Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Writing .. it is not what it used to be..
Is enjoyment of writing dying or evolving? A new report provides an insight into what writing means to children and young people.
The National Literacy Trust published a report evaluating the findings of their survey of young people about their habits and attitudes to writing in November 2009.
The key objectives of the survey were: “to explore how much young people enjoy writing, what type of writing they engage in, how good at writing they think they are and what they think about writing.”
3001 pupils aged 11-16 took part in the online survey in March 2009. The respondents were an equal split of boys and girls with 20% entitled to free school meals, roughly in line with the national average for England of 21%. (October 2009)
75% of the young people surveyed said they wrote regularly.
45% said they enjoyed writing in general but that number rose to 68% who enjoyed writing for family and friends rather than at school.
Respondents were asked if they enjoyed writing more if they could choose the topic and 79% agreed they did.
With three quarters of the young people writing regularly, writing is still a significant part of everyday life but the survey also revealed that the forms of writing young people are choosing are changing. New forms of writing have developed with technology but to date there has been little research looking at children’s writing in these new forms, either in their own right or in comparison to the use of traditional forms.
“there is a lack of research looking at how much young people write, the different forms of writing that they engage in and their confidence in using these different forms of writing.”
These new forms of writing are offering children and young people new opportunities for enjoying and developing writing skills. For example, 56% of the young people surveyed had a profile on a social networking site such as Bebo or Facebook and 24% wrote their own blog. Girls were much more likely to have a blog than boys with 33% of girls surveyed compared to 18% of the boys writing a blog.
The research showed there was a link between using technology-based writing activities such as blogging and writing ability and enjoyment of writing. For example, young people who wrote a blog were much more likely than young people who did not to enjoy writing in general. (57% compared to 40%).Young people with a blog (61%) as well as young people with a profile on a social networking site (56%) also displayed greater confidence, believing themselves to be good writers. Blog owners and young people with a social networking profile were also more prolific writers than their counterparts. They held more positive attitudes towards writing and computer use, and viewed writers more favourably.
Owning a mobile phone does not appear to alter young people’s enjoyment of writing, their writing behaviour or their attitudes towards writing. Most young people said they used computers regularly and 60% said that having a computer encouraged them to write more often and to be more creative.
The survey found a significant change in attitudes and habits in writing with age. Pupils aged 8-11 enjoyed writing both for schoolwork and family and friends, mostly writing in traditional forms such as short stories, poems and letters. Young people this age also held positive attitudes towards writing and writers. Between the ages of 11-14 young people were least likely to enjoy writing or write regularly. By age 14 writing becomes more popular again, although between ages 14-16 writing with new technology such as blogs, social profiles and MSN.
The report concludes that young people are writing regularly as part of their everyday life but do not always have the opportunities to use the writing formats they enjoy most at school. The task ahead is for schools to meet this need.
"Overall, it is paramount that the school curriculum reflects and utilises writing forms that young people enjoy and engage with in order to demonstrate that writing is more than a compulsory task: it is an essential life skill."
To read the report in full including the questions children were asked, visit the website.
The Everybody Writes website has free resources andideas to support both Primary and Secondary schools developing writing skills.
A much smaller study by Clare Woods, Reader in Developmental Psychology at the University of Coventry has been published this month, analysing the impact of being an active text messenger on 8-12 year olds. Of the 63 children taking part in the research project, Woods found that texting was not detrimental to childrens' literacy development and that there was evidence that " textism use was actually driving the development of phonological awareness and reading skills in children." The final report of the research, funded by the British Academy will be published in 2011. To read more vist the website: