Leung, Pui Yin (2022) Inner speech development during acculturation: a longitudinal explanatory sequential mixed methods study on Chinese university students in the UK. PhD thesis, Birkbeck, University of London.
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Abstract
Inner speech which refers to talking to oneself in silence is an everyday phenomenon. Inner speech has a critical role in our day-to-day functioning as it performs high-level cognitive functions including self-reflection, self-regulation. Research in multilingualism showed that multilinguals who are highly socialised in the languages learnt later in life (LX) perform these high-level cognitive functions in any language to their linguistic disposal. This study investigates changes in the use of L1 and LX in inner speech as part of the acculturation process when living in an LX-speaking country. A total of 162 multilingual Chinese international university students in the UK participated in this study. All participants completed two rounds of an online questionnaire distributed at the beginning of the academic year and five months later. Participants were asked to rate their frequency of use in inner speech in L1 Mandarin, L1 Chinese regional languages, and LX English using a newly developed eight-item inner speech scale. Seven participants took part in the follow-up interview after completing each round of the online questionnaire. Results revealed that acculturating to the LX-speaking country facilitated the development of LX inner speech. Level of LX socialisation was the reason behind the increased use of LX English in inner speech. Besides LX English, changes in frequency of use and language domains were revealed in L1 Mandarin. Overall, this study showed that changes in inner speech of international students occurred both in the L1(s) and LX. It highlighted the dynamic nature of language preference in inner speech, and the prominent role of LX socialisation and acculturation in shifting language preferences in inner speech.
Metadata
| Item Type: | Thesis |
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| Copyright Holders: | The copyright of this thesis rests with the author, who asserts his/her right to be known as such according to the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988. No dealing with the thesis contrary to the copyright or moral rights of the author is permitted. |
| Depositing User: | Acquisitions And Metadata |
| Date Deposited: | 29 Nov 2022 10:55 |
| Last Modified: | 01 Nov 2024 01:10 |
| URI: | https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/50059 |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.18743/PUB.00050059 |
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