Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The effect of transcription skills, text generation, and self-regulation on Icelandic children’s text writing

  • Published:
Reading and Writing Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The main purpose of this longitudinal research was to study the effects of transcription skills, text generation skills and self-regulation on Icelandic children’s writing, compare their effects on two different text genres and see if it changes with age, from second to fourth grade. Eighty-seven Icelandic children were followed up from first through fourth grade. In first grade the children’s transcription skills, text generation skills and self-regulation were evaluated. In second and fourth grade the children composed two written texts, a narrative and an information text. The dimensions of text quality analysed included text length, vocabulary, cohesion, structure and spelling. A multiple regression model was used to assess the importance of the three foundational skills for children’s writing in both grades and for both text genres. Transcription skills strongly predicted spelling in both text genres and in both grades but had limited effect on measures of text quality. Text generation skills had limited effect on both spelling and text quality while self-regulation significantly affected more variables than did transcription skills and text generation skills. Finally, the results suggest that the effects of the three foundational skills develop in different ways in the two text genres, and that children can activate their text generation skills for narrative writing earlier than for information text writing.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abbott, R. D., Berninger, V. W., & Fayol, M. (2010). Longitudinal relationships of levels of language in writing and between writing and reading in grades 1 to 7. Journal of Educational Psychology, 102(2), 281–298.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arfé, B., Bernardi, B., Pasini, M., & Poeta, F. (2012). Toward a redefinition of spelling in shallow orthographies: Phonological, lexical, and grammatical skills in learning to spell Italian. In V. W. Berninger (Ed.), Past, present, and future contributions of cognitive writing research to cognitive psychology (pp. 359–388). New York: Psychology Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arfé, B., Dockrell, J. E., & De Bernardi, B. (2016). The effect of language specific factors on early written composition: The role of spelling, oral language and text generation skills in a shallow orthography. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 29(3), 501–527.

    Google Scholar 

  • Babayigit, S., & Stainthorp, R. (2011). Modeling the relationships between cognitive-linguistic skills and literacy skills: New insights from a transparent orthography. Journal of Educational Psychology, 103(1), 169–189.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berman, R. A., & Slobin, D. I. (Eds.). (1994). Relating events in narrative: A crosslinguistic developmental study. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berninger, V. W., Abbott, R. D., Abbott, S. D., Graham, S., & Richards, T. (2002). Writing and reading: Connections between language by hand and language by eye. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 35(1), 39–56.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berninger, V. W., & Amtmann, D. (2003). Preventing written expression disabilities through early and continuing assessment and intervention for handwriting and/or spelling problems: Research into practice. In H. L. Swanson, K. R. Harris, & S. Graham (Eds.), Handbook of learning disabilities (pp. 345–363). New York, NY: The Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Birgisdóttir, F. (2012). Hlutverk orðhlutavitundar í lestrarnámi: Niðurstöður úr langtímarannsókn á þroska, máli og læsi grunnskólabarna. [The role of morphological awareness in reading development: Findings from a three-year longitudinal study among Icelandic 4 to 8-year-old children.] Ráðstefnurit Netlu – Menntakvika 2012. http://netla.hi.is/menntakvika2012/005.pdf. Accessed 21 July 2020.

  • Caravolas, M. (2004). Spelling development in alphabetic writing systems: A cross-linguistic perspective. European Psychologist, 9(1), 3–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coker, D. (2006). Impact of first-grade factors on the growth and outcomes of urban schoolchildren’s primary-grade writing. Journal of Educational Psychology, 98(3), 471–488.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coltheart, M., Patterson, K., & Marshall, J. C. (1980). Deep dyslexia. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cordeiro, C., Limpo, T., Olive, T., & Castro, S. L. (2020). Do executive functions contribute to writing quality in beginning writers? A longitudinal study with second graders. Reading and Writng: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 33, 813–833. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-019-09963-6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dockrell, J. E., & Connelly, V. (2015). The role of oral language in underpinning the text generation difficulties in children with specific language impairment. Journal of Research in Reading, 38(1), 18–34.

    Google Scholar 

  • Donovan, C. A. (2001). Children’s development and control of written story and informational genres: Insights from one elementary school. Research in the Teaching of English, 35(3), 394–447.

