Framed within the fields of applied linguistics and language play, the writing of three attainment groups of 9-11-year-old children was used to investigate their use of ludic (playful) punctuation in the composition of an imaginative narrative. The scripts were from a larger repeat-design study of writing development that addressed a range of…

The writing of 38 9-10-year-old children was used to investigate their use of ludic (playful) punctuation in the composition of two kinds of writing, imaginative narrative and persuasive description. Framed within a consideration of language play in general, and children's use of punctuation in particular, the investigation revealed the ways in…

Emotion is closely associated with language, but we know very little about how children express emotion in their own writing. We used a large-scale, cross-sectional, and data-driven approach to investigate emotional expression via writing in children of different ages, and whether it varies for boys and girls. We first used a lexicon-based…

The author discusses the importance of listening to children and engaging them in dialogue about their learning. She does not accept that assessment should entail labelling children and believes such practices encourage a culture of fixed "ability" thinking. Through examples of specific children, the author illustrates the importance of…

Background: It is well established that handwriting fluency constrains writing quality by limiting resources for higher order processes such as planning and reviewing. According to the "simple view of writing" then slow keyboarding speed should hinder the quality of keyboarded essay compositions in the same way that slow handwriting…

The purpose of this collaborative schools-university study was to investigate how the explicit instruction of literary devices during designated literacy sessions could improve the quality of children's narrative writing. A guiding question for the study was: Can children's writing can be enhanced by teachers drawing attention to the literary…

This article summarizes a small-scale investigation into 10- and 11-year-old children's perceptions of how the attitudes and values of different times in the past are reflected in historical writing for children. The research involved observation, reading and discussion of historical stories written at different times in the past about a…

Notes that research in three primary schools in Southern England draws attention to the ways in which the National Literacy Strategy (NLS) is prompting changes in contexts for writing and in the nature of teacher intervention. Concludes that developmentally appropriate, affirming strategies need not contravene the educational ideals of the NLS.…

Notes that joint composition at the computer is common in United Kingdom primary schools. Finds that even children as young as seven years can jointly plan a story at the computer. Uses examples of pupils' discourse while composing to illustrate the processes by which they produced written text. (RS)

Examines ways primary-aged children in the United Kingdom and Finland socially construct writing while using computers. Finds children's talk to be highly task-related and to concern mostly composing, not ways in which to use the computer. Suggests that ways in which children interact and write while using computers are embedded in wider…

In this study, the explanations of two classes of 10-year old children about what happens to the food that they eat were explored, particularly in the context of theories about the development of children's concepts of the human body. These ideas were investigated in a number of ways: obtaining children's own writing and drawings; semi-structured…

Research into the uses of digital literacy in the classroom is still in its infancy. Despite the proliferation of theoretical literature on "new literacies", "multiliteracies", and "technoliteracies" and their impact on education there are fewer studies based on a systematic analysis of the new literacy practices that…

This paper outlines issues around learning to write and considers the range of difficulties children may experience. The role of Information and Communications Technology in facilitating writing development is considered. Software applications that can be used to support aspects of the writing process and target teaching are outlined. Criteria for…