بررسي بلوغ نحوي نوشتاري در دانش آموزان دوره ابتدايي

A Study of Written Syntax Maturity in Elementary School Students

Developmental differences in language acquisition are not simply restricted to quantity and quality of words and wording in general. Spoken or written syntax can clarify these differences as well. Syntax maturity researchers set this aspect as the focus of their investigations. Using Hunt terminal unit (T-unit), stories which had been written by 184 elementary school students (93 girls and 91 boys), were analyzed to investigate their written syntax maturity. Results revealed that different age groups showed significant differences in terms of written syntax maturity and the path of differences had a developmental trend, so that, there was a positive significant correlation between age and written syntax maturity. Furthermore, average Huntʹs T-units was a function of grade level. Girlsʹ stories were lengthier than boys were, but in the case of terminal units, there was no significant difference. Findings of the present study are discussed in the light of previous literature and the coherent picture point to efficiency of Hunt method for measuring written syntax maturity in Iranian children. In addition, suggestions for further investigations are mentioned.