What is the impact of peer-assisted sentence-combining teaching on primary pupils' writing performance?

This digest found in

English

Authors

Saddler, B. and Graham, S.

Publisher

Journal of Educational Psychology, 97 (1), 2005, pp. 43-54.
[Original title: The effects of peer-assisted sentence-combining instruction on the writing performance of more and less skilled young writers]

Introduction

How can sentence construction skills improve a child's whole-school performance?

This US-based study adds to the growing body of evidence about the importance of mastering sentence construction in learning to write effectively. As the researchers point out, writing ability also has an impact on the improvement of pupil achievement across the whole curriculum. Yet, they say, writing has been neglected in the current US educational reform agenda No Child Left Behind, 2001 (NCLB) which focuses on improving children's reading and mathematics.

The study focused on pairs of mixed ability pupils and compared the impact of two methods of teaching writing skills: sentence-combining and grammar instruction. Both of these methods were integrated with a peer support technique. The research found that peer-assisted methods which focused on sentence combining led to greater improvements in sentence construction than teaching based on grammar approaches.

Keywords:
USA; Primary schools; Literacy; Writing; Teaching and learning; Peer tutoring

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Research Home Themes \| Find digests \| About the digests resources glossary researchers contact TRIPS Introduction What impact did sentence-combining instruction have on pupils' writing skills? What techniques were used in the intervention? How were all the lessons designed? How did the teaching in the two groups (sentence combining and grammar) differ? How was the research carried out? How were the findings measured? What are the implications of this study for my practice? Where can I find out more? Send us your feedback Collated digests Peer tutoring in writing: A school systems approach What is the impact of peer-assisted sentence-combining teaching on primary pupils' writing performance? To view/remove/add notes and save your collated digests click here Get Word Reader What is the impact of peer-assisted sentence-combining teaching on primary pupils' writing performance? This digest found in English Send to a friend Word doc 60KB Printer friendly Authors Saddler, B. and Graham, S. Publisher Journal of Educational Psychology, 97 (1), 2005, pp. 43-54. [Original title: The effects of peer-assisted sentence-combining instruction on the writing performance of more and less skilled young writers] Introduction How can sentence construction skills improve a child's whole-school performance? This US-based study adds to the growing body of evidence about the importance of mastering sentence construction in learning to write effectively. As the researchers point out, writing ability also has an impact on the improvement of pupil achievement across the whole curriculum. Yet, they say, writing has been neglected in the current US educational reform agenda No Child Left Behind, 2001 (NCLB) which focuses on improving children's reading and mathematics. The study focused on pairs of mixed ability pupils and compared the impact of two methods of teaching writing skills: sentence-combining and grammar instruction. Both of these methods were integrated with a peer support technique. The research found that peer-assisted methods which focused on sentence combining led to greater improvements in sentence construction than teaching based on grammar approaches. Keywords: USA; Primary schools; Literacy; Writing; Teaching and learning; Peer tutoring