Analysis of the writing of schoolers with and without written difficulties at 6th grade

Abstract

Objective: To characterize failures in the writing of children of the 6thgrade, comparing groups with and without writing difficulties. Method: Thirty children divided into two groups were included: without writing difficulties (G1) and with writing difficulties (G2). It was proposed the elaboration of a narrative and then it was analyzed the criteria adopted at each level: word level, phrase level and text level. At the word level, the percentage of errors in each kind of word (regular, phonological rule, morphological rule, irregular) regarding to the total words of the text; at phrase level, use of pontuation, use of capital letters, use of cohesive elements; at the text level, the total number of words and the level of the narrative (1 to 5). Results: The parameters that most differentiated the participating groups at the research were the number of errors in regular words and morphosyntactic rules, the use of capital letters and elements of cohesion, as well as the amount of words and the complexity level of the narrative. Conclusion: It was verified that the G1 obtained better performance in most of the approached criteria and that the G2 presented a significantly worse performance, which seems to indicate that the characteristics of the alteration in the written language may bring significant losses mainly in the school environment.