Read and Write for Children
Senior 4 · English (Languages)
Read and Write for Children
Lesson 3 of 5
40 min
Let's begin
Read page 9 of "What Vusi's sister said" again: "That thatch was a gift for my sister. The builders gave me the thatch because they broke the stick from the fruit pickers." A seven-year-old can follow this long chain without getting lost. Why? Because small words hold it together: that, the, because, they, my, and the repeated nouns thatch and stick. These are cohesive devices. The story also lives through its characters' voices: "What have you done?" cried Vusi. In this lesson you learn how texts hold together, and how to present speech directly and report it indirectly, two skills every writer for children needs.
Definition
Key terms
| Device | How it links | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Reference | a pronoun or determiner points back (or forward) to something already named | "Vusi met two boys. One boy grabbed the egg … The egg broke." / "That stick was a gift." |
| Substitution | a small word replaces a word or phrase to avoid repetition: one, ones, do, so | "The cow ate the thatch, and she did so greedily." / "I wanted a big cake, not a small one." |
| Ellipsis | words are left out because the reader can supply them | "Who broke the egg?" "The fruit pickers [broke the egg]." / "Vusi wanted to cry, but he didn't [cry]." |
| Conjunctions and connectors | show the logical link: addition, contrast, cause, time | "But the stick was not strong enough … And so Vusi continued on his journey." |
| Lexical cohesion: repetition | the same key word returns | egg, cake, wedding, gift, repeated on every page |
| Lexical cohesion: synonyms and word families | related words keep the topic alive | gift / present; wedding / guests / celebrate / smart clothes |
Worked example 1: repairing a text without cohesion
Without cohesion: Granny gave Vusi an egg. Granny told Vusi to take the egg to Vusi's parents. Vusi's parents wanted to make a cake. The cake was for Vusi's sister's wedding. Vusi set off. Boys took the egg.
With cohesion: Granny gave Vusi an egg and asked him to take it to his parents, because they wanted to make a cake for his sister's wedding. But on his way, two boys took the egg.
Careful: in children's books, too many pronouns can confuse a young reader. Repeat the noun when two characters of the same sex are in the sentence: "The fruit pickers gave me the stick because they broke the egg" is clear; "He gave him his stick" is not.
| Rule | Example |
|---|---|
| Put the spoken words inside quotation marks; begin with a capital letter. | "What have you done?" cried Vusi. |
| Punctuation that belongs to the speech goes inside the marks; use a comma, not a full stop, before the reporting clause. | "We can't help with the cake," said one. |
| A question mark or exclamation mark replaces the comma. | "Can we use that strong stick?" asked one. |
| If the reporting clause comes first, put a comma after it. | Granny said, "Vusi, please take this egg." |
| If the reporting clause interrupts a sentence, the second part has no capital. | "Vusi my brother," she said, "I don't really care about gifts." |
| Start a new paragraph (or a new line) for each new speaker. | As in the pages of the story. |
| Direct | Indirect (after a past reporting verb) |
|---|---|
| present simple: "I don't care about gifts." | past simple: She said that she didn't care about gifts. |
| present continuous: "We are building a house." | past continuous: They said they were building a house. |
| past simple / present perfect: "They broke the egg." / "What have you done?" | past perfect: He said they had broken the egg. / He asked what they had done. |
| will / can / may: "We can't help." | would / could / might: They said they couldn't help. |
| pronouns: "my sister" | change to fit the reporter: his sister |
| time and place: today, tomorrow, here, this | that day, the next day, there, that |
Questions become statements in word order, introduced by ask + if/whether or a question word: "Can we use that stick?" → They asked if they could use the stick. "What will my sister say?" → He wondered what his sister would say. Commands and requests use tell / ask + object + to-infinitive: "Put on your smart clothes!" → She told him to put on his smart clothes.
Worked example 2: reporting the sister's answer
Direct: "Vusi my brother, I don't really care about gifts. We are all here together, I am happy. Now put on your smart clothes!"
Indirect: Vusi's sister told him that she didn't really care about gifts; they were all there together and she was happy. Then she told him to put on his smart clothes.
Warning
Common errors
Tip
In children's stories, show the words. Direct speech brings characters to life and is easy to read aloud. Keep reporting verbs simple (said, asked, cried) so the child's attention stays on what is said, and save indirect speech for summarising less important talk.
How to use reported speech, from the 6 Minute Grammar series by BBC Learning English (about 6 minutes, 2015). Watch the explanation, then try the quiz at the end before the presenters give the answers.
Practice
Key points
Sources and credits
Quick check
Choose the correctly punctuated sentence.
