Written Language

• maria clay (1966)- emergent literacy


  -based on an assumption that a child acquires some knowledge about language, reading and writing even before attending any formal education.

  -she asserted that literacy development begins early in life and ongoing.

  -she identified a number of key principles that children seem to adopt in early writing.
• maria clay principles- RECURRING


  when a child only knows a limited number of letters, he or she may use these repeatedly to create a message.
• maria clay principles- DIRECTIONAL


  reading and writing from left to right and then using a return sweep to start the process again
• maria clay principles- GENERATING


  when a child starts to realise there are only a limited number of letters to use, but these can be mixed and matched in different ways. the child begins to recognise that there are patterns that can be used to convey a message.
• maria clay principles- INVENTORY


  a child begins to package knowledge together into lists of the letters and words that he or she knows.
• Kroll's stages of writing development (1981) PREPARATORY


  children are developing their fine motor skills, practising holding a pen or pencil and starting to get to grip with basic spelling principles.
• Kroll's stages of writing development (1981) CONSOLIDATION

  Begin to use writing to express what they can already say in speech. ​

  Writing closely reflects the patterns of spoken language. There may be colloquialisms, strings of clauses linked by conjunctions ‘and’ or ‘but’. Sentences will often be incomplete.
• Kroll's stages of writing development (1981)DIFFERENTIATION

  Children are beginning to differentiate between speech and writing. Different styles of writing are understood. There are still a number of errors. Writing guides might be provided. Writing might reflect thoughts and feelings
• Kroll's stages of writing development (1981) INTERGRATION


  Children are developing a personal style and can alter their writing according to audience and purpose. They develop a ‘personal voice’.
• yetta goodman (1986)

  The idea of emergent literacy suggests that children move beyond simple mark-making and begin assigning meaning to the symbols and images that they are using to represent their understanding of the world. ​

  Yetta Goodman’s (1986) research into children’s emerging print awareness characterises children’s early writing as three different principles.
• goodman's principles of development FUNCTIONAL


  The notion that writing can serve a purpose and has a function for the writer.
• goodman's principles of development LINGUISTIC


  The notion that writing is a system of that is organised into words and letters and has directionality.
• goodman's principle of development RELATIONAL


  Children start to connect what they write on the page with spoken words – understanding that the written alphabetic system carries meaning.
• rothery GENRE

  narratives- a story that follows a structure

  reports- factual accounts

  recounts- chronological accounts

  observations- comments on what they have seen
• abbott


  free range chickens vs battery hens

  creative vs rule based

  creative are more likely to progress
• genre


  children begin to learn:

  • That lexical / vocabulary choices and grammatical constructions combine to create a certain tone.​
  • The text has a purpose e.g. to invite, to request​
  • There is a relationship between reader and writer​
  • Later…. Pragmatic awareness:​
  • Your style can show your personality.​
  • You might refer to shared experiences and these make the text more engaging / interesting / enjoyable and less “mechanical”.​
• Britton GENRE

  • EXPRESSIVE - first mode to develop because it resembles speech.  It uses the first person and the content is usually based upon personal preferences.​
  • POETIC –develops gradually and the child gains the skills needed for crafting and shaping language, but it is encouraged early on due to its creativity.  Phonological features such as rhythm, rhyme and alliteration develop. 
  • TRANSACTIONAL – secondary school age, once children have successfully dissociated speech from writing. This mode is the style of academic essays being more impersonal in the style and tone.