Interrelationships: Drawing and Early Writing

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the interrelationships between drawing, early writing, and the context of talk in which they both occur. Participant observation methodology was used to gather data daily during a three-month period in a self-contained, public school kindergarten. The researcher set up a center at which the children freely drew and wrote. She observed and interacted with the children to gain insight into their perceptions of drawing and writing. Data consisted of audio recordings of the children’s talk at the center, their graphic products, observational notes, and child interviews. Patterns were identified in how the children combined the drawing and writing processes in the production of one graphic product and in how they used drawing and writing terminology referentially across production modes. On the basis of these patterns, inferences were made about written language development. Learning to write was portrayed as a process of gradually differentiating and consolidating the separate meanings of these two forms of graphic symbolism — drawing and writing