Verbal Reports in L2 Speech Production Research

As there seems to be some confusion concerning the various research methods belonging to the category of verbal reports, I first define thinkaloud (procedures), introspection, and retrospection. For think-alouds (or concurrent verbalisations), researchers instruct their subjects to verbalise directly only the thoughts entering their attention while performing the task (Ericsson & Simon, 1993). Thus, this type of verbal reporting is concurrent with the execution of a specific task, and the participants provide information while it is still available to them-that is, while it remains in short-term memory (STM). For example, study participants can be asked to think aloud while translating a sentence from their L1 to their L2 and to report the sequence of thoughts related to the selection of appropriate words and grammatical structures while doing the translation. For introspection, subjects are not only requested to verbalise but also to describe or explain their thoughts (Ericsson & Simon, 1993). Introspection therefore entails the activation of information that is not stored