Thompson, Richard; (2024) Learning to edit: the effects of revision teaching on the revisions made by 9- and 10-year-old children in England. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

Text Thesis full draft _ Richard Thompson_open access version.pdf - Accepted Version Access restricted to UCL open access staff until 1 July 2025. Download (2MB)

Abstract

Revision generally emerges later than other skills in writing development: developing writers often revise less frequently and less successfully than more accomplished counterparts. Findings regarding the impact of revision teaching on writing quality have been mixed and sometimes contradictory. The field has been dominated by psychological research into the cognitive processes of the individual, which has not generally considered the role of the context of revision teaching, including children’s prior knowledge and skills. This research adopted an alternative perspective by using qualitative methods to examine the relationship between revision teaching and children’s writing in greater depth, including a thorough examination of the context in which the revision teaching took place. This research used a case study design to examine the effects of a six-week period of revision teaching. Participants were 16 year 5 children across three classes in one inner-city school and their teachers. Data were collected before, during and after revision teaching and included multiple texts written by each child, interviews with the children and their teachers and lesson observations. Data were analysed against existing typologies of revision but also using qualitative techniques. Findings revealed: (i) revision teaching was effective in changing children’s conceptions of revision; (ii) revision teaching led to an increase in the frequency of children’s revisions and a change in the types of revisions made; but (iii) it was inconclusive whether the revision teaching had any effect on the overall quality of children’s writing. Instead, the impact of revisions on the quality of children’s writing was related to their prior attainment in writing. It was concluded that, for revision teaching to have a positive impact on writing quality, broader knowledge than that developed through the revision teaching is required. Revision should therefore be considered the application of knowledge rather than a discrete and transferable skill.

Download activity - last month

Export as XMLCSVJSON

Download activity - last 12 months

Export as JSONXMLCSV

Downloads by country - last 12 months

Export as CSVXMLJSON

Archive Staff Only

View Item