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Perspectives on Spoken and Written Language: Evidence from English Speaking Children

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Written and Spoken Language Development across the Lifespan

Part of the book series: Literacy Studies ((LITS,volume 11))

Abstract

In this chapter, we consider the relations between spoken and written language in American English, and how they change across the school-age years as children develop linguistic literacy. Our approach is to investigate monolingual English speaking children’s spoken and written language using two different types of language tasks: standardized language tests assessing phonology, vocabulary, morphology and syntax; and written and spoken personal narratives that are analyzed for language structure (morphology and syntax) and language use (narrative structure). These data provide a better understanding of: (1) the relations between spoken and written language at different levels of linguistic complexity both in isolation and within naturalistic language environments; (2) the relations between performance on standardized tests and language as it is used in more natural settings; and (3) across all settings, how these relations change over the school-age period.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The personal comments are those of the first author.

  2. 2.

    For languages in which speaking and writing conventions differ significantly, we might see an extended trajectory in which writing begins as distinctive, then becomes similar to spoken language, and finally separates from the spoken forms to become more independent.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Human Development, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA

    Judy Reilly

  2. Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA

    Judy Reilly

  3. Center for Research in Language, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA

    Lara Polse

  4. Language and Communicative Disorders, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA

    Lara Polse

Authors
  1. Judy Reilly
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  2. Lara Polse
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Judy Reilly .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Departament de DidĂ ctica de la Llengua i la Literatura, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Joan Perera

  2. Departament de Psicologia Bàsica, Evolutiva i de l’Educació, Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Melina Aparici

  3. Departament de DidĂ ctica de la Llengua i la Literatura, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Elisa Rosado

  4. Departament de Didàctica de la Llengua i la Literatura, i de les Ciències Socials, Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Naymé Salas

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Reilly, J., Polse, L. (2016). Perspectives on Spoken and Written Language: Evidence from English Speaking Children. In: Perera, J., Aparici, M., Rosado, E., Salas, N. (eds) Written and Spoken Language Development across the Lifespan. Literacy Studies, vol 11. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21136-7_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21136-7_9

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-21135-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-21136-7

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

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