This paper argues for the importance of inner speech in a proper understanding of the structure of
human conscious experience. It reviews one recent attempt to build a model of inner speech based
on a grammaticisation (Steels, 2003). The Steels model is compared with a self-regulation model
here proposed. This latter model is located within the broader literature on consciousness. I argue
the role of language in consciousness is not limited to checking the grammatical correctness of pro-
spective utterances, before they are spoken. Rather, it is more broadly activity structuring, regulat-
ing and shaping the ongoing structure of human activity in the world. Through linking inner speech
to the control of attention, I argue the study of the functional role of inner speech should be a central
area of analysis in our attempt to understand the development and qualitative character of human
consciousness.