Inner Speech as Mental Rehearsal: The Case of EFL Learners

This study was an attempt to find out to what extent EFL learners at different levels of language proficiency experience inner speech as mental rehearsal and to identify some of the characteristics and functions of their inner speech. For this purpose, one hundred seventy-four Iranian female students majoring in English translation at Islamic Azad University, Tehran Central Branch, took part in the study. One hundred twenty-eight of the subjects were seniors and forty-six of them were juniors. They were divided into three levels of language proficiency (low, intermediate, and high) based on their TOEFL scores. Then, the subjects responded to a questionnaire on inner speech as mental rehearsal. The results of the data analysis showed that EFL learners at different levels of language proficiency use inner speech to a large extent as they mentally rehearse in the foreign language. Moreover, it was found that there is a significant relationship between some aspects and functions of inner speech and the language proficiency levels of the subjects. Still, a significant relationship was found between the subjects' levels of language proficiency and the extent they had experienced inner speech as they mentally rehearsed in English, the rneaningfulness of their inner speech, the extent to which inner speech was unrelated to their English class, and the affective function of their inner speech. The flndings of this investigation ,night have tmplicatlons for teachers, materials developers, and researchers in the field of EFL learning.