Developing Self-Regulated Learners: The Role of Private Speech and Self-Instructions

The theoretical and research bases for the belief that private speech performs a cognitive self-guidance function and that verbally mediated control of behavior is an integral component of self-regulation are explored in this article. Major perspectives on the role of self-verbalizations are presented, and the role of self-speech in multicomponent interventions is discussed. Finally, the need to establish intervention integrity is discussed, and research regarding confirmation of mediating variables in multicomponent interventions is reviewed. Although the empirical basis to date is positive, we cannot yet make precise and experimentally verifiable claims as to either the unique and nontransferable role of private speech in the development of self-regulation or the role of self-instructions in multicomponent interventions.