Language and meaning making: Register choices in seventh- and ninth-grade students' factual writing
Abstract Register refers to functional variation in language use across contexts. Developing a repertoire of lexical and grammatical choices for instantiating academic registers is key to literacy success in school. This study examined register choices adolescent learners made in factual writing, a key genre of schooling that is also highly valued in the workplace and society. A total of 93 seventh- and ninth-grade students from an American public school were asked to write about crocodilians based on a “wordless” picture book. Their writing was coded for presence of a range of academic and everyday register features, as well as content quality. Statistical and qualitative analyses revealed that (a) the students juxtaposed features of academic and everyday registers in ways that prevented them from presenting knowledge precisely, densely, authoritatively, and logically; (b) academic register use and content quality were significantly impacted by social class but not grade level or gender; and (c) register choices and content quality were positively correlated, with academic register associated with more scientific content. These findings suggest that adolescents need considerable support to develop linguistic tools and awareness that enable them to cope with the literacy demands of academic learning in secondary schooling.