Investigating eight- to nine-year-olds’ self-regulatory self-talk in the context of their classroom tasks

Abstract

Self-talk has been recognised as an important tool used by children to regulate their thinking and behaviour. Existing studies typically characterise children's self-talk according to broad categories that do not allow for investigation of self-regulatory aspects of children's internalised self-talk. The findings reported in this paper are based on a pilot study aimed at eliciting information on self-talk that eight- to nine-year-olds employ in the context of their classroom tasks and at a stage when the children's self-talk is largely internalised. The findings offer useful insights into the types of self-regulatory self-talk employed by children in the classroom and suggest that these aspects should be considered in the characterisation and study of children's self-talk.

Keywords:

• self-regulatory self-talk
• covert self-talk
• cognitive self-regulation

Notes on contributors

Scott Lee, Dr, is a research fellow at the Australian Catholic University, Faculty of Education. His research interests include children's thinking and problem solving skills, self-talk, construction play, assessment of thinking skills, and early childhood education.

Andrea McDonough, Dr, is a senior lecturer of mathematics education at the Australian Catholic University. Her research interests include numeracy teaching, effective teaching of numeracy in the early years, and young children's perceptions of mathematics and learning.

Jo Bird is currently a PhD student at the Australian Catholic University. Her PhD study focuses on technology in early childhood education.