Dialect interference and difficulties with writing: An investigation in St. Lucian primary schools

Abstract

The investigation that we report here concerns the writing performance of 9, 10 and 11 year olds in St. Lucian schools, with particular reference to possible dialect interference in written speech. The study should be of interest to people concerned with; the development of writing abilities in children, questions of dialect interference and in the relationship between teaching methods and educational achievement. We focus here on the overall quality of children's work and on characteristic errors made by children in their writing. We also particularly focus on the possible causes or reasons why children make certain errors, what the significance of these errors is and how they can be remedied.