This study explored the role of metatalk, metacognition, use of English and whispering self in collaborative activities, specifically missing information tasks, like the jigsaw activities used in this study, from a sociocultural perspective. The implications of their findings suggest that collaborive activiteis require refelctions upon the task at hand, and language is involved in this problem-solving process. Moreover, English is sometimes necessary to sustain the activity (as the target language may not be well-developed enough to allow for the metacognitive strategies the student might need). Hearing English might be bothersome for a foreign language instructor, but these findings seem logical, and I am glad to read this study to remind me that at beginning levels of language, it can sometimes be necessary to rely on English at some points.
Another point to take away from this study is the fact that self-regulation in L2 can grow from regular exposure to collaborative problem-solving activities. Increased opportunities for these types of collaborative activities can lead to less metatalk, less English, less talk about task (metacognition) and for students to perform tasks in L2.
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