Eight Dollar Blog

While working as W-2 employees, Greg and Betty Wallace* decided to form a leasing and venture capital services company by structuring it as an “S” corporation. This allowed the husband and wife team to limit their personal liability while also reducing their Social Security taxes. In fact, the Wallaces were able to reduce their FICA tax by 50 percent. In addition, they took advantage of lower taxes by splitting off income from the business through paying dividends to their children, who were part owners of the company. The Wallaces did have to hold quarterly and annual stockholder meetings and keep meticulous minutes, but the somewhat formal structure of their business, while not as complex as a “C” corporation, provided them with liability protection they could not get through a partnership or sole proprietorship. For Greg and Betty, an “S” corporation was the best way to structure their business, especially with the tremendous savings in Social Security.

Limited Liability Companies (LLC)
This is the newest method of structuring a business and is a fairly recent innovation. An LLC is like a sole proprietorship, however it provides the same protection from liabilities as that of a “C” or “S” corporation. In fact, this structure allows you to elect to be treated as a corporation without having to deal with the formalities of such.
If there is only one owner, you can file and be taxed as a sole proprietor. If there are two or more owners, you will be taxed as a partnership.

Advantages
• Limits liability just like a regular corporation.
• Does not require the formal meetings and documentation of a “C” or “S” corporation.
• Tax filing and other paperwork is simple and inexpensive.
• Can claim all the same tax advantages of sole proprietors and
partnerships.
• Don’t have to hold shareholder meetings or keep meeting notes.

Disadvantages
• Does not provide a FICA tax break like an “S” corporation does
(except in the case of hiring a spouse or children…then their salary is not subject to FICA taxes if they are under age 18).
• Fairly recent entity, so some states are still working out the laws
that govern an LLC.

Taken from : Money Mastery “10 Principles That Will Change
Your Financial Life Forever

Pros and Cons of Using Verbal Reports
Some general observations concerning the strengths and weaknesses of verbal reports are due before a critical appraisal of their application in the study of inner speech. To begin with the disadvantages, one major problem limiting the use of verbal reports is
that most cognitive processes occur without conscious awareness and are therefore unavailable for reporting. Another serious drawback is that verbal reports rely on memory. Unfortunately, memory is not always reliable. Three main problems associated with memory have been identified: (1) Even with conscious awareness of
the process, the information may have been forgotten and may thus be irretrievable; (2) the information may be recalled or reported incompletely; and (3) the information may be recalled or reported inaccurately (Ericsson & Simon, 1980; Lieberman, 1979; Nisbett & Wilson, 1977). In relation to the last two points, an acknowledged
shortcoming of verbal reports is that subjects may fill in memory gaps with inferences rather than report their actual thoughts. Similarly, subjects may offer interpretations of their recollections in the form of plausible causal theories (Nisbett & Wilson, 1977) or culturally stereotyped accounts reflecting “folk psychology” (Lyons, 1986). Another complication that can affect the quality of verbal reports is the use of faulty elicitation techniques. Instructions that are difficult to comprehend or that push for information that is beyond accessibility are some examples. Finally, there may be the
problem of insincerity. Out of pressure, desire to impress, or sheer dishonesty, subjects may fabricate their reports.

Why would researchers still resort to verbal report data in the face of such serious limitations? The principal allure is that self-reports provide information about mental processes that cannot be obtained through external observation. Not only do verbal reports offer glimpses of how certain cognitive operations are conducted, they are
particularly valuable as sources of data on learners’ “metacognitive knowledge, i.e. what they know and can report about their language learning” (Wenden, 1986, p. 197). Verbal reports have the additional attraction of constituting the participants’ perspective; they are first-hand accounts of mental activity. As such, verbalizations may offer important insights into learners’ subjective experiences, perceptions, and beliefs that are beyond access to an observer. By providing “insider” testimony, selfobservation reports help researchers understand the learners’ stance, their attitudes or
motivations. Furthermore, when naturally contextualized, first-person reports have a great potential for ecological validity; that is, they may significantly inform on real life, socially-embedded mental behavior (Hurlburt, 1997; Pavlenko & Lantolf, 2000). Finally, as in the case of private speech, the information gathered through verbal reports can yield hypotheses, serve as points of departure, or suggest avenues of research that might be pursued through other methodological means.

