Analysis of Children's Written and Oral Language.

APPENDICES cont.
Appendix 4 : CODING SHEET – WRITING TASK
For coding purposes, student performance was scored on either a three or a four-point scale. During the coding process, attention was deliberately not paid to the relationship between the students' initial planning strategies and their recount, nor to the quantity or quality of editing the children had achieved when checking their work. Amount and length of writing was not measured (although extremes were noted for anecdotal purposes). Furthermore, no attention was paid to spelling errors or apostrophe use. Examination of these aspects lay beyond the scope of this probe study.
   
 
Student Number: Year: Sex: Ethnicity: Zone: Decile:
   
 
Deeper Features
 Section 1 : Audience/Purpose
Impact: Engages audience interest through appropriate language choices (including humour interpretive comments) that hold the reader's attention
Highly engaging Engaging Somewhat engaging Little/no engagement
Personal Voice: Sustains sincerity of personal voice throughout piece
High Incidence Some evidence Little/no evidence
 
Section 2: Content/Ideas
Content: Keeps to chosen topic
Completely More than half Some (Less than half) Off topic
Justification: Moves beyond linear or chronological sequence to include supporting detail, interpretative, qualifying, evaluative comments or observations.
Highly detailed Some detail Little/no detail
 
Section 3: Structure/Organisation
Sentence Construction: Uses variety in sentence openings, sentence construction
Highly varied Some variety Little/no detail
Overall Shape: Links opening and end, crafts recount into a well-shaped whole in relation to topic
Highly crafted Some crafting Little/no crafting
 
Section 4: Language
Vividness of Language: Uses nouns, verbs, adjectives beyond basic word list to colour or enliven writing.
High (5 or more) Sometimes Basic
Adjective Count: Speech uses adjectives (excluding adjectives of colour)
High (5 or more) Usual (3-4) Some (1-2) None
Surface Features
  
Section 5: Presentation
Punctuation: Correct placement of full stops, capital letters in sentences, in relation to whole.
Always free Usually free (1-2) Sometimes free (3-4) Fillers dominate (5+)
Syntax: Control of verb forms (singular/plural agreement, subject/verb agreements, tense)
High Usually Some No evidence
Consistency of handwriting: Consistency of letter-size, height, word placement (Line 5)
Highly consistent Usually Correct Sometimes Correct Incorrect

Appendix 3 / Appendix 5
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