CHILDREN'S CONCEPTIONS ABOUT THE WORD DURING THE LITERACY PROCESS

Abstract

: In the present article, vocabulary segmentation data, produced during literacy, were described and analyzed with a view to discussing aspects relevant to the constitution of the notion of word during the initial period of writing development. The objective is to verify what are the hypotheses of children's writing with regard to the graphic limits between words to analyze how the child in the literacy phase evolves until reaching the demarcation of vocabulary boundaries according to the norm, as well as the understanding of what constitutes a word. The data presented refer to two children belonging to the 3rd year of literacy at a public school, collected through interviews that aimed to inquire about what the child understood to be a word (CARRAHER, 1989). The interpretation of responses was supported by the theory of prosodic constituents (NESPOR; VOGEL, 1986). The results of the analysis showed that, in general, the child can oscillate or maintain the initial conceptions about what a word is like the understanding that each syllable constitutes a word. However, for the intelligibility of what is written, the vocabulary segmentation seems to assume importance according to children's explanations. Thus, showing how the child's trajectory towards the written word is not linear and has a multiplicity of meanings.