Explicit instructional support in the teaching of writing to primary school students

This research focuses on the need to provide explicit instructional support, or systematic and directed scaffolding strategies, to primary school students who come from linguistically disadvantaged home backgrounds in the area of their learning to write. To emphasise this need, the study examines firstly, the course material for the teaching and learning of English Language at the Primary Three level. It shows where and how there is insufficient explicit instructional support provided to linguistically disadvantaged students learning to produce the written genres required of them in school. Secondly, through an analysis of teacher-student interaction in the classroom and an analysis of the written texts of linguistically disadvantaged students, this research examines how, when students are not explicitly led to focus the generic structure, register and key lexico-grammatical features of the genres they are required to master during reading and writing sessions, the texts these linguistically weak students produce tend to be weak in their overall form and function. Lastly, this research examines a teacher's implementation of a genre-based approach to writing with a group of remedial students and the effect of such an approach on the writing performance of the students. Through an analysis of the teacher-pupil interaction and activities that take place during the implementation of the genre-based approach, and an analysis of the written texts subsequently produced by these students, this study aims to show that explicitly raising students' awareness of the purpose, generic structure, register and key lexico-grammatical features of the genres they are to master produces positive results in the writing of linguistically-weak students.Master of Arts (Applied Linguistics