Written

• Cursive writing: handwriting in which the characters are joined in rounded and flowing strokes
• Orthography – the study of the use of letters and the rules of spelling in a language (for some linguists, this includes the use of capital letters)
• Emergent writing – children’s early scribble writing, a stage of their literacy development
• Ascender – the typographical feature where a portion of the letter goes above the usual height for letters in any font
• Descender – where part of the letter goes below the baseline of a font
• Free-morpheme – these are words that stand alone in their own right – they can be content or function words
• Bound-morpheme – this is a prefix or suffix added to a word – it cannot stand alone (hence the name)
• Stages of writing: Drawing; Letter-like forms; Copied letters; Child’s name and string of letters; Words; Sentences; Text
• Frameworks for written data: Grammar; Lexis; Orthography; Discourse; Graphology (Linearity, directionality); Semantics
• Clay’s Principles of Early Writing: Sign concept; Message concept; Copying principle; Flexibility Principle; Inventory Principle; Recurring Principle; Generating Principle; Directional Principle; Reversing the Directional Pattern; Contrastive Principle; Space Concept; Page and Book Arrangement; Abbreviation Principle
• Emergent writing is children’s early scribble writing, a stage of their literacy development.
• Ascender is the typographical feature where a portion of the letter goes above the usual height for letters in any font.
• Descender is where part of the letter goes below the baseline of a font.
• Errors in writing can be due to the child having some awareness of the links between phonemes and graphemes and attempting to replicate these by 'sounding out'.
• There may be an understanding of the phonics approach but in the early stages, children do not always make the right links as they develop, they learn these.
• Children may not correctly represent double consonant sounds because there is no difference in sound between the single and double, therefore they will often write words such as 'botom' and 'diger' rather than 'bottom' or 'digger'.
• Overgeneralisation of spelling rules is a common error in writing.
• Children may replicate features read in stories.
• Development in writing can be seen because of the influence of the MKO - teacher/parent - in correcting spelling and grammatical errors, children learn these and are able to apply them correctly which fits with the Zone of Proximal Development.
• Development of fine motor skills affects the control of ascenders, descenders and spacing in writing.
• High frequency words are likely to be spelled correctly as the child will be more familiar with them and has learned the spelling patterns.
• Kroll’s Stages: Preparation (Up to 6); Consolidation (7/8); Differentiation (9/10); Integration (Mid-teens).
• Rothery’s Categories: Observation/ comment; Recount.
• A recount is a factual and objective description of events or things, often chronological.
• A narrative is a story genre where the scene is set for events to occur and be resolved at the end, with a set pattern: Orientation – Complication – Resolution – Coda.
• Barclay’s 7 Stages of Writing features Scribbling, Practising fine motor skills; Mock Handwriting, Practising drawing shapes on paper, not recognisable in terms of what shapes represent; Mock Letters, Production of random letters; Conventional Letters, Beginning to match sounds with symbols; Invented Spelling, Most words are spelled phonetically; simple and familiar words may be spelled correctly; Appropriate Spelling, Sentences become more complex; Awareness of spelling patterns; Writing more legible; Correct Spelling, Most words are spelled correctly.
• Britton’s Modes of Literacy Development features Expressive, The first mode to develop because it resembles speech; uses the first person perspective and the content is usually based on personal preferences; Poetic, Develops gradually, requiring skills in crafting and shaping language, but is encouraged early on because of its creativity; Phonological features such as rhyme, rhythm and alliteration, as well as descriptive devices such as adjectives and similes, are common; Transactional, Develops last, around secondary school age, once children have finally dissociated speech from writing; It
• In the pre-phonemic stage, children can imitate writing, mainly scribbling and using pretend writing, with some letter shapes decipherable.
• In the semi-phonetic stage, children link letter shapes and sounds, using this to write words.
• In the phonetic stage, children understand that all phonemes can be represented by graphemes, with words becoming more complete.
• In the transitional stage, children combine phonic knowledge with visual memory, developing an awareness of combinations of letters and letter patterns, including the 'magic e' rule.
• In the conventional stage, children spell most words correctly.
• Approaching child language involves reading through each set of data, identifying the key features which change over the pieces, and scanning through all pieces of writing to identify the frameworks.
• There are two ways of tackling this paper: to look at each text separately and comment on how they show development, or to look at features and analyse those across the texts.
• When considering early stages of literacy, it's important to consider spelling approaches, including phonics.
• IPA symbols are used to effectively represent the links between phonemes and graphemes, sounds and letters/ combinations of letters.
• Grammatical features evident in the writing should be discussed, linking to relevant theories and understanding of morphology, including reference to virtuous errors.
• Frameworks for written data include grammar, lexis, orthography, discourse, and graphology (lineality, directionality).
• Cursive writing is a form of handwriting in which the characters are joined in rounded and flowing strokes.
• Cursive writing


  Handwriting in which the characters are joined in rounded and flowing strokes