Children's patterns of composition and their reflections on their composing processes

Abstract

This article reports on an Economic and Social Research Council‐funded study into secondary‐aged writers' compositional processes, both as observed in a naturalistic classroom setting and as gathered through post hoc reflections. The sample comprised 38 children drawn from Year 9 and Year 11 who were observed, using an annotated timeline, responding to a writing task in the classroom and were subsequently interviewed, using stimulated recall. The initial analysis of the pause and writing patterns observed during the writing task revealed different writing profiles for different writers, and subsequent analysis suggests tentatively that writers of different proficiency may present differing writing profiles. These patterns of composition are then illustrated further through use of the interview data, indicating the writers' awareness of their own composing processes. Finally, the article considers the pedagogic and theoretical implications of these findings, in particular the need for further confirmatory research.

Becoming a teacher of writing: Primary student teachers reviewing their relationship with writing

“…This realisation resonates with the work of Myhill () cited above. In addition, the recursive nature of the compositional process referred to by this student is acknowledged in seminal works by Flower and Hayes () and by Bereiter and Scadamalia ().…”

Ways with words: teachers’ personal epistemologies of the role of metalanguage in the teaching of poetry writing

“…see Martlew 1983;Wallace and Hayes 1991;Kellogg 1994;Butterfield, Hacker, and Albertson 1996). Metacognitive knowledge has been identified as playing a role in all stages of the writing process: in planning (Hayes and Flower 1980), in text production (Myhill 2009), in revision (Alamargot and Chanquoy 2001), and Bereiter and Scardamalia argue that the value of metacognition lies in rendering 'normally covert processes overt', thus making 'tacit knowledge more accessible' to the writer (1987,57). Metalinguistic knowledge also serves the function of bringing tacit knowledge, about language, into explicit focus.…”

Assessing children's writing products: the role of curriculum based measures

“…Not surprisingly, given its complexity, many students struggle with learning to write (Graham & Harris, 2004), teachers often find writing instruction challenging (Graham et al, 2008) and the assessment of written products raises a unique set of problems for practitioners and researchers alike (Huot, 1990). Over the primary school years students develop their writing skills and some, when they enter secondary schools, are highly competent wordsmiths (Myhill, 2009;Myhill & Jones, 2007). However, the inability to produce sustained, accurate, and competent writing remains a pervasive weakness for many students; teachers need to be able to profile pupils developing writing skills so appropriate action can be taken (Fuchs & Fuchs, 2009).…”