    Google Scholar 

  • Donovan, C. A., & Smolkin, L. B. (2006). Children’s understanding of genre and writing development. In C. A. MacArthur, S. Graham, & J. Fitzgerald (Eds.), Handbook of writing research (pp. 131–143). New York: The Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Drijbooms, E., Groen, M. A., & Verhoeven, L. (2015). The contribution of executive functions to narrative writing in fourth grade children. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 28, 989–1011.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duke, N. K. (2000). 3,6 minutes per day: The scarcity of informational texts in first grade. Reading Research Quarterly, 35(2), 202–224.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dunn, L. M., & Dunn, D. M. (2007). Peabody picture vocabulary test. Bloomington, MN: Pearson Assessments.

    Google Scholar 

  • Filippetti, V. A., & Richaud, M. C. (2015). Do executive functions predict written composition? Effects beyond age, verbal intelligence and reading comprehension. Acta Neuropsychologica, 13(4), 331–349.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gestsdóttir, S., Ragnarsdóttir, H., & Birgisdóttir, F. (2010). Sjálfstjórn fjögurra og sex ára barna á Íslandi: Mat á tvenns konar mælitækjum [Self-regulation among four and six year old children in Iceland: Assessment of two types of measures]. Sálfræðiritið, 15(1), 7–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Graham, S., Harris, K. R., & Mason, L. (2005). Improving the writing performance, knowledge, and self-efficacy of struggling young writers: The effects of self-regulated strategy development. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 30(2), 207–241.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gunnarsdóttir, E. K., Ólason, D. Þ., & Pind, J. L. (2004). Orðalykill: Staðlað orðaforðapróf fyrir börn á grunnskólaaldri [Orðalykill: A standardized vocabulary test for 6–16 years old children]. Sálfræðiritið Tímarit Sálfræðingafélags Íslands, 9, 141–149.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harris, K. R., Graham, S., Mason, L. H., McKeown, D., & Olinghouse, N. (2018). Self-regulated strategy development in writing: A classroom example of developing executive function processes and future directions. In L. Meltzer (Ed.), Executive function in education: From theory to practice (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kamberelis, G. (1999). Genre development and learning: Children writing stories, science reports and poems. Research in the Teaching of English, 33, 403–460.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kim, Y.-S., Al Otaiba, S., Puranik, C., Folsom, J. S., Greulich, L., & Wagner, R. K. (2011). Componential skills of beginning writing: An exploratory study. Learning and Individual Differences, 21, 517–525.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kim, Y.-S., Al Otaiba, S., Sidler, J. F., & Gruelich, L. (2013). Language, literacy, attentional behaviors, and instructional quality predictors of written composition for first graders. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 28(3), 461–469.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kleinbaum, D. G., Kupper, L. L., Nizam, A., & Muller, K. E. (2007). Applied regression analysis and other multivariable methods (4th ed.). Belmont, CA: Duxbury.

    Google Scholar 

  • Larkin, R. F., & Snowling, M. J. (2008). Morphological spelling develoment. Reading and Writing Quarterly, 24(4), 363–376.

    Google Scholar 

  • Limpo, T., & Alves, R. A. (2013). Modeling writing development: Contribution of transcription and self-regulation to Portuguese students’ text generation quality. Journal of Educational Psychology, 105(2), 401–413.

    Google Scholar 

  • Limpo, T., Alves, R. A., & Fidalgo, R. (2014). Children’s high-level writing skills: Development of planning and revising and their contribution to writing quality. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 84(2), 177–193.

    Google Scholar 

  • MacArthur, C. A. (2012). Evaluation and revision. In V. W. Berninger (Ed.), Past, present, and future contributions of cognitive writing research to cognitive psychology (pp. 461–483). New York: Psychology Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marinelli, C. V., Romani, C., Burani, C., & Zoccolotti, P. (2015). Spelling acquisition in English and Italian: A cross-linguistic study. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01843.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayer, M. (1969). Frog, where are you?. New York, NY: Dial Books for Young Readers.

    Google Scholar 

  • McClelland, M. M., Cameron, C. E., Connor, C. M., Farris, C. L., Jewkes, A. M., & Morrison, F. J. (2007). Links between behavioral regulation and preschoolers’ literacy, vocabulary, and math skills. Development Psychology, 43, 947–959.

