Developing ownership of the literate register in whole language and code emphasis classrooms: A discourse perspective on young children's writing
Abstract
The purpose of the study was to investigate what knowledge young children developed about the literate register and how they developed it in school. Sixty-four first graders were requested to dictate two book-like stories for others to read, one at the beginning and the other at the end of one school year. Contrary to earlier emergent writing research's emphasis on mechanics and intertextuality, the 128 dictated texts were analysed for their cohesive harmony, conformity to socioculturally-codified genre conventions, use of specific written language features, and lexical density. Statistical analysis using analysis of variances for repeated measures revealed that formal schooling enabled these children to expand their functional literate register language potential. Their dictated texts demonstrated statistically significant gains in cohesion and genre scores, but only marginal increase in the written language features (including both occurrences and breadth) and lexical density measures. These observed gains were not statistically significantly impacted by factors such as literacy instructional program, ethnicity, family income, preschool literacy experience, or their interactions. Qualitative analyses revealed that the children's literate register texts still showed traces of oral language discourse patterns and immature control over the genre conventions. These findings were discussed in light of relevant linguistic and literacy theories, as well as contemporary pedagogical practices. Instructional and research implications were also discussed.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Cox, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Literacy|Reading instruction|Elementary education|Linguistics
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