Written Language Development

Question 1

What is the passive voice

Answer 1

Tells us what is done to a person/object. “ the house was painted by Anna”

Question 2

What is the active voice

Answer 2

tells us what a person/thing does. the subject performs the action on the object. “Anna painted the house”

Question 3

What is likely to be done in the classroom before children write pieces to help them

Answer 3

classroom discussions

Question 4

Which maxim has been used if a child successfully uses genre specific lexis after a classroom discussion

Answer 4

The maxim of relevance - They can successfully communicate through writing and portray relevant ideas.

Question 5

What are the four stages that Kroll identified in children’s writing development

Answer 5

• Preparatory stage
• Consolidation stage
• Differentiation stage
• Integration stage

Question 6

Preparatory stage

Answer 6

Motor skills develop, spelling principles acquired.

Question 7

Consolidation stage

Answer 7

From around 7 years old, Writing is written in the same way they speak. Colloquialisms used along with short declarative sentences e.g. ‘He runs’ ‘she sings’. Strings of clauses linked with a lot of conjunctions e.g. ‘and’. Unfinished sentences.

Question 8

Differentiation stage

Answer 8

From around 9 years old, writing begins to diverge from speech and errors are common. They recognise the different writing styles such as letters or essays. Writing can also reflect thoughts and feelings now. Experimental writing - crossings out as child learns to draft, redraft and edit.

Question 9

Integration stage

Answer 9

From middle teenage years - child develops personal style. Child comprehends that you can change your style according to audiencee.

Question 10

What are the seven stages that Barclay identified in children’s writing

Answer 10

• Scribbling
• Mock handwriting
• Mock letters
• Conventional letters
• Invented spelling
• Approximated/phonetic spelling
• Conventional spelling

Question 11

Scribbling (Barclay)

Answer 11

Random marks on a page. To encourage children at this stage, adults can offer blank paper and writing tools to help them develop their writing.

Question 12

Mock handwriting

Answer 12

Often appears with drawings. Children produce lines of wavy scribbles.

Question 13

Mock letters

Answer 13

Children make letter - like shapes that resemble conventional alphabet letters.

Question 14

Conventional letters

Answer 14

Adults will often see a string of letters across a page that a child will read as a sentence. Children will be confidant using letters from their name.

Question 15

Invented spelling

Answer 15

As the child writes conventional letters, they begin to cluster letters to make words. Although the words may not appear conventional, children will often ask an adult, “what did I write?”.

Question 16

Approximated/phonetic spelling

Answer 16

Children begin to associate sounds with letters.

Question 17

Conventional spelling

Answer 17

A child’s approximated spelling becomes more and more conventional.

Question 18

Coordinated conjunctions used to connect two phrases

Answer 18

Begins to show a child’s developing understanding of how two thoughts can be connected within a sentence. (and, but, or).

Question 19

What does the correct use of subject, verb, object structure suggest

Answer 19

The child can form grammatically correct sentences to indicate a person carrying out an action. E.g. “She found treasure”.

Also, children generally don’t make grammatical errors like wrong order of SVO. It supports Chomsky’s theory of nativism as they’re automatically aware that a sentence doesn’t sound cohesive without following subject, verb, object.

Question 20

What does using the third person suggest

Answer 20

The child can write from the perspective of someone else.

Question 21

Tasks children do in school

Answer 21

To help children write pieces, there is likely to be a classroom discussion beforehand about the genre and the details of the genre they’re going to write about. Therefore, high frequency, genre - specific lexis will be common. Being able to do this supports Grice’s maxim of relevance as they can successfully communicate through writing, giving relevant details.

Question 22

What is the significance of a child writing in the passive voice

Answer 22

It’s unusual for young children between the ages of 5 - 6 as it is a more advanced technique in writing. The active voice is more common since children tend to mainly focus on the subject. The likely reason for the child using the passive voice is because they have seen it before, like in a story book.

Question 23

How are nouns pre - modified

Answer 23

With the use of adjectives

Question 24

What does it suggest when a child is able to pre - modify nouns

Answer 24

It indicates progressed understanding to give detail in writing and has enabled her to label out specific objects to the reader, giving clearer communication.

Question 25

What does the correct usage of discourse markers suggest

Answer 25

The child has the ability to tell a story in the correct order of events successfully.

Question 26

A child being able to use contrasting words in the same phrase

Answer 26

The child has the ability to articulate two contrasting ideas within the same sentence which is a complex skill.

Question 27

What is the significance of teachers providing written feedback on a child’s piece of work

Answer 27

It supports and build on Skinner’s behaviourist theory, that positive reinforcement will help progress the child’s learning.