Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T21:15:46.586Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Appropriating others' words: Traces of literature and peer culture in a third-grader's writing

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 February 2009

Timothy J. Lensmire  and
Diane E. Beals
Timothy J. Lensmire
Affiliation:
Department of Education, Campus Box 1183, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130
Diane E. Beals
Affiliation:
Department of Education, Campus Box 1183, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Mikhail Bakhtin's notion of appropriation is a potentially powerful way to conceptualize discourse development in children. Typically, studies of discourse development have emphasized structural aspects of text. However, children appropriate not only forms, but also words, themes, purposes, and styles. From a developmental point of view, the concept of appropriation raises at least three questions: What is it that children appropriate? Where do they get their material? And what do they do with that material? In an attempt to make sense of appropriation as a developmental construct, we examine one third-grader's writing: Suzanne's book, The missing piece. We find that Suzanne appropriated material from two major sources: (a) adult-authored text – Margaret Sidney's novel, Five little Peppers and how they grew – and (b) the meanings and values of a stratified local peer culture. We conclude by discussing the significance of this work for future research on children's discourse development. (Discourse development, Mikhail Bakhtin, peer culture, social context of writing, children's writing, appropriation)

Type
Articles
Information
Language in Society , Volume 23 , Issue 3 , June 1994 , pp. 411 - 426
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Bakhtin, Mikhail (1986). Speech genres and other late essays. Austin: University of Texas Press.Google Scholar
Beals, Diane E. (1989). Computer-mediated communication among beginning teachers. Harvard University, MS.Google Scholar
Bogdan, Robert C., & Biklen, Sari K. (1982). Qualitative research for education: An introduction to theory and methods. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.Google Scholar
Britton, James (1978). The composing processes and the functions of writing. In Cooper, Charles R. & Odell, Lee (ed.), Research on composing: Points of departure, 13–28. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English.Google Scholar
Britton, James (1982). Spectator role and the beginning of writing. In Nystrand, Martin (ed.), What writers know: The language, process and structure of written discourse, 149–69. New York: Academic.Google Scholar
Brown, Gill & Yule, George (1983). Discourse analysis. Cambridge & New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Calkins, Lucy M. (1986). The art of teaching writing. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.Google Scholar
Dyson, Anne (1989). Multiple worlds of child writers: Friends learning to write. New York: Teachers College Press.Google Scholar
Dyson, Anne (1992). The case of the singing scientist: A performance perspective on the “stages” of school literacy. Written Communication 9: 3–47.Google Scholar
Erickson, Frederick (1986). Qualitative methods in research on teaching. In Wittrock, Merlin C. (ed.), Handbook on research in teaching (3rd ed.), 119–61. New York: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Gee, James P., & Grosjean, François (1984). Empirical evidence for narrative structure. Cognitive Science 8: 59–85.Google Scholar
Graves, Donald (1983). Writing: Teachers and children at work. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.Google Scholar
Hammersly, Martyn, & Atkinson, Paul (1983). Ethnography: Principles in practice. London: Tavistock.Google Scholar
Himley, Margaret (1991). Shared territory: Understanding children's writing as works. Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keenan, Elinor Ochs, & Schieffelin, Bambi (1976). Topic as a discourse notion: A study of conversation in children and adults. In Li, Charles N. (ed.), Subject and topic, 337–84. New York: Academic.Google Scholar
Lensmire, Timothy J. (1994). When children write: Critical re-visions of the writing workshop. New York: Teachers College Press.Google Scholar
Mandler, Jean & Johnson, Nancy (1977) Remembrance of things parsed: Story structure and recall. Cognitive Psychology 9: 111–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCartney, Kathleen A., & Nelson, Katherine (1981). Children's use of scripts in story recall. Discourse Processes 4: 59–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Michaels, Sarah (1981). “Sharing time”: Children's narrative styles and differential access to literacy. Language in Society 10: 423–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Michaels, Sarah (1991). The dismantling of narrative. In McCabe, Allyssa & Peterson, Carole (eds.), Developing narrative structure, 303–51. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Miller, J. Hillis (1990). Narrative. In Lentricchia, Frank & McLaughlin, Thomas (eds.), Critical terms for literary study, 66–79. Chicago: Uuiversity of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Peterson, Carole & McCabe, Allyssa (1983). Developmental psycholinguistics: Three ways of looking at a child's narrative. New York: Plenum.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sidney, Margaret (1985). Five little Peppers and how they grew. New York: Dell.Google Scholar
Silverstein, Shel (1976). The missing piece. New York: HarperCollins.Google Scholar
Stein, Nancy, & Glenn, Christine (1979). An analysis of story comprehension in elementary school children. In Freedle, Roy (ed.), New directions in discourse processing, 53–120. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.Google Scholar
Thorne, Barrie (1986). Girls and boys together … but mostly apart: Gender arrangements in elementary schools. In Hartup, Willard & Rubin, Zick (eds.), Relationships and development, 167–84. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar