TY - JOUR
T1 - A longitudinal intervention study of the effects of increasing amount of meaningful writing across grades 1 and 2
AU - Skar, Gustaf B.
AU - Graham, Steve
AU - Huebner, Alan
AU - Kvistad, Anne Holten
AU - Johansen, Marita Byberg
AU - Aasen, Arne Johannes
N1 - Funding Information:
Open access funding provided by NTNU Norwegian University of Science and Technology (incl St. Olavs Hospital - Trondheim University Hospital). This study was funded by a grant from the Norwegian Research Council (Grant No.: 288795).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, The Author(s).
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - The current study examined the effectiveness of a writing is caught approach with young developing writers in Norway. This method is based on the premise that writing competence is acquired naturally through real use in meaningful contexts. Our longitudinal randomized control trial study tested this proposition by examining if increasing first grade students’ opportunities to write in various genres for different purposes and for a range of audiences over a two-year time period improved the quality of their writing, handwriting fluency, and attitude towards writing. The study included data from 942 students (50.1% girls) in 26 schools randomly assigned to the experimental treatment, and 743 students (50.6% girls) in 25 schools randomly assigned to the business-as-usual (BAU) control condition. Across Grades 1 and 2, experimental teachers were asked to supplement their typical writing instruction by implementing 40 writing activities designed to increase students’ purposeful writing. Increasing experimental students’ writing over the two-year period did not result in statistically detectable differences in the writing quality, handwriting fluency, and attitude towards writing of students in the experimental and BAU control conditions. These findings did not provide support for the effectiveness of the writing is caught approach. Implications for theory, research, and practiced are discussed.
AB - The current study examined the effectiveness of a writing is caught approach with young developing writers in Norway. This method is based on the premise that writing competence is acquired naturally through real use in meaningful contexts. Our longitudinal randomized control trial study tested this proposition by examining if increasing first grade students’ opportunities to write in various genres for different purposes and for a range of audiences over a two-year time period improved the quality of their writing, handwriting fluency, and attitude towards writing. The study included data from 942 students (50.1% girls) in 26 schools randomly assigned to the experimental treatment, and 743 students (50.6% girls) in 25 schools randomly assigned to the business-as-usual (BAU) control condition. Across Grades 1 and 2, experimental teachers were asked to supplement their typical writing instruction by implementing 40 writing activities designed to increase students’ purposeful writing. Increasing experimental students’ writing over the two-year period did not result in statistically detectable differences in the writing quality, handwriting fluency, and attitude towards writing of students in the experimental and BAU control conditions. These findings did not provide support for the effectiveness of the writing is caught approach. Implications for theory, research, and practiced are discussed.
KW - Increasing writing
KW - Teaching writing
KW - Writing
KW - Writing is caught approach
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U2 - 10.1007/s11145-023-10460-0
DO - 10.1007/s11145-023-10460-0
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85161396555
SN - 0922-4777
JO - Reading and Writing
JF - Reading and Writing
ER -