The influence of linguistic variation and morphological/syntactic awareness on reading and writing performance

Authors

  • Sandra Regina Kirchner Guimarães

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5380/psi.v9i2.4795

Keywords:

reading and writing performance, linguistic variation, awareness morphological/sintactic

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of linguistic variation and morphological/ syntactic awareness on the different reading and writing performance levels shown by 1st -, 2nd- and 3rd-grade elementary-school students. The work included 36 students from public schools in Curitiba, PR: 18 children with reading and writing learning problems (Group 1), and another 18 children presenting no difficulties in that respect. The data-collection tools evaluated the following: linguistic variation; morphological/syntactic awareness; and the children’s performance in dictation and reading tests. The starting hypothesis was that the morphological/syntactic awareness relates positively to reading and writing performance, while the linguistic variation relates to it negatively. That hypothesis was confirmed. It should be pointed out, however, that 72.15% of the non-standard linguistic forms used by the students in Group 1 are commonly adopted by most Brazilian-Portuguese speakers, so they must be considered as non-stigmatized forms. It can thus be inferred that the use of these linguistic forms may be making proper writing difficult for these children. It is suggested that teachers should take advantage of linguistic-variation episodes in order to lead students toward reflecting on the morphological-syntactic aspects of the language, so as to assure them of a written and oral ability to express themselves in an increasingly proper and competent way.

 

Keywords: reading and writing performance; linguistic variation; awareness morphological/sintactic.

 

How to Cite

Guimarães, S. R. K. (2005). The influence of linguistic variation and morphological/syntactic awareness on reading and writing performance. Interação Em Psicologia, 9(2). https://doi.org/10.5380/psi.v9i2.4795

Issue

Section

Articles