Written Communication Jan 2006

Sixth-Grade Teachers’ Written Comments on Student Writing

Shelley Stagg Peterson University of Toronto ; Kerrie Kennedy University of Toronto

Abstract

This article examines the influence of genre and gender on comments written by 108 sixth-grade teachers in response to two narrative and two persuasive papers. There were significant genre differences. Process, conventions, artistic style, and format were the focus of significantly greater numbers of comments directed to narrative writing. In contrast, meaning, organization, effort, and ideology were emphasized to a greater degree when teachers responded to persuasive writing. Teachers tended to indicate and make greater numbers of corrections and to provide more criticisms and lessons, explanations, and suggestions when the work was attributed to a male writer. Female teachers generally wrote greater numbers of comments and tended to indicate and make more corrections. Generally, teachers were reluctant to engage with the ideologies in students’ writing. There was a correlation between convention errors and the number and types of comments.

Journal
Written Communication
Published
2006-01-01
DOI
10.1177/0741088305282762
Open Access
Closed
Topics
voice and style

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (0)

No articles in this index cite this work.

Cites in this index (8)

  1. Donovan (2001)
    Children’s Development and Control of Written Story and Informational Genres: I…
    Research in the Teaching of English
  2. Kamberelis (1999)
    Genre Development and Learning: Children Writing Stories, Science Reports, and Poems
    Research in the Teaching of English
  3. Peterson (1998)
    Evaluation and Teachers’ Perceptions of Gender in Sixth-Grade Student Writing
    Research in the Teaching of English
  4. Straub (1997)
    Students’ Reactions to Teacher Comments: An Exploratory Study
    Research in the Teaching of English
  5. CHAPMAN (1994)
    The Emergence of Genres
    Written Communication
Show all 8 →
  1. Connors et al. (1993)
    Teachers' Rhetorical Comments on Student Papers
    College Composition and Communication
  2. LANGER (1985)
    Children's Sense of Genre
    Written Communication
  3. Searle et al. (1980)
    The Message of Marking: Teacher Written Responses to Student Writing at Interme…
    Research in the Teaching of English
Also cites 9 works outside this index ↓
  1. 10.2307/821738
     ↗
  2. 10.1111/j.1471-6402.1988.tb00936.x
     ↗
  3. 10.2307/356323
     ↗
  4. 10.1016/S1075-2935(96)90004-5
     ↗
  5. 10.1080/10862969309547803
     ↗
  6. 10.2307/358669
     ↗
  7. 10.2307/357622
     ↗
  8. 10.1016/S1075-2935(00)00017-9
     ↗
  9. 10.1080/19388070309558394
     ↗
CrossRef global citation count: 21 View in citation network →

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