Figurative language and narrative writing: insights from high-achieving primary school students
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Walton, Jack
Tann, Ken
Shoecraft, Kelly
Lowien, Nathan
Scott, Andrew
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Abstract
Figurative language is a prominent feature of contemporary primary/elementary English curricula globally, yet little is known about how students at different stages of primary school use figurative language in the context of narrative writing. This study presents a detailed analysis of the frequencies and uses of figurative devices in narratives written by ten Australian Year 3 and Year 5 students who scored highly on Australia’s standardised writing assessment in 2022 (NAPLAN). The analysis focused on eight figurative devices identified in the primary year levels of the Australian Curriculum: English, including alliteration, assonance, idiom, metaphor, personification, simile, hyperbole, and onomatopoeia. The findings revealed the extent to which the high scoring students used these devices in their narratives, as well as patterns in their use of figurative language to serve their writing purposes, enhancing the quality of their narratives by communicating themes related to the prescribed topic of bravery. The results have several implications for writing-related policies, assessment, and primary school teaching practices.
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The Australian Educational Researcher
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© The Author(s) 2025. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
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Education
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Thomas, DP; Walton, J; Tann, K; Shoecraft, K; Lowien, N; Scott, A, Figurative language and narrative writing: insights from high-achieving primary school students, The Australian Educational Researcher, 2025