Dyson, 1983, The Role of Oral Language in Early Writing Processes

Great example of how to do case study research. Very rigorous methods.
Study of a whole class, then case study of one girl in class. Theory draws heavily on Vgotsky.

Key points
• Writing can be talk written down.
• Children need to know the concept before writing
• Children go through 4 phases in writing:
1. Message Formulation
2. Message Encoding
3. Mechanical Formation
4. Message Decoding
• Not all 4 stages are necessary in beginning writing, but mech. form. is needed or writing doesn't happen.
• Talk helps with 1 and 2
• Children write differently for different purposes.
• Watch kids write.