Winkler, Gisela2019-02-212019-02-211995https://hdl.handle.net/10539/26449A Research Project submitted to the Faculty of Education University of the Witwatersrand in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Education by Coursework and Research ReportThe work of Piaget and Vygotsky has formed the theoretical foundation for many research projects that investigate children's cognitive processes which are part of their learning experience, These investigations, however, do not address the affective aspects of the learning process. This study seeks to isolate and-explore the affective components of writing by conceptualizing a "creative writing experience" as a personal meaning making event which is simultaneously influenced by the children's cognitive development and their emotional development. The feelings experienced by the children while writing are a particular interest. Theories developed by Freud and Klein are used to investigate the children's emotions and to assess the impact these have on their writing process. The methods of investigation employ a detailed observation of external behaviour with the help of a video camera, a focus group interview, a reflective interview and a projective technique. The children's emotional experience of writing is deduced from the visual data as well as the interviews. It is concluded that the children's experience of writing is dominated by anxious emotions. As the medium of writing does not provide children with a communicative structure, it presents many children with an experience of isolation and meaninglessness. If the children fail to provide a purpose for their task, writing becomes an experience of insecurity and alienation. The role of children's talk during the writing process does not have a cognitive significance. On the contrary, its primary function seems to be to control affective forces and to maintain the personal purposefulness of the writing task.enCreative writing (Elementary education) -- South Africa.Thesis