From Elicitation to Mediation: Clarifying Think-Aloud, Verbalization, Languaging, and Translanguaging for Transparent Concept-Based Language Instruction Research

Jie Yang

doi:10.71514/jssal/2026.267

Authors

Jie Yang Graduate School of International Cultural Studies, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan https://orcid.org/0009-0001-8368-4035

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.71514/jssal/2026.267

Keywords:

Concept-Based Language Instruction (C-BLI), sociocultural theory, verbalization, think-aloud, languagin

Abstract

This paper addresses a recurring reporting problem in sociocultural theory-informed Concept-Based Language Instruction (C-BLI) research and studies of multilingual classroom discourse: The related terms think-aloud, verbalization, languaging, and translanguaging are often used interchangeably, obscuring what was elicited, how it was produced, and what kinds of claims the resulting verbal data can support. Drawing on scholarship in C-BLI, verbal-report methodology, and theories of languaging and translanguaging, the paper proposes a decision-oriented clarification that distinguishes procedure, data label, functional construct, and analytical stance. This clarification is translated into three practical tools for transparent reporting: a four-term comparison matrix, a terminology-selection decision tree for boundary cases, and concise guidelines for eliciting, coding, and interpreting verbal data, including multilingual marking and warranting practices. Methodologically, the paper argues for tighter warranting: Procedural labels should describe elicitation procedures, whereas mediational and stance-based labels should be used only when their defining criteria and evidence are made explicit. Pedagogically, the proposed tools aim to improve the interpretability and comparability of verbal-data research in English language education and to strengthen the link between transcript evidence and instructional implications.

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