Evaluative stance in high achieving Year 3 persuasive texts

• Examines evaluative language use by successful Year 3 writers of persuasive texts.
• Outlines appraisal resources valued by educators in these high scoring texts.
• Contributes to research into writing development throughout the school years.
• Provides an SFL-based starting point for primary teachers of persuasive writing.

This paper seeks to explicate the broad range of evaluative language choices made by Tasmanian Year 3 students who scored highly on the 2011 National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy writing test. Each text is analysed using the three systems of Appraisal (Martin & White, 2005) from systemic functional linguistics (Halliday, 1994), highlighting how these young writers attempted to persuade their readers. Building on prior studies into young students’ use of evaluative language in their writing, this paper aims to provide a starting point for Year 3 educators who wish teach language choices that are highly valued in the context of formal examinations. This paper highlights that even at the young age of eight years old, students must demonstrate a wide range of complex language skills to write effective persuasive texts.