Includes theorists and theories necessary for the top band, in depth analysis of data set
Answers the question:
‘Learning to write factually is the most important skill in literacy development.’
Referring to Data Set 2 and Data Set 3 in detail, and to relevant ideas from language
study, eva...
Learning to write factually is the most important skill in literacy development Jun20
05) When considering the idea that the most important skill for children to become literate,
it's important to consider that writing factually means only writing the absolute truth which
means often writing a story of mundane life or writing from an entirely impersonal stance to
describe an object. Both Lucy and Hannah's writing recalls what they did on the weekend,
however, we can infer from pragmatic inferences that Hannah's writing may not be entirely
factual but it is engaging. This essay will explore whether learning to write factually is the
best skill for literacy development or whether children should be encouraged to be creative
to engage their readers.
Rickford would argue that learning to write factually may be a more important skill before
learning about creativity since he argues that there are rules to language which children
must follow and it may be easier to learn these before engaging in a more playful discourse.
For example, in both data sets there is a clear understanding of syntax structure. In data set
2, in the independent clause 'I went to the shop', Hannah uses the standard rules of English
in which the subject (I) comes first, then the verb (went), then the object (the shop). The use
of the irregular past tense verb 'went' implies that Hannah has had some explicit grammar
teaching since this is a rule that cannot be picked up passively. Therefore it could be argued
that exposure and an understanding of grammatical rules is the most important skill.
Similarly in data set 3, Lucy understands syntax structure since the compound sentence 'I
didn't get any...' joins two independent clauses with the coordinating conjunction 'but'.
Therefore it could be considered that since Hannah and Lucy have been asked to write
about what they did at the weekend, they are just focusing on their syntax skills without
worrying about trying to make the text engaging which is a crucial skill for allowing readers to
understand a story. However, Hannah and Lucy still use some non-standard English. For
example, Lucy doesn't use any punctuation apart from the exclamation mark in the complex
exclamatory sentence 'when it was time to go..' and Hannah misspelt the word 'bought' by
not having an understanding that the diphthong 'ou' in English creates this 'or' phoneme.
Therefore, Torrance would argue that teachers must enhance a students work by teaching
them rules within the language first. Therefore it could be considered that lessons focusing
on phonetics and punctuation may be the most important skill.
However, some linguists would argue that such phonetic and punctuation rules can only be
learnt once the learner can use them in practice, such as in writing. Vygotsky argues that a
child can only develop their literacy when they have a chance to write to fulfil a purpose.
They require the assistance of a more knowledgeable other to bridge their understanding.
Britton built on this idea by arguing that children need to write about what matters to them. In
data set 2 and 3, both children have a purpose, to write factually which is seen in their
discourse structure. Both children begin each new paragraph with the prepositional phrase
'On saturday/ Sunday'. The use of this implies that the teacher has provided them with a
framework to structure their writing which may suggest that they don't have the opportunity
to write about what matters to them. The high semantic relativity of the first person pronoun
'I' and the past tense verb 'went' in both data sets implies that the children don't have a
chance to write about what they wish but must use the teacher's guidance. This does not
prepare them for the real purposes of literacy in the real world since they will need to use a
range of discourse structures depending on what they are writing for. In addition, Dornyei
would argue that allowing children to explore language creatively offers them respite from
the classroom monogamy. Therefore learning to write factually with the use of teacher
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