Bringing Things into Languaging or Not

The Role of Internal Dialogue

Abstract

This essay deals with how to “bring things into languaging” (enlanguaging). The theoretical background is a humanistic perspective, Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology and extended dialogism. It will be argued that the phenomenon of 'internal dialogue', i.e., internal interaction within individual minds, are at play in such processes. This paper will consider different activities such as perception, thinking, speaking, planning for speaking, understanding, reading, interaction, and decision-making. It also pays attention to circumstances when public talk is evaded or inhibited.