Walter, Kirsty;
(2024)
The influence of reading and oral language in children’s writing and response to intervention.
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
Background: Writers must learn to translate their ideas into text, requiring the integration of multiple component processes. Writing processes are influenced by children's reading and oral language skills. Many children struggle with writing. The current thesis explored the influence of reading and oral language on the writing of typically-developing and struggling writers (SWs). Furthermore, it aimed to explore how reading and oral language influenced SWs' response to intervention. Method: In Study One, 267 typically-developing writers aged 8-10 years completed a test battery assessing children's writing, spelling, grammar and reading comprehension at the start and end of the academic year. For Studies Two and Three, 71 SWs were identified from a screening sample. Study Two assessed SWs’ writing at the word-, sentence-and text-levels. Children's oral expression, listening comprehension and word-reading skills were also assessed. For Study Three, SWs were matched and randomly assigned to either a morphological spelling intervention, a sentence-combining intervention or a waiting list control group. Measures from Study Two were administered at baseline, immediate post-test and 3-month delayed post-test. Results: Findings from Study One indicated that children's reading comprehension, directly and indirectly, influenced writing ability through spelling and grammar. Study Two results suggested SWs’ with better word reading had better spelling skills and produced texts with fewer spelling errors and more correct word sequences. Study Three findings suggested that a sentence-combining intervention was most effective. Furthermore, exploratory analyses indicated SWs in the sentence-combining intervention, or those with low baseline sentence-combining scores, poor reading skills, or better spelling skills showed the greatest gains at immediate post-test. Conclusion: Children's reading comprehension, word reading, oral expression and listening comprehension influenced their writing. For SWs, word reading, listening comprehension and spelling skills influenced response to a sentence-combining intervention. Understanding the relationship between these factors has theoretical implications and practical implications.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | The influence of reading and oral language in children’s writing and response to intervention |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2024. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request. |
| Keywords: | Writing, struggling writers, intervention, response to intervention, sentence combining, spelling, morphological spelling, oral language, reading |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Psychology and Human Development |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10192960 |
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