ABSTRACT
Shared writing is a practice that forms the central source of creative literary activity in many primary classrooms. By ‘shared writing’, I am referring to any situation in which an oral composition by a child or, more frequently, a group of children, is written down by a teacher or other person more competent in transcriptional skills. The scribe usually uses a flip-chart or other large writing surface in order to emphasise the collaborative nature of the writing process, to provide opportunities for the clear demonstration of aspects of this process, and to facilitate a shared reading of the emerging text. These texts can subsequently be edited, redrafted and published, eventually becoming a valued part of the reading resources of the class or the school. Shared writing is a long-established practice, and its value has been recognised by advocates of both holistic and skills-based approaches to literacy (CLPE 1990; DfEE 1998). Its efficacy in helping learners of all ages and abilities to become readers and writers is also well attested (Smith 1994). In this chapter I would like to explore the potential of this approach for raising children’s awareness of grammar. Before doing this, however, it would be apt to point out the benefits of the approach, and to set it within its pedagogical framework.
