What is the research evidence on writing? - Department for Education

Literacy-specific
activities
Use of resources
6. Writing as an activity out of school
scripts for editing exerc<strong>is</strong>es, reading transcripts,
hearing <strong>the</strong> drafts of o<strong>the</strong>r pupils and drafting
targeted sections
o Writing frames which are most effective when <strong>the</strong>y
are modified to meet <strong>the</strong> specific needs of pupils
o Make writing tasks purposeful and give pupils
opportunities to write frequently and at length
o Effective use of oral work and poetry
o Let boys hear and read emotionally powerful texts
with strong narrative structure and poems
o Teachers’ knowledge and ‘belief systems’ about
literacy are also important
o Effective use of v<strong>is</strong>ual media such as cartoons,
telev<strong>is</strong>ion, video and computer games
o Use of ICT facilities such as spell checkers, alterability
of text on screen, use of composition features (e.g.
highlight and font) to focus on cohesion, vocabulary
chains and excessive coordination.
Th<strong>is</strong> section summar<strong>is</strong>es <strong>the</strong> <strong>research</strong> <strong>evidence</strong> on pupils’ writing activity out of <strong>the</strong>
classroom settings. In <strong>the</strong> recent years <strong>the</strong>re has been a lot of d<strong>is</strong>cussion about <strong>the</strong>
increased role that <strong>the</strong> new technology and communication play in young people’s
lives. Studies in United Kingdom and abroad have been looking at <strong>the</strong> new types of
writing young people engage with (such as text messages, internet blogs, social
media postings) and how th<strong>is</strong> relates to formal writing (i.e. writing in <strong>the</strong> classroom).
6.1 The role of new technology in literacy outcomes
A small-scale study investigated <strong>the</strong> relationship between text message
abbreviations (text<strong>is</strong>ms) and school literacy outcomes on 5 classes of 10 to 12 yearsold
pupils. Despite its limitations (having a small sample and asking pupils explicitly
to write text messages in response to ten different scenarios), <strong>the</strong> study found no
<strong>evidence</strong> that children’s written language development <strong>is</strong> being d<strong>is</strong>rupted by <strong>the</strong> use
of text abbreviations. On <strong>the</strong> contrary, <strong>the</strong> study found <strong>evidence</strong> of a positive
relationship between use of text<strong>is</strong>ms and word reading ability. As <strong>the</strong> authors note,
th<strong>is</strong> may be explained by <strong>the</strong> fact that use of text<strong>is</strong>ms requires a certain degree of
phonological awareness (Plester et al, 2009). O<strong>the</strong>r <strong>evidence</strong> has also found a
positive relationship between text<strong>is</strong>ms and spelling (Wood et al, 2011).
International <strong>evidence</strong> suggests that even though teenagers engage in technologybased
writing, <strong>the</strong>y do not think of it as ‘writing’. Sixty per cent of teenagers taking
part in <strong>the</strong> Pew Internet <strong>research</strong> project did not think that technology-based writing
such as text messages, emails, instant messages or posting comments on social
networking sites was ‘writing’. In addition, even though <strong>the</strong>y did not believe that
technology has a negative influence on <strong>the</strong> quality of <strong>the</strong>ir writing, <strong>the</strong>y admitted
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