Language Acquisition- Learning to Write

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Learning to Write

Main stages in learning to write:

  • Consolidation stage (6-8years old). Children tend to write as they speak. They are likely to use short, declarative sentences, grammatically incorrect sentences or longer sentences linked by simple conjunctions such as "and", "then" and "so". There may be colloquialisms, strings of clauses linked by "and" and unfinished sentences.
  • Differentiation stage ( ages 8- mid teens).Children become more aware of the differences between writing and speech. Sentences become more complicated, with more subordinative clauses and the use of more sophisticated connectives. There is also more variety, as the child begins to learn that different writing styles are required for different purposes and audiences.

Infant print=  First style of writing taught to infants, letters are printed in lower case.

Cursive script = joined up writing.

What a child needs to understand/ be able to do in order to write.

  • How to hold/control a pen or pencil
  • How speech is coded into writing
  • Spacial organisation (left to right, top to bottom, gaps)
  • English words contain grammatical information- normally in the Suffix
  • Structures and conventions of written language (spelling, punctuation, sentence construction etc)
  • Layout of texts (graphology)
  • Writing can have different purposes

Main types of spelling errors made by children:

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