Halliday's functions of children's written language

• first words are concrete nouns
• child uses language to express needs

E.g. Christmas present list

• language used to tell others what to do
• child realises language is a useful tool and by using language they can get what they want

E.g. 'Amy's Room Keep Out'

• language used to communicate with other people and form relationships
• realises language goes beyond what you need

E.g. Birthday card

• uses language to express feelings and opinions
• realises language is more demanding and get praised for using language

E.g. Poems

• language used to gain info about the world
• child questions everything and always seeking an answer

• language used to tell stories and create an imaginary situation
• child recognises an object can be called many things

E.g. Writing stories

• child uses language to convert facts and information
• begins to talk about brand new things
• learn to represent themselves using language

E.g. Writing a story about what happened to them, writing a shopping list