Methods of Verbal Data Collection in the Study of Inner Speech
Five major techniques for gathering verbal report data on inner speech have been employed: questionnaires, interviews, diaries, first-person narratives, and think-aloud. Three additional, not so well-known, verbalization techniques-Q-Methodology, cued recall, and thought sampling-have also been found to generate inner speech data. Each one of the techniques reviewed in this chapter lends itself for certain types of verbal report data. For example, first-person narratives typically take the form of retrospective self-reports whereas think-aloud protocols generate introspective
accounts of the self-revelation type. Some of these techniques have been utilized to obtain various types of verbal data; for example, interviews can produce both selfobservational introspective data as well as self-report retrospective accounts.

Taken From:Inner Speech – L2 hinking words in a second langunge

Self-report Data based on subjects’ statements about what they tend to do or “think” they do; generalized observations about processes of learning or using language, not referring to any specific experience or event; information is by nature retrospective and potentially interpretive.

Example: “When I have to make a phone call [in my L2], I rehearse in my mind what I want to say.” [author's data] Self-observation: Comments based on observation of specific language behavior; observations are made introspectively while task is being performed or retrospectively some time after the event (immediate, early, or delayed retrospection).

Example: “At this point I think I was thinking that this word must start with a vowel because of the apostrophe” (comment made during interview some time after think-aloud; Feldman & Stemmer, 1987, p. 259) Self-revelation: Usually referred to as “thinking aloud;” externalization of on-going thoughts as task is being performed; verbalization is made introspectively without analyzing or editing thoughts.

Example: (Subject is looking for word “publicitaires” while filling in blanks) “A les pet films public A les petits films public A A ation (?) yes les petits films publica” (A pause, AA longer pause, Feldmann & Stemmer, 1987, p. 260)

Taken From:Inner Speech – L2 hinking words in a second langunge

“And come up with a clear plan so that it doesn’t happen again?” I added.
“Precisely. There is nothing wrong with making mistakes.
Mistakes are part of life and essential for growth. It’s like that saying, ‘Happiness comes through good judgment, good judgment
comes through experience, and experience comes through bad judgment.’ But there is something very wrong with making the same mistakes over and over again, day in and day out. This shows a complete lack of self-awareness, the very quality that separates humans from animals.”

“I’ve never heard that one before.”
“Well it’s true. Only a human being can step out of himself and analyze what he is doing right and what he is doing wrong. A dog cannot do this. A bird cannot do this. Even a monkey cannot do it.
But you can. This is what the Ritual of Personal Reflection is all about. Figure out what is right and what is wrong in your days and
in your life. Then set about making immediate improvements.”

“Lots to think about, Julian. Lots to think about,” I offered
reflectively.
“How about thinking about the Sixth Ritual for Radiant Living: the Ritual of Early Awakening.”

“Uh-oh. I think I know what’s coming.”
“One of the best pieces of advice I learned in that far-off oasis of Sivana was to rise with the sun and to start the day off well. Most of us sleep far more than we need to. The average person can get by on six hours — and remain perfectly healthy and alert. Sleep is really nothing more than a habit and like any other habit, you can train yourself to achieve the result you want; sleeping less in this case.”

Taken From:THE MONK WHO SOLD HIS FERRARI

“Obviously.”
“Like what?”
“Hmm. Well, first, in a perfect world I would get up earlier. I don’t think I’m doing myself any favors by hitting the ground running. I’d like to have a little peace in the morning and ease myself into the day. The Heart of the Rose technique you told me about earlier sounds like it would be fun. Also, I really would like to have the family around the breakfast table, even if only for a bowl of cereal. It would give me a better sense of balance. I always seem to feel that I never spend enough time with Jenny and the kids.”

“But it is a perfect world, and you have a perfect life. You do have the power to control your day. You do have the power to think good thoughts. You do have the power to live your dreams!” Julian observed, his voice rising.

“I am realizing this. I really am starting to feel that I can change.”
“Great. Continue reflecting on your day,” he instructed.
“Well, I wish I hadn’t yelled at my client. I wish I hadn’t argued with the court clerk and I wish I hadn’t screamed at the traffic.”

“The traffic doesn’t care, does it?”
“It just keeps on being traffic,” I noted.
“I think you now see the power of the Ritual of Personal Reflection. By looking at what you are doing, how you are spending your day and the thoughts you are thinking, you give yourself a benchmark for measuring improvement. The only way to improve tomorrow is to know what you did wrong today.”

Taken From:THE MONK WHO SOLD HIS FERRARI

One of the major sources of information on inner speech has been verbal reports. In this chapter, the methodological category referred to as verbal reports includes all methods of data collection in which the source of the information is the subject’s own statements or verbalizations about the object of study, in this case, inner speech

Verbal reports have had their ups and downs in the eyes of researchers as legitimate methods of mental data collection (Ericsson & Simon, 1984; Lieberman, 1979; Lyons, 1986; Nisbert & Wilson, 1977). Favored at the turn of the twentieth century, experimental introspectionism and its techniques for “observing” private, mental experience became under attack in behavioristic research. With the advent of cognitive psychology, however, verbal reports, which were once thought unreliable and inadequate as sources of evidence about cognitive processes, found renewed support as ways of gaining access into covert, mental phenomena. A return to introspective data was also bolstered by the appearance of information-processing models of memory, which contributed to delimit the scope and conditions of verbalizing mental processes. This renewed interest in verbal reports was accompanied by a critical
awareness of the strengths and limitations of verbal data and of the need to follow rigorous methodological procedures. In short, verbalization of mental processes is back, but not without a judicious realization of the events and conditions in which verbal reporting can be most usefully and appropriately applied.

Verbal data are often categorized into two kinds: introspective and retrospective. Introspection typically requires the subject to verbalize thoughts while performing a task, that is, while the data are still heeded in short-term memory. Retrospection calls for the subject to report on cognitive processes related to an activity immediately after they occur or some time after their occurrence. A useful way of classifying verbal report data that incorporates the notions of introspection and retrospection is Cohen’s (1987, 1998) distinction into three types: self-report, self-observation, and selfrevelation. In this chapter, such typology will be used to describe reports on inner speech.

Taken From:Inner Speech – L2 hinking words in a second langunge

“Please do.”
“Well on the way home, Jenny called me in the car and asked me to stop by her mother’s house and pick up one of those amazing pies my mother-in-law is famous for. Problem was that when I took that exit, I found myself in the middle of a gridlock that was worse than anything I have seen in ages. So there I was, in the middle of rush-hour traffic, in ninety-five-degree heat, shaking with stress and feeling that even more time was slipping away.”

“How did you respond?”
“I cursed the traffic,” I said with complete honesty. “I was actually shouting out loud inside my car. Do you want to know what I said?”

“I don’t think that would be the kind of thing that would nourish the garden of my mind,” Julian responded with a soft smile.

“But it might make for good fertilizer.”
“No thanks. Maybe we should stop there. Just take a second and look at your day. Obviously, in retrospect, there are at least a few things that you would do differently if you had the chance.”

Taken From:THE MONK WHO SOLD HIS FERRARI

Where private speech appears to be most valuable is in providing clues into the issues of internalization and externalization of inner speech. Several questions private speech:
• When does inner speech take over as the prevalent mode of self-regulation and primary means for thought?
• On what occasions does inner speech reemerge as externalized private speech?
• Is the absence of private speech an indication of higher levels of self-regulation through inner speech?
• What are the linguistic features of private speech that might be reasonably inferred to be preserved in inner speech; and vice versa, what linguistic features of inner speech are preserved in private speech as it is externalized?
• What is the role of mutterings in the internalization of inner speech?
• What mental functions, not adequately served by private speech, at least among adults, are taken over by inner speech?

In the case of L2 learners in particular, the study of private speech can be equally powerful as a source of insights into L2 inner speech. Following are some of the questions that might be profitably explored through private speech:
• When does L2 inner speech need to be externalized as L2 private speech?
• To what extent is the LI a medium for private thinking among L2 learners?
• What do the private gestures (as a variant of private “speech”) of L2 learners reveal about the relationship between inner speech and thought in the L2?
• Do less proficient learners use more private speech than more advanced learners?
• Is private speech a “universal” prior-to-inner-speech phase among L2 learners?

Taken From:Inner Speech – L2 hinking words in a second langunge

“What was your response?”
“I fought back, what was I supposed to do, let him push me around?”

“Hmm. Okay. Then what happened?”
“Well, things went from bad to worse. The courthouse called and told me that Judge Wildabest needed to see me in his chambers and if I wasn’t there within ten minutes, ‘heads would roll.’ You remember Wildabest don’t you? You were the one who nicknamed him Judge Wild Beast after he held you in contempt for parking your Ferrari in his parking spot!” I recalled, breaking into laughter.

“You would have to bring that up, wouldn’t you?” Julian replied, his eyes revealing the remnants of that mischievous twinkle he was once well known for.

“Anyway I rushed down to the courthouse and had another argument with one of the clerks. By the time I got back to the office, there were twenty-seven phone messages waiting for me,
all marked ‘urgent.’ Need I go on?”

Taken From:THE MONK WHO SOLD HIS FERRARI

The third term, introspective writing, focuses on the private, ideational content of self-directed writing. Jensen’s (1989) thesis is that personal forms of writing such as autobiographies, diaries, journals, and memoirs often reflect the processes of introspection that characterize intrapersonal communication.45 Both John-Steiner
(1985a) and Jensen (1989) compare their inner speech written modalities to the ongoing stream of consciousness described by William James (1950) and the literary style derived from this concept, which is usually associated with the works by James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, and William Faulkner.

The study of private speech is not without its hurdles. Diaz (1992) has pointed out four methodological difficulties: (1) collecting enough quantities of spontaneous private speech from children to support research, (2) distinguishing private from social speech (see also Wells, 1998), (3) categorizing private speech utterances, and (4) specifying the relationship between private speech and task performance. Another problem is the distinction between private discernible speech and private unintelligible speech. As it happens, private speech, though audible to an observer and obviously articulated by the speaker, may be so low or telegraphic that it is practically incomprehensible. This may occur in child as well as in adult private speech. References in the literature to data consisting of inaudible mutterings, soft whispers, or incomprehensible utterances abound. The problem is further complicated by the fact that, in some cases, incomprehensibility is caused not by the quality of the utterance per se but by the method of data collection. In other words, a muttering may appear to be so because the tape or tape recorder used to record the utterance was not sensitive enough in capturing its phonological features or, if not tape recorded, because it was not clearly heard by the observer (see Ohta, 2001, for a categorization of reduced volume in private speech utterances, p. 37). The incomprehensibility of some forms of private speech results in problems of categorization. What function does an unintelligible uttering have? If the contents of a private speech utterance are unknown, its function (other than that of self-egulation) cannot be discerned. Beyond the intractable issue of function, private speech mutterings, however, may yield important information on the moment-to-moment changes that attend the microgenesis of speech internalization. By attending to certain features of mutterings and whispers (the circumstances in which they arise, their relationship to preceding or following private speech, the subject’s simultaneous gaze and engagement with objects or task), researchers may gain insights into the transformation that private speech undergoes as it turns into inner speech.

Advantages and Limitations of Researching Inner Speech through Private Speech Researching private speech was Vygotsky’s method of choice for the exploration of inner speech. To its advantage, the method enjoys objectivity-it is based on audible speech that can be heard or recorded by others-and is consistent with a sociogenetic
approach to mental development. The study of private speech has thus become an important methodological window not only into the realm of inner speech but also into the genesis of higher mental functions. As Diaz and Berk (1992a) put it, “private speech plays a central role in understanding, validating, and expanding the ideas
contained in [Vygotsky's sociocultural approach]” (p. 2). The method, however, is by force limited, as it reaches inner speech only in a roundabout, indirect way, a problem plaguing the majority of the approaches to the phenomenon. Private speech is verbalized speech and as such only an outward reflection of what inner speech might
be actually like. Thus, as with all methods that pretend to explain the unobservable through its visible manifestations, the study of inner through private speech is inferential and predictive (Wertsch, 1979b). The method is nonetheless a valid and useful means for the generation of hypotheses and predictions about inner speech.

Taken From:Inner Speech – L2 hinking words in a second langunge