Understanding the Major Components of Written Expression

The major components of written expression include the following:

• Handwriting: Handwriting requires numerous skills.  To write legibly, students must recall the appearance of the letters and then coordinate the motor patterns needed to form the letters.  Students must also judge the amount of space that is needed between the letters and words and try to position the letters on the writing lines.  This will take practicing their fine motor skills, letter memory and letter formation.  

• Spelling: Of all the basic skill areas, spelling is the most difficult for many students.   Spelling is much more difficult than reading because the person has to recall and reproduce the entire word correctly, not just recognize it.  This skill includes Semantics, Morphology, Orthography, and Phonology.  

• Usage: The rules involved in written language are more involved than those of spoken language.  To communicate in writing with clarity, students must master rules involving capitalization, punctuation, and syntax.  

• Vocabulary: Another critical area of effective writing is selecting descriptive words.  For students with language impairments. their written language mirrors their spoken language.   For students with learning disabilities, a discrepancy often exist between their oral and written vocabularies, with their oral vocabulary being more vast than their written.  In order for students with Learning Disabilities to learn new vocabulary, they must have knowledge of words, understand morphology and word retrial.  

• Text Structure: Written text are designed and organized to convey and represent ideas for a particular purpose.  Organization of text requires the abilities to plan, translate, and review what has been written.  In addition, the instructor must determine the student's knowledge of narrative and expository writing.