As part of an ongoing programme of language research, the department of Children’s Dictionaries & Children’s Language Data at 51ºÚÁÏÍø has analysed children’s creative writing submitted to the BBC 500 WORDS story competition in 2023 and the results are out today!

You can find all the details about the winners of the 500 words story competition on the , and download the full for all the language analysis from OUP.

The analysis is undertaken by a team of lexicographers, editors and teachers, and is based on the Oxford Children’s Corpus, the largest children’s language database in English.

Key Findings from the Report

• Themes around contemporary conflicts feature more prominently in the stories than in previous years.
• There is a shift away from the topic of Brexit, with very few mentions of this word (and none in a political context).
• There is a substantial increase in the frequency of AI in the stories – often in relation to a dangerous entity that could take over the world.
• The stories indicate an increasing awareness of neurodiversity, and conditions are often portrayed as a strength.
• Barbie occurs twice as frequently in stories from 2023 than 2020.
• TikTok is seen as a more established app and part of everyday life in 2023.
• Lioness(es) increased in frequency compared with 2020, and over half of the mentions were in reference to football. In 2020, almost all mentions of lioness(es) were references to the animal.
• The 2023 stories are the first to demonstrate a lived experience of Covid in the UK, and the pandemic is evidently still a reference point for children.

Insights from the 2023 stories

• The proportion of boys and girls who submitted a story in 2023 was 39% and 61%respectively. Excluding names, words that are used much more frequently by boys than girls include: Madrid, titan, league, Godzilla and champions. Meanwhile, words that are used much more frequently by girls than boys include: gymnastics, pony, foal, makeup and tiara.
• Words that appear much more often in stories from the 5-7 age category than the 8-11 age category include: mammy, baddy and teddybear. Meanwhile, words that are used much more frequently in stories by children in the older age group than the younger age group include intrigue, commander and murder. Adverbs, including practically, seemingly and sincerely, are also used more frequently in this age group.
• Words which had much higher frequency in stories from 2023 than 2020 include seasonal trends such as pumpkin and Halloween, footballers such as Haaland and Raya, and animals such as capybara and axolotl. Camilla is also used much more often in stories from 2023 – both in reference to the Queen and as a general character name.
• Meanwhile, words which had much higher frequency in stories from 2020 than 2023 include ps4, bushfire, trump, Brexit and coronavirus.

Do check out the full report for more interesting facts about how children used language in the 2023 500 words competition, and congratulations and well done to everyone who took part and submitted a story, as well as to the well-deserved winners.Ìý

Blog: 4 top tips for writing great plots

Blog: 4 fun ways to develop characters for a short story

Blog: How to find the perfect words for your story

Blog: Using storytelling to help develop reading and writing skills

Realise or realize, organise or organize, analyse or analyze?

It might seem strange to see the same word with different spellings. Is it -ise or -ize at the end? Which one is right? You and your child might think the answer would be found in a trusted dictionary – an Oxford dictionary perhaps. But when you look, you might find that they are both correct!

There must be more to it though because some words are never spelt with an -ize ending! To find out which words can be spelt both ways, and which ones only one way, read on.

The first thing is that a dictionary will not give the ‘correct’ answer, but it will show how words are being used and spelt. If a word has two meanings, it provides both. Some words, such as foot has many more meanings: the thing at the end of your leg, a measure of length, a unit of rhythm in a poem. It also means the bottom of a hill or the muscular organ a snail uses to get about. Depending on the dictionary you are looking in, you will find all or some of these meanings. It will let you know if a word is old fashioned, for example, thrice, meaning three times. It may also tell you where a word originally came from, and this is the reason behind the different ways of spelling the same word.

It is a common belief that -ize is an Americanism and the British is -ise: recognize rather than recognise. That if you spell with a -ize, that this is an American spelling. But for most verbs, either way is correct in British English and the -ize ending has been in use in English since the 16^th century. If the word came into English with its origin in the Greek root -izo, then it can be spelt -ize.

This spelling is used in a number of places including Oxford dictionaries. The National Curriculum opts for recognise and criticise although both of these words can be spelt with -ize.

Here are some words which are always spelt with -ise at the end:

• advertise
• advise
• comprise
• compromise
• despise
• devise
• disguise
• exercise
• improvise
• revise
• supervise
• surprise
• televise

Your dictionary will tell you when a word can be spelt in different ways. It will only give one spelling for the words above. If your dictionary is an English one, rather than American, it will also only give one spelling for analyse and paralyse. These two are always spelt like this in British English.

Overall, if this still seems confusing, the most important piece of advice to give your child is to be consistent: if you start with a ‘z’ spelling, stick to it. If you are using the ‘s’ spelling, use it all the way through your writing. And, finally, remember a dictionary can tell you so much more than the meanings of tricky words.

More from Oxford Owl

• How to find the right dictionary for your child
• How a dictionary and thesaurus can help your child discover a world of words
• Discover Oxford Children’s Dictionaries
• Dictionary Activities and Games

Big Words for Little People: Celebrate and Our World

Written by Helen Mortimer and illustrated by Cristina Trapanese

Age 3+

The Big Words for Little People series focuses on the words we use to talk about big topics in a way that feels good for little people. Celebrate and Our World are the latest books in the series, creating special moments for grown-ups and young children to talk about things that matter, big and small.

Created by the language experts at 51ºÚÁÏÍø, and informed by the Oxford Corpus of Children’s Language, each book focuses on a word or concept to introduce young children to the vocabulary they need to make sense of their feelings.

These engaging and friendly picture books will build your child’s confidence through sharing and talking, with reassuring tips to help you enjoy the books together and to encourage conversation.

Win Big Words for Little People: Celebrate and Our World

To celebrate the publication of these latest books in the Big Words for Little People series, we’ve got three pairs of books to give away!

For your chance to win a copy of Celebrate and Our World, tell us your little person’s favourite big word at the moment.

UK residents only. Entry closes at 11.59pm on Sunday 30th January 2022.

About the books

About the Author and Illustrator

Helen Mortimer has always loved words. After graduating, she placed her foot on the bottom rung of the publishing ladder and enjoyed every step of the climb until she had a fine view of the world of picture books!

Cristina Trapanese started studying illustration at the Italian School of Comix and later at the IDEA Academy in Rome. She loves painting and how it helps her learn how to manage colours, later discovering her passion for telling stories through images.

More from Oxford Owl

• Parent support: Vocabulary: tips for building vocabulary at home
• Blog post: Mindfulness and mental health in children: five top tips for parents
• Find out more about the Big Words for Little People series

Roald Dahl Scrumptious & Delumptious Words

Written by Kay Woodward and illustrated by Quentin Blake

Age 7+

Unleash your child’s splendiferous storytelling skills with the latest additions to our collection of gloriously giftable Roald Dahl language books.

Roald Dahl Scrumptious & Delumptious Words feasts on Roald Dahl’s many lip-smackingly glorious (and downright disgusterous) words about food. We’re also excited to announce Roald Dahl Beastly & Bewildering Words, inspired by Roald Dahl’s stories of fantabulous animals, frightswiping creatures and bewildering beastliness!Ìý

Each book is packed full of language facts, word origins and more, straight from the pages of the world’s number 1 storyteller, alongside Quentin Blake’s inimitable illustrations. The books will encourage your child to develop a love of words, broaden their vocabulary and build their confidence with language to help them use real words, Roald Dahl words or even their own made-up words brilliantly in their writing.

Win a Roald Dahl language book bundle

To celebrate the publication of these Roald Dahl language books, we’re offering one lucky winner the chance to win the complete set: Roald Dahl Scrumptious & Delumptious Words, Roald Dahl Beastly & Bewildering Words, Roald Dahl Rotsome & Repulsant Words and Roald Dahl Words of Magical Mischief.

To enter, simply comment on the competition post at the top of the Oxford Owl Facebook page with your child’s favourite scrumptious and delumptious food.

Competition opens on Roald Dahl Story Day on Monday 13^th September 2021

UK residents only. Entry closes at 11.59pm on Sunday 26^th September 2021.

About the books

About the Writer

Roald Dahl Scrumptious & Delumptious Words and Roald Dahl Beastly & Bewildering Words have been compiled by Kay Woodward. Kay has written over 150 children’s books, including storybooks, series fiction and picture books. She is the ideal person to take to a pub quiz, as long as the topics include Jane Eyre, ice skating, Brunel, Emmeline Pankhurst, lightning, fairies, bridges, Roald Dahl, Christmas and chocolate, because she has written about them.

More from Oxford Owl

One of the most basic, but also the most valuable, skills we can give our children is the ability to communicate well. Research shows that children who can use language well and confidently not only get better results at school, but also are more likely to succeed in later life.

At its heart, this means being confident with words – how to read them, what they mean and how to spell them. This link between phonics, vocabulary knowledge and spelling is crucial. Children who are excited to learn new words and spellings will continue to expand their vocabulary, which in turn, means that they will happily take on new learning across different subjects. Children who are anxious about unfamiliar words tend to stick to the vocabulary they know and can spell, which restricts their learning and ability to communicate well with others.

So, what can you do to help your child develop a healthy attitude towards early language skills?

1. Show them how much fun words can be

Try to find time to talk together and as you do, encourage them to ask questions so that you can chat back and forth. Point out words whose sound describe what they are such as crunchy or crumbly or words beginning with s- that can sound like soft, smooth or squishy things. You could create a list of favourite words together. Try finding small words inside big words, such as together, and see who can find the most. Tell jokes, use rhymes, read lots of stories and poems. You could even make up words that are particular to your family. Show your child a positive attitude towards words and language.

2. Use dictionaries to explore new words

Why let your child’s dictionary gather dust on the shelf when you could challenge each other to bring a new word into your everyday language? A ball, for example, could be described as ‘round’ but it is also a ‘sphere’. Repeat the word, say how much you like the sound of it. Encourage your child to say the word, too. See if you can find it in a dictionary together. You’ll need to listen carefully to the initial phonemes (sounds) in the word, talk about what letters can make up these sounds, and then use the alphabet to find the word. Point out how the dictionary explains the meaning of the word.
 

3. Get familiar with phonics – consonant sounds

At school, your child will follow a phonics reading programme. Each week they focus on different sounds and the letter, or letters, used to make the sounds. Try to keep track of which sounds your child is learning and practise at home. If they are learning the sound /b/ made by the letter ‘b’, have fun trying to spot things in your home which start with that sound, e.g. bed, beans, or book. Encourage your child to draw the letter or group of letters and then add pictures around it that start with that sound. If you use a phonics dictionary, you will find the words in it are ordered by their sound.Ìý When your child is learning the /s/ sound, you can use it to discover that both ‘sun’ and ‘Cinderella’ both start with the same sound but can be spelt either