where the correctness of the word was judged for scoring. Figure 3.6 is a contribution of writing from the test on occasion 4 from which samples of scoring procedures will be discussed.
Figure 3.6. Example of writing In this contribution there are 42 letters attempted for the first variable and there were 36
considered to be correct for the second variable. Letters were considered “adequate” if they were close-to-correct. For example, when an m, n, or u was written with curves and the small line
which appears in lowercase letters was omitted, these letters were considered correct see Figure 3.6 for examples of u, n, and m. Some examples of incorrect letters were back-to-front letters,
letters with extra lines and curves which did not resemble a letter, and capitals in inappropriate places see examples in Figure 3.6.
When counting different, correct forms in the fourth variable, if a letter occurred in the text a number of times with some correct and some incorrect forms, the correct form was accepted
because it was assumed that the student knew how to write the letter correctly. For example, the first letter in the text could be considered to be an incorrect form of p which was accorded one
point as a different, correct form. The s is also considered to be correct, although some forms are at an incorrect angle.
Variable: Form of print: Words—1. Number of words attempted Form of print: Words—2. Number of words correct
Form of print: Words—3. Number of different words attempted Form of print: Words—4. Number of different words correct
Form of print: Words—5. Number of words incorrect but recognisable
The same criteria were used for counting words as were used for counting letters. The words attempted were counted and a separate total given for those correct. Where word breaks were not
clear, the spelling of the words was accepted as discernible words. For example, in Tok Pisin the
sentence papa i kam lonamkpik was interpreted to read papa i kam long makim pik. In the sequence of letters, the letter a was written for g without the tail in the word long, and the two
consonants m and k were written for makim. English translation: ‘Father came to select a pig.’ The number of different words was counted and the total of those correct was noted. If a word
was written more than once with a correct form appearing with incorrect forms, the correct form was accepted. A further criterion was used for counting different words: a total was given for
words that were different and incorrect but recognisable. Note that the words above long makim pik
are examples of being incorrect but recognisable. We now consider the variables for meaning in writing.
3.4.3.4. Meaning in writing variables
The five variables for meaning in writing: 1.
Writing with Sense 2.
Writing with Elaborations 3.
Using Cohesive Ties referentials, conjunctions, lexical see Halliday and Hasan 1976:329– 339
4. Using a Story Line introduction, action, complication, resolution
5. Interaction with the Picture description, description plus previous information, description
plus interpolations, description plus post-picture information, description plus inferences. See Appendix F for the series of three line drawings used for the test on occasion 4.
Variable: Writing with sense
In the writing section of the test, each student read onto an audiotape the text that he or she had written. These recordings were taken into account when considering if the student had
preserved the sense of the text. There were variations in the degrees of correlation between the written text and the oral rendition—from strings of letters with no correlation, to varying degrees
of correlation, to contributions with a perfect match.
Another criterion for determining if the student could preserve the meaning was the topic of the text as written. In the contributions there were memorised primer pages or material that had
no bearing on the pictures which were the basis for the text. Essentially the majority of the students could preserve the meaning even with omissions and the error effect of incorrect
spelling. In these contributions also, there were incidents of nonsense words written but these words were considered as flaws in texts that were readable. Consequently the student was
accredited with writing with sense although there were errors in the text and a score was accorded.
Variable: Writing with elaborations
The main criterion for consideration in this variable was the acceptability of the text as a story when words which were an elaboration in the text were omitted. Adjectives, adverbs,
adjectival and adverbial clauses, and phrases were counted: these generally elaborated on the basic ingredients for a story as seen in the pictures. Examples of elaborations are seen in the
following text:
Wanpela man i go raun long bus long nait long bainim pilakpokis na em i sutim wanpela pilakpokis na dispela pilakpokis i buntaun i kamtaun long giraun na bispela man i kisim dispela bilakpokis em
i no tai yet na em i putim na dok bilong em i kaikaim bispela pisin na em i dai.
In this text there are two areas which caused spelling difficulties: 1 the voiced and voiceless stops pb, td, kg, and 2 the consonant cluster bl and gr. The rewritten text shows correct
spelling with elaborations highlighted. A point was given for each elaboration.
Wanpela man i go raun long bus long nait long painim blakbokis na em i sutim wanpela blakbokis
na dispela blakbokis i pundaun i kam daun long graun na dispela man i kisim dispela blakbokis em
i no dai yet na em i putim na dok bilong em i kaikaim dispela pisin na em i dai.
English translation:
A man went around in the forest at night to look for fruit bats and he shot one fruit bat and that
fruit bat fell down and came down to the ground and that man got that fruit bat, which was not dead yet,
and he put it and his dog bit that bird and it died.
In this text there are eight elaborations recorded: “a,” “around,” “in the forest,” “at night,” “one,” “came down to the ground,” “which was not dead yet,” “and it died.”
Variable: Cohesive ties—1. Referentials
Referential cohesive ties include substitutes: for example, pronouns, comparatives, and phrases of time. In the above text there are examples of personal, demonstrative, and possessive
pronouns: em
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‘he, she, it’, dispela ‘thisthat’, and bilong em ‘his, hers, its’. An example of reference to time is taim bilong nait ‘during the night’ found in other texts.
Cohesive ties—2. Conjunctions
Conjunctions found in the Tok Pisin texts were: na ‘and’, o ‘or’, tasol ‘but’, and long wanem ‘because’. The above text gives examples of na ‘and’.
Cohesive ties—3. Lexical
Lexical items included to clarify the sense of the story were synonyms and repeats of words and phrases. In the above text, dispela blakbokis is repeated and there are two examples of
synonyms: the sense of pundaun ‘fall down’ is repeated in kam daun ‘come down’, and in the last reference the blakbokis is called a pisin “bird” fruit bats are classified as birds.
Variable: Story component—1. Introduction
This variable relates to whether or not the opening of the text included a general statement to set the stage with the content coming from outside the pictures. The first picture in the series
showed a man shooting a fruit bat with a bow and arrow. The text above gives an example of an introduction: a general statement which sets the stage, and includes a time statement with an
introduction of purpose, that is, Wanpela man i go raun long bus long nait long painim fruit bats.
‘A man went around in the forest at night to look for fruit bats’. Story component—2. Action
The three consecutive pictures allowed for plenty of action in the texts. The criterion for this variable was action portrayed in the text as opposed to static description. The above text shows
action throughout the story whereas, in contrast, the text below is a description of the pictures with corrected spelling with no instances of action other than that which was overt in the
pictures. For this contribution, therefore, there were no points scored.
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It will be noted that some smaller components appear in longer sections of text in this analysis and are accorded points on a more specific basis within a longer text.
