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The Complex Links between
Thinking and Speaking
Jacqui Akhurst
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Pre-reading question:
- Have you ever had a whole lot of thoughts
and feelings going around in your head, and when you actually
verbalise them or put it all into words, found that it all
suddenly seems a lot clearer?
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Speech, and the turning of thoughts into words,
can play a number of different roles in the development of our thinking.
In chapter 2 of Mind in Society, Vygotsky (1978) discusses the function
of speech in reorganising and creating new relations between what
we perceive (or take in from the events around us) and what we pay
attention to.
| Speech can play a role in the development
of our thinking. |
He draws our attention to three features of speaking
that influence the thoughts linked to it. Firstly, speech is analytical
(things are spoken of in parts, step by step) in comparison to the
more holistic nature of visual perception. Then, speech has a linear
and sequential nature, meaning that "each element is separately
labelled and connected in a sentence structure” (p.33), whereas
when we have a visual picture of an experience, we see it as a whole.
| Speaking about an event may thus help us
to organise our thoughts about it. Finally, speaking about an
experience may lead to new realisations, because we break it
into parts to describe it, and doing this may enable us to look
at something in a new way. |
Some examples of the different ways in which speech
may influence thinking is found in the following excerpt from Joshua
(2001). As you read this passage, notice the way in which the author
‘speaks’ with herself as she thinks, as well as the
way in which her learners use the opportunity to speak about their
experiences to help themselves work through them.
By late evening, the showers had developed
into a torrential downpour…I had to think about …
the children in the informal settlement … How would
they manage? Their shacks were definitely no match for this
cruel weather.
I woke up on Saturday morning … My
feelings told me that I was a coward for not allowing myself
to become involved in the lives of the children … As
she dialogued with herself, Joshua came to realise …
“the truth is that I am afraid of … the children’s
hardships and needs.”
… I forced myself into the classroom,
knowing that I was being sucked deeper and deeper into the
complications of their lives … I asked “So class,
how was your weekend?” The question brought a buzz to
the room as children looked at each other and began laughing
… “Did the rain cause much damage?”
Suddenly a flurry of hands shot up.
“Shoo! …the rain, it was bad.
… The water broke our roof and we all got wet. Water
in our shoes … water in our food, water everywhere.”
“Teesha,” said another, “I
was fast asleep. Got big fright when rain fell on me and wet
my bed. The wind it blew the window open and I could not close
it.” This account was told to me in a mixture of Zulu
and English.
“What did you do?” I replied
…
“I just took a big plastic and covered
myself …”
“Teesha”, said Sihle, “the
mud came into my house – everything got dirty –
my mother had to work very hard to clean up.”
Another girl shot up her hand.
“Yes, Wandile, what happened at your
house?” I asked … Her bottom lip began to tremble
and her eyes filled with tears. … Seeing the child’s
distress, I went over to her, took her hand and said, “Go
on, Wandile, tell me about it.” … Comforted by
my gesture, she said, “My mother was trying to fix the
roof and she fell and hurt her head. There was a lot of blood
on the floor.” The girl was trying to be brave in the
telling of this story. “How is your mother now?”
I asked … She wiped her eyes, and said: “I think
that she is okay now, Teesha. You see, my brother went to
tell my father at work. He came home to fix the house and
now my mother is resting.”
The child appeared to have found her equilibrium
… Other children shared their weekend experiences. Some
were sad, some were funny … I tried to imagine myself
all wet and cold with no hope of anything better. I could
not. I looked at the children with a new respect, for they
seemed to have a wiser perspective on the vagaries of life.
(pp. 28 – 30) |
Vygotsky (1978) writes that -
- Speaking can lead to links being
made to past, present and future.
- Speaking can also lead to us
becoming more clear about our needs and to our planning
of actions.
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Wertsch (1991) notes: “talking always involves
at least two voices” (p.68). So, even when we are thinking
in words, it is as if we were speaking to someone. In a conversation,
when we state our position on something, we are thinking of what
others might say in response to our words. Thus even in what seems
to be a monologue, the speaker is engaging in a form of inner dialogue.
Finally, Vygotsky (1962) makes the statement:
"Every sentence we say in real life has some kind of subtext,
a thought hidden behind it” (p.149). Thus behind everything
spoken, there is a thought. In a dialogue, the partners need to
find some common ground for understanding the other's utterance
to be able to respond. In this way, the dialogical process may proceed
smoothly, in a reciprocal way, based on shared understandings.
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