Drawing conclusions : an investigation into the use of drawing to support non-narrative writing in the primary school classroom

Abstract

When asked the question ‘Doesn’t your painting interfere with your writing?’ author/ writer E.E.Cummings replied, ‘On the contrary they love each other. (Hubbard 1989) This thesis seeks to discover whether this ‘mutual affection’ is a useful one in primary schools, and uses as its general premise the notion that drawing and writing are comparable communicative semiotic systems. The primary investigation of this thesis is to discover whether writing outcomes are improved when children are asked to draw before writing. This proposition will be tested beyond the early childhood years, and with non-narrative written texts, explanations and procedures specifically. A secondary investigation into how the drawings may be supportive to writing is also presented. This is explored through an analysis of the children’s drawings to identify visual conventions linked to purpose in the drawings which correlate to verbal conventions linked to purpose in the writing.

Date of Award	2008
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Canberra
Supervisor	Linda Knight (Supervisor) & Mary MACKEN-HORARIK (Supervisor)