Does Reading Affect Writing?

Research Paper # 8131

Education > Reading
Psychology
Psychology > Child and Adolescent

Does the amount a child reads affect his writing ability at high school and college age?

6,619 words () | 21 sources | APA | 2002 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper is about the affect of reading (both amount and ability) on a child's development of writing ability. It explains how reading and writing are related and explores the correlation between the two. It contains three charts.

From the Paper:

"The Magic Spell (a title). There was two boys. They wanted to go fishing, so they went to the forest. Tommy put a pole in the water and fell in" (Cox, Shanahan, & Sulzby, 1990, p. 65). This example of a poorly written text, composed by a poor reader in the third grade, contrasts sharply with the well-written text of a good fifth grade reader: Cities have thousands of people in them. The people live very close together and some next to tall buildings. There is a lot of noise and people running around. People live in big cities, because they are close to where they work and they think they will have a better life. There are also many choices about work, play, and housing. There are usually three main parts in a city. There is a downtown, which is busy. It has many stores, skyscrapers, and apartments. The industrial area has many factories, pollution, warehouses, and small houses. The residential area has many homes and small businesses. Some cities grow by their natural resources like oil, trees, or gas. Houston, Texas grew with those. Chicago, Illinois grew with transportation crossroads, where roads, airways, and rivers meet. These are some of the things that made small cities become big cities (Cox et al., 1990, p. 64). Not only is there a striking difference in length between the two texts, there is also a large difference in cohesiveness, general flow of ideas and overall quality. The first story, written by a poor reader, lacks a cohesive plot or story line. For example, in the second sentence, the author says the boys want to go fishing; however, he then has them go to a forest, rather then a pond or lake, which would be more appropriate to fish in. Also, the title ("The Magic Spell") has nothing to do with the actual content of the text. Cox et al. (1990) gave this text the lowest quality score (one) and a cohesive harmony score of zero (p. 65)."

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APA Citation:

Does Reading Affect Writing? (2012, January 15). Retrieved February 13, 2012, from http://www.academon.com/Research-Paper-Does-Reading-Affect-Writing/8131