Twenty-eighth International Conference on Learning

Abstract

Research on writing, through a socio-constructivist lens, shows that interaction between students generates higher quality student written work, motivates students to write and benefits exceptional students. However, few studies have attempted to document interactions between students during all stages of the writing process. The objective of the research presented in the context of this communication is to describe the content of interactions between grade 2 primary students (ages 8-9) during a story writing activity. To achieve this, students (n=56) planned, wrote, and revised/corrected a story in pairs. The writing activity was filmed to record the interactions. A chart was created to code the interactions. The chart identifies interactions concerning the text: the sequence of events, vocabulary, punctuation, syntax, spelling, and grammar. It identifies other interactions as well (ex. organising the task, consulting tools used to support correcting the text). Two principal discussion themes emerge from the results. First, during the planning stage, students are very preoccupied about the sequence of events and preoccupied to a lesser extent about it during the writing stage. Next, during the revision/correction stage, they are more concerned about spelling. Collaborative writing allows students to engage in writing a text differently and it leads them to explain and justify their choices, which is likely to influence the development of their writing skills.