entire class.
  If they are still required to present their thoughts and ideas to the whole class, they would have had a ‘practice run’ at ordering their thoughts and verbalising them.