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As you read these words, you can probably hear them being pronounced in your head. It’s like listening to an audiobook or hearing someone read a fairytale’s beginning. This process of reading aloud inside your head is very common, although some people try to purposefully eliminate the practice for faster reading. This internal speech is called subvocalization. Why humans have developed this habit and what it means for cognition are fascinating topics of scientific study. Subvocalization turns out to reveal a lot about speech, thoughts, and reading.
Researchers have hypothesized that subvocalization is a memory aid, allowing us to conceptually hold on to words as we read ahead to complete a passage’s sentences. Dr. Russell Moul wrote about this phonological loop, as postulated by Alan Baddeley, for IFL Science. Under this theory, repeating in our head as we read keeps words in a cyclical sort of mental storage for language. Therefore, understanding what is read becomes like understanding speech. There is also evidence that subvocalization is helpful to reading comprehension, where concepts must be integrated mentally to understand a passage.
It is thought that subvocalization develops from our earliest experiences with reading. Young children learn to read by sounding out words and sentences, by reading aloud. Eventually as we get better at reading skills, the vocalization becomes internal. Subvocalization has been shown to correlate with parts of our throats, tongue, and other body parts that are used in audible speech. Nerve signals to the brain are also similar to speech. To some, subvocalization seems like a hindrance to reading speed, leading to efforts to suppress the internal monologue. By reading frequently, the subvocalization may become less distracting and reading speed can increase. But if you enjoy your inner “Audible,” you can rest assured it helps you process and appreciate the text.
Subvocalization is the internal voice that reads aloud inside our heads while we process text.
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This skill likely stems from how our brains process language as well as how children are taught to read by sounding out words.
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h/t: [IFL Science]
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