School Discourse Learning to Write Across the Years of Schooling

by Christie, Frances; Derewianka, Beverly

• ISBN13: 9780826499929
• ISBN10: 0826499929
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-02-07
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic

Summary

Writing development has been a key area of research in applied linguistics for some time but most work has focused on children's writing at particular ages, for example, at the early primary, late primary or secondary stage. Christie and Derewianka draw on extensive research in both primary and secondary years to trace the developmental trajectory from age 5 or 6 through to 18. Using a systemic functional grammar, they outline developmental changes in writing in three major areas of the school curriculum - English, history, and science - as children move from early childhood to late childhood and on to adolescence and adulthood. The book considers the nature of the curriculum at various stages, discussing the interplay of curriculum goals, pedagogy and developmental changes as children grow older. It also explores how emergent control of the different subjects requires control of various subject specific literacies and considers the pedagogical implications of their findings. It will be of interest to anyone involved in the writing performance of children in schools, particularly applied and educational linguists. Book jacket.

Author Biography

Frances Christie is Emeritus Professor of Language and Literacy Education at the University of Melbourne, Australia and Honorary Professor at the University of Sydney, Australia. Beverly Derewianka is Professor of Language Education in the Faculty of Education, University of Wollongong, Australia.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	p. viii
Notations	p. x
A Functional Approach to Writing Development	p. 1
Writing Stories in Subject English	p. 30
Writing to Respond to and Evaluate Other Texts	p. 58
Reconstructing the Past: Recording and Describing Historical Events	p. 86
Reviewing the Past: Interpreting, Explaining, Arguing and Debating Historical Events	p. 114
Observing and Writing about the Natural World	p. 149
Interpreting Phenomena of the Natural World	p. 182
The Developmental Trajectory in Writing	p. 212
References	p. 245
Index	p. 257
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