What do Children Think about Writing?

Abstract

This article reports on a study of junior school childrens’ thoughts about the writing done in their classrooms. Four hundred and seventy five children, ranging from seven to eleven years old, were asked to write to a younger child explaining what he/she would have to do to do good writing in their class. The resulting pieces are analysed for their references to particular features of writing. At a simple level of analysis the pieces show a group of children who are extremely concerned with the technical skills of writing and not so concerned with compositional aspects. By looking at the differences in the concerns expressed at different ages, a more complex explanation is put forward for this apparent over concern. Some implications for theories of literacy development are suggested.