The inner language according to Vygotsky

Inner language has been an object of study since the beginning of the history of philosophy.. One of the most important authors of Western psychology, Vygotsky, delved into it. This author’s thought completely changed the conception of the human psyche. To do this, he focused on working on language, emphasizing the development of emotions and the systemic understanding of the psyche.

Vygotsky was an author of great intellectual vitality. In addition to presenting his proposals, he attempted to discuss the implications these proposals might have. Thus, the debate that Vygotsky had with Piaget about egocentric language and other topics that we will name soon is well known.

From ‘external language’ to ‘internal language’

Vygotsky’s explanation of inner language is based on the existence of three different ways of expressing speech.. The first is external speech or social speech, then we have egocentric speech or private speech and finally we have internal speech.

Feigenbaum (1) refers to this:

It seems, then, that For Vygotsky, inner speech is the experience of speaking to oneself silently.. This appears to be soundless language, subvocalized speech, or, as he states in his later work, verbal thought (2).

The internal language for Vygotsky

The author defines internal language as special training regarding its psychological nature. It is, for Vygotsky, a special form of verbal activity, with its own characteristics and that maintains a complex relationship with other forms of verbal activity.

Vygotsky expresses that it is not indifferent whether one speaks for oneself or speaks for others.. Internal language is language directed at oneself, while external language would be the language we use to address others. It seems clear that this radical and fundamental difference between the functions of one and the other has consequences on the structural nature of both verbal functions.

It is not simply about vocalization. For Vygotsky, The presence or absence of vocalization does not explain the psychological nature of inner speech. On the contrary, it explains the consequence that follows from that nature.

Internal language not only precedes external language, but is contrary to it. External language is the process of transforming thought into words, explains the author. Also its materialization and objectification. Internal language, for its part, is a process that goes from the outside to the inside.a process of evaporation of language in thought.

The expressive dimension of inner language

The expressive dimension of language is also manifested in internal speech. However, as is logical, there is the same subject who sends and receives the message. That is: the phenomenon maintains a monologue character.

Vygotsky emphasizes that inner language is more loaded with meaning. That is, it removes all aspects of consciousness associated with that idea, and that experience does not have the nature of dialogue in itself, but is holistic and total. This is related to one of the characteristics of inner language according to Vygotsky: being the same sending and receiving subject, In inner language the subject is eliminated and the predicates are maintainedsince the person knows the subject of his predicate.(3).

In short, in Vygotsky’s view, inner speech is monological. In some way, the expressive dimension of inner speech constitutes a manifestation of the deepest states of consciousness. Thus, inner language arises in Vygotsky’s theory thanks to the interfunctional relationship between thought and language. In essence, most of our thoughts would take shape thanks to the union of words, and that is the key aspect of inner language according to Vygotsky.

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