Mean sentence length indicates both insecure and secure full-stop use, with roughly 12 to 16 words per sentence the aim for mature narrative writing¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · design r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2002 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Counting sentence lengths in words was reasonably successful at indicating insecure full-stop use in immature writers (e.g. a 76-word average sentence reflecting a complete lack of punctuation) and secure use in mature writers. → C.E. Holdich 2002 q2 i? Very low mean sentence lengths can indicate dependence on simple sentence structure and lack of variation, though short sentences may also be a deliberate strength; the article suggests an average of between approximately 12 and 16 words is to be aimed for. → C.E. Holdich 2002 (2)

Evidence¶

C.E. Holdich 2002¶

C.E. Holdich, R.G. Holdich and P.W.H. Chung. (2002). Assessing aspects of children's written grammar: automating the process. Computers and Education, Vol 39, pp37-50. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/

q2 · i? · design · r2

Computer analysis of the 12 stories: story 1 averaged 76 words per sentence, matching examiner comments on a complete lack of punctuation; stories 2, 3 and 8 also had high averages corresponding to incorrectly demarcated sentences.

"Counting sentence lengths in words was reasonably successful at indicating both the insecure and secure use of full stops characteristic of immature and mature writers respectively. In addition, the test indicated the range of sentence constructions evident in a text."

C.E. Holdich 2002 (2)¶

C.E. Holdich, R.G. Holdich and P.W.H. Chung. (2002). Assessing aspects of children's written grammar: automating the process. Computers and Education, Vol 39, pp37-50. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/

q2 · i? · design · r2

Low figures for stories 6, 10 and 11 appeared to show dependence on simple sentence structure, but the 'short punchy' and 'compact descriptive' sentences in story 10 were an apparent strength, so low means are ambiguous.

"It would seem that an average sentence length of between approximately 12 and 16 words is to be aimed for. This figure will be achieved through a wide variation in individual sentence length however."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• The ratio of mean sentence length to commas was the most useful computer test for discriminating maturity level in children's writing — related
• Syntactical noticing focuses mainly on sentence length and ways of connecting clauses — related
• Story length correlates with National Curriculum attainment level in children's Key Stage 2 narrative writing, with roughly 300 words needed for Level 4 and 400 or more for Level 5 — related