Abstract
The purpose of this study was to tap preschoolers’ conceptions about the representational meaning of writing via their notation of sentences having different syntactic and semantic relationships. 60 Hebrew speaking children attending nursery school and kindergarten were individually interviewed. Each child dealt with 10 different pairs of sentences; a written sentence and a spoken one. The semantic relationships between the sentences were different in each pair i.e., identity; total difference; redundancy; entailment and inconsistency. Each time the written sentence was read, first by the experimenter and then together with the child. Then, with the written sentence still in front of him, the child was presented with the spoken sentence and asked to write it down.
Children’s writing-procedures became increasingly differentiated reflecting the relationships between the written model and the spoken sentences. A link was found between the type of semantic relationships and children’s writing-procedures. Results are discussed in terms of level of metalinguistic knowledge involved in writing.
Résumé
L’objectif de ce travail était d’explorer les conceptions des enfants d’âge pré-scolaire à propos de la signification de l’écrit, en leur faisant écrire différents énoncés présentant entre eux des relations sémantiques et syntaxiques diverses.
Soixante enfants de langue hébraīque, provenant de différentes écoles maternelles et jardins d’enfants, ont été interrogés individuellement. Chaque enfant se voyait présenter 10 paires d’énoncés; dans chaque paire un des énoncés était présenté oralement et l’autre par écrit. Les relations sémantiques entre énoncés d’une même paire variaient systématiquement: identité, complète différence, redondance, etc…
Avec l’âge les procédures d’écriture des enfants se différencient progressivement et reflètent de mieux en mieux les relations et différences entre l’énoncé écrit et l’énoncé oral. Les résultats sont discutés à la lumière de nos savoirs sur le niveau de connaissance métalinguistique impliqué par l’activité d’écriture.
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This is working paper number 58 of the Unit of Human Development and Education, Tel Aviv University. It is based on a Master thesis realized by Iris Frenkel. Part of it was presented at the International CongressCommunication and Cognition, Applied Epistemology, Ghent, December, 1987.
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Landsmann, L.T. Form and meaning in the development of writing. Eur J Psychol Educ 3, 385–398 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03172662
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03172662