Christie, F: School Discourse

Frances Christie

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. 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.School Discourse will be of interest to anyone involved in the writing performance of children in schools, particularly applied and educational linguists.

A cutting-edge research-based monograph that uses a Systemic approach to example school discourse.

Acknowledgements Notations 1. A functional approach to writing development 2. Writing stories in subject English 3. Writing to respond to and evaluate other texts 4. Reconstructing the past: recording and describing historical events 5.Reviewing the past: interpreting, explaining, arguing and debating historical events 6. Observing and writing about the natural world 7. Interpreting phenomena of the natural world 8. The developmental trajectory in writing References Index