    Google Scholar 

  • Medwell, J., Strand, S., & Wray, D. (2007). The role of handwriting in composing for Y2 children. Journal of Reading, Writing and Literacy, 2, 11–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Myhill, D. (2005). Prior knowledge and the (re)production of school written genres. In T. Kostouli (Ed.), Writing in context(s). Studies in writing (Vol. 15). Boston, MA: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nagy, W., Berninger, V. W., & Abbott, R. D. (2006). Contributions of morphology beyond phonology to literacy outcomes of upper elementary and middle-school students. Journal of Educational Psychology, 98(1), 134–147.

    Google Scholar 

  • Notarnicola, A., Angelelli, P., Judica, A., & Zoccolotti, P. (2012). Development of spelling skills in a shallow orthography: The case of Italian language. Reading & Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 25, 1171–1194. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-011-9312-0.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oddsdóttir, R., Ragnarsdóttir, H., & Birgisdóttir, F. (2012). Textaritun byrjenda: Frásagnir og upplýsingatextar barna í 1. bekk grunnskóla [Young children’s writing: First graders’ stories and information texts]. Ráðstefnurit Netlu – Menntakvika 2012. http://netla.hi.is/menntakvika2012/012.pdf. Accessed 21 July 2020.

  • Oddsdóttir, R., Ragnarsdóttir, H., & Birgisdóttir, F. (2013). Þróun textaritunar í fyrstu bekkjum grunnskóla: Frásagnir og upplýsingatextar barna í 2.–4. bekk [The development of text writing in early elementary school: Children’s narrative and information texts in grades 2–4]. Netla – Veftímarit um uppeldi og menntun: Sérrit 2013 – Rannsóknir og skólastarf. http://netla.hi.is/serrit/2013/rannsoknir_og_skolastarf/007.pdf. Accessed 21 July 2020.

  • Oddsdóttir, R., Sigurðsson, B., & Haraldsdóttir, H. (2017). Ritun í Byrjendalæsi [Writing in Beginning Literacy]. In R. Sigþórsson & G. L. Marinósson (Eds.), Byrjendalæsi Rannsókn á innleiðingu og aðferð [Beginning Literacy: Research on implementation and method] (pp. 93–121). Reykjavík: University of Iceland Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ólafsdóttir, V. (2011). Íslenskt orðskilningspróf fyrir fjögurra til átta ára börn: Þýðing og staðfærsla PPVT-4 [Icelandic vocabulary test for four to eight years old children: Translation and localization on PPVT-4] (Cand. Psych thesis, University of Iceland, Faculty of Psychology, Reykjavík). http://hdl.handle.net/1946/7447. Accessed 21 July 2020.

  • Olinghouse, N. G. (2008). Student- and instruction-level predictors of narrative writing in third-grade students. Reading and Writing Quarterly, 21, 3–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Patterson, K. (1986). Lexical but nonsemantic spelling? Cognitve Neuropsychology, 3(3), 341–367. https://doi.org/10.1080/0264329860825336.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pinto, G., Tarchi, C., & Bigozzi, L. (2016). Development in narrative competences from oral to written stories in five- to seven-year-old children. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 36(3), 1–10.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ragnarsdóttir, H. (1992). Episodic structure and interclausal connectives in Icelandic children’s narratives. In R. Söderbergh (Ed.), Berättelser för och av barn [Narratives for and by children] (pp. 33–45). Lund: Lund University Child Language Research Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ragnarsdóttir, H. (2004). Málþroski barna við upphaf skólagöngu: Sögubygging og samloðun í frásögnum 165 fimm ára barna - almenn einkenni og einstaklingsmunur [Children’s language skills at elementary school entry: Structure and cohesion in the narratives of 165 five-year-olds – main trends and individual variation]. Uppeldi og menntun, 13(2), 9–31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ragnarsdóttir, H. (2007). Þróun textagerðar frá miðbernsku til fullorðinsára: Lengd og tengingar setninga í frásögnum og álitsgerðum [Development of text construction from preadolescence to adulthood. Clause length and text connections in narratives and expositions]. Uppeldi og menntun, 16(2), 139–159.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ragnarsdóttir, H. (2011). Textagerð barna, unglinga og fullorðinna: Samanburður á orðaforða í rit- og talmálstextum, frásögnum og álitsgerðum. [Text construction by children, adolescents and adults: A comparative study of vocabulary use in narratives versus expository genre, and in written compared to spoken modality]. Uppeldi og menntun, 20(1), 75–98.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ragnarsdóttir, H. (2015). Málþroski leikskólabarna: Þróun orðaforða, málfræði og hlustunarskilnings milli fjögra og fimm ára aldurs. [Language development in the preschool years: Longitudinal study of vocabulary, grammar and listening comprehension in Icelandic children between ages four and five]. Netla – Veftímarit um uppeldi og menntun. http://netla.hi.is/greinar/2015/ryn/007.pdf. Accessed 21 July 2020.

  • Ragnarsdóttir, H. (2018). Orðaforði Íslenskra barna frá 4 til 8 ára aldurs: Langtímarannsókn á vaxtarhraða og stöðugleika. [Icelandic children’s vocabulary between ages 4 and 8: Longitudinal study of growth-rate and stability]. Netla – Veftímarit um uppeldi og menntun. http://netla.hi.is/greinar/2018/ryn/15.pdf. Accessed 21 July 2020.

  • Ritchey, K. D. (2008). The building blocks of writing: Learning to write letters and spell words. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 21(1–2), 27–47.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salas, N., & Silvente, S. (2020). The role of executive functions and transcription skills in writing: A cross-sectional study across 7 years of schooling. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 33, 877–905.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scinto, L. (1986). Written language and psychological development. New York, NY: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott, C. M., & Windsor, J. (2000). General language performance measures in spoken and written narrative and expository discourse of school-age children with language learning disabilities. Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research, 43(2), 324–339.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seymour, P. H. K., Aro, M., & Erskine, J. M. (2003). Foundation literacy acquisition in European orthographies. British Journal of Psychology, 94(2), 143–174.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shanahan, T. (1984). Nature of the reading–writing relation: An exploratory multivariate analysis. Journal of Educational Psychology, 76(3), 466–477.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sprenger-Charolles, L., Siegel, L. S., Béchennec, D., & Serniclaes, W. (2003). Development of phonological and orthographic processing in reading aloud, in silent reading, and in spelling: A four-year longitudinal study. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 84(3), 194–217. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-0965(03)00024-9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Strömqvist, S., Johansson, V., Kriz, S., Ragnarsdóttir, H., Aisenman, R., & Ravid, D. (2002). Towards a cross-linguistic comparison of lexical quanta in speech and writing. Written Language and Literacy, 5, 45–67.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tracy, B., Graham, S., & Reid, R. (2009). Teaching young students strategies for planning and drafting stories: The impact of self-regulated strategy development. The Journal of Educational Research, 102(5), 323–332.

    Google Scholar 

  • Treiman, R., & Kessler, B. (2013). Learning to use an alphabetic writing system. Language Learning and Development, 9(4), 317–330.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wagner, R. K., Puranik, C. S., Foorman, B., Foster, E., Wilson, L. G., Tschinkel, E., et al. (2011). Modeling the development of written language. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 24(2), 203–220.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, J. P., & Pao, L. S. (2011). Teaching narrative and expository text structure to improve comprehension. In R. E. O’Conner & P. F. Vadasy (Eds.), Handbook of reading interventions (pp. 254–278). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ziegler, J. C., & Goswami, U. (2005). Reading acquisition, developmental dyslexia, and skilled reading across languages: A psycholinguistic grain size theory. Phychological Bulletin, 131(1), 3–29. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.131.1.3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zipf, G. K. (1932). Selected studies of the principle of relative frequency in language. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

The research was supported by Grant Number 080648021 from the Icelandic Research Fund to Hrafnhildur Ragnarsdóttir.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Akureyri, Sólborg, Norðurslóð, 600, Akureyri, Iceland

    Rannveig Oddsdóttir

  2. School of Education, University of Iceland, Reykjavík, Iceland

    Hrafnhildur Ragnarsdóttir & Sigurgrímur Skúlason

  3. The Icelandic Directorate of Education, Reykjavík, Iceland

    Sigurgrímur Skúlason

Authors
  1. Rannveig Oddsdóttir
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Hrafnhildur Ragnarsdóttir
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Sigurgrímur Skúlason
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rannveig Oddsdóttir.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Hrafnhildur Ragnarsdóttir: Professor emeritus, University of Iceland.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Oddsdóttir, R., Ragnarsdóttir, H. & Skúlason, S. The effect of transcription skills, text generation, and self-regulation on Icelandic children’s text writing. Read Writ 34, 391–416 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-020-10074-w

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-020-10074-w

Keywords

Search

Navigation