Writing based on a visual source of images: evidence of two writing strategies in the intermediate and upper grades of elementary school

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Reference

Alamargot D, Morin MF, *Drijbooms E. (2017). Writing based on a visual source of images: evidence of two writing strategies in the intermediate and upper grades of elementary school. Pratiques. : 173-174.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to enhance our understanding of the constraints placed on writing, when composing a text based on a visual source of images. In particular, this study aimed to describe the compositional strategies adopted by children to deal with these constraints. To this aim, two children in the intermediate and two children in the upper grades of elementary school were asked to compose a narrative text based on images, after which their writing strategies were evaluated and compared. The results of this case study highlight two different strategies. Children using the first strategy highly focused on orthography, at the expense of the maintenance of the story content in memory. Children using the second strategy, by contrast, largely neglected orthographic errors, and prioritized the story content. The choice for one strategy over the other does not seem to depend on the expertise of the writers, as the two strategies occurred in both age groups. Educational implications for writing based on visual sources are discussed.

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