Becoming a Designer:
Trajectories of Linguistic Development
Debra Myhill
Why linguistic development?

Linguistics is associated with grammar

Grammar is associated with error, accuracy and correctness

The goal of correctness is a narrow conceptualisation of development

Theoretical and pedagogical preoccupation with the ‘grammar debate’
have obscured more constructive discussions about linguistic
development
The Grammar Debate

‘English teachers do not see themselves as grammar police, on the
lookout for mistakes’ [Bomer, NCTE, 2006]

‘teaching children about syntax and the parts of speech will result in better
writing, as well as making them politer, more patriotic and less likely to
become pregnant’ [critique by Pullman, 2005]
New understandings

Theoretically, research on linguistic development is more focused on
young writers and is limited in scope and quantity. Understanding
linguistic development in writers who have progressed beyond basic
mastery is an important theoretical contribution.

Pedagogically, understanding what linguistic development looks like in
secondary-aged writers will help to inform teaching and address the
international concern about writing standards.
Theoretical Context
Linguistic development is only one part of the whole which constitutes writing
development:

Cognitive development

Metacognitive development

Development of socio-cultural understanding
Previous Research
Study
Sample
Result
Hunt 1965
5-18
no evidence that there were linguistic constructions which
acted as markers of development [very small sample]
Harpin 1976 7-11
decline in use of personal pronouns; increase in clause and
sentence length; increase in use of subordination
Loban 1976
the use of longer sentences; greater elaboration of subject
and predicate; more embedded clauses and adjectival
dependent clauses; greater variety and depth of vocabulary
5-18
Perera 1984 8-12
more subordination; longer noun phrases; more use of
passive and modals; range of adverbials
Raban 1988 5-8
different connectives used in writing compared with speech
Kress 1994
sentence as textual unit not syntactical unit; early
dependence on co-ordination; fewer temporal indicators
4-8
Allison 2002 5-9
more subordination; dependence on co-ordination
The Study

Phase 1: Linguistic analysis of texts written in classroom context

Phase 2: observation of teaching and post hoc stimulated recall interviews
with sub-sample of students
The Study
Writing Sample for Linguistic Analysis

Two cohorts of 180 students: Year 8 (aged 12-13) and Year 10 (aged 14-15)

Drawn from 6 schools

Two pieces of writing written in a standard teaching context: one personal
narrative, the other argument.

360 samples of argument; 360 samples of narrative

Writing sample stratified by attainment and gender
The Study

Detailed analysis of 100 words at sentence level

Detailed analysis of whole piece at paragraph and text level

Quantitative and qualitative data

Specific focus on making connections between linguistic structures and
construction of meaning
The Study
Number of:
Sentence length
Sentences; words in shortest sentence; words in longest
sentence; minor sentences; confused sentences
Thematic variety
Subject openings; adverbial openings; non-finite clause
openings; finite clause openings; fronted openings; cleft
sentences; and, but, so openings
Text output counts
Words; sentences; paragraphs; sentences per paragraph; words
per sentence; characters per word; passive sentences
Clauses
Finite verbs; finite subordinate clauses; co-ordinate clauses;
infinitive clauses; present participle clauses; past participle
clauses
Other syntactical
structures
Subject-verb inversions; subject clauses; noun phrases;
coherence lapses
Trajectories of Development

From speech patterns to writing patterns

From declaration to elaboration

From translation to transformation
FROM SPEECH PATTERNS TO
WRITING PATTERNS
From Speech to Writing

‘the sentence belongs to writing’ [Kress 1994]

Writing is not speech written down

Perera found that children from age 8 understood that writing was not
speech written down

Developing writers have to learn to become more ‘writerly’
Lexical Choice
Word length
Mean
lots
majority
Good
4.3
stuff
substances
Average
4.1
place
environment
Weak
4.0
stories
narratives
saying
proposing
made-up
imaginary
nose
nostrils
bad
negative
p =0.00*
My progression along the narrow ledge was indeed noticeable, and it got
a lot easier to walk on and keep my balance the further I went. In fact, I
was beginning to speed up now that I had walked some distance, and all
of my fear almost vanished, as though it had just evaporated into thin air,
vaporised by this new surge of confidence which I had just received. That
was, of course, until I reached my final destination on the route that I had
just come along.
The use of ‘like’
I could smell the sweet smell of lavender, like I was standing in a herb
garden.
It seemed like he had stopped trying to get him and gone away.
Over-use of co-ordination
It took me Quite a while to get used to the people but i soon got used to
everyone there and i fitted in Quite nicely but sometimes it does get a bit
worrying for me because I wreckon that everybody will be horrible to me
but if im not horrible to them they won’t be horrible to me or that’s what i
thought!!!
I cried and cried and cried.
FROM DECLARATION TO
ELABORATION
Writing for a Reader

Providing appropriate detail for the reader

Managing information on behalf of the reader
Sentence length

Previous research tends to view sentence length as a proxy for
elaboration: inadequate conceptualisation

Sentence length did increase with age

No significant difference in sentence length by text quality

Poorer texts have more coherence lapses in the long sentences
Managing complex ideas
However, some people might argue that these cases do not outweigh the
benefits of euthanasia and that, compared to the number of satisfied people
who have taken advantage of the system, these unfortunate cases are very
much in the minority.
The fear about euthanasia is that some people may be persuaded into
euthanasia through bad advice or by fealing that they are a burden to the
family or society, with that many doctors, nurses and other people believe that
every life has hope and that any life is better than no life at all.
Clause Expansion
It is necessary to test these thing’s on animals because if we, test them on
humans they may get desies, or possibly die and that will cause problem’s
with familys or even with Goverment trying to band brand new perfumes that
wasnt been tested so it would be less trouble if we on animal gets a reaction
from this.
Clearly, the main object of pupils attending schools and other educational
institutions is to gain qualifications which will lead to well paid and powerful
jobs in the “society of tomorrow”, of which they will be a part. To achieve their
maximum potential, it is almost certainly crucial for them to effectively process
and store all the information that is being passed on to them each day.
FROM TRANSLATION TO
TRANSFORMATION
Thematic Variety
We were off to the beach called Sunny Cove. The wind was blowing in our
faces. We are finally there. I set up the tent and looked around. I was a bit
scared but it was quite fun.
When I was young, I was like a mouse. Not just because I was small, but
because I didn’t stop moving. My head was like a fairground. The big wheel
was spinning in my brain. Something always told me that I had go get up
and run somewhere, and that is exactly what I always did. When you’re
young (and we’re talking about three here), there is a lot to discover. One of
those things is stairs.
Textual Rhythm: Sentence Length
The cellar is illuminated for a few seconds as the bulb flashes and goes out.
An after-image is all that is left as the dim light is extinguished. An
abandoned duvet is in the middle of the floor. A few dusty carpet squares in
the corner. More dust.
I remember it like it was yesterday. The boredom. Fear. Grown men
stumbling and slipping in the mud like a child taking its first steps. Every
time I think about it a cold shiver runs down my spine. All the sadness,
remorse and loneliness comes rolling back to me like a ball rolling down a
hill.
Linguistic Development

Syntactic complexity ≠ writing development

Writing is a meaning-making activity in which rhetorical choices made
create different shades of nuances of meaning for different audiences and
contexts

Linguistic constructions (eg a complex sentence; a passive) have no
intrinsic merit until they are deployed effectively
Becoming a Designer
Overlapping trajectories

Speech to writing;

Declaration to elaboration;

Translation to transformation

Linguistic development in older writers is framed by these trajectories
within the context of linguistic choice; it is about having a design repertoire
to draw upon, and about crafting sentences and texts to satisfy the
rhetorical demands of the task.
‘We are all apprentices in a craft where no-one
ever becomes master.’
[Hemingway]
Further References:
Myhill, D.A. 2009 Developmental Trajectories in Mastery of Paragraphing:
Towards a Model of Development. Written Language and Literacy 12 (1)
26-51
Myhill, D.A. 2009 ‘From Talking to Writing: Linguistic Development in
Writing’ In: Teaching and Learning Writing: Psychological Aspects of
Education - Current Trends: British Journal of Educational Psychology
Monograph Series II (6). British Psychological Society, Leicester, UK.
pp27-44.. ISSN 1476 9808.
Myhill, D. A 2008 Towards a Linguistic Model of Sentence Development in
Writing. Language and Education 22 (5) 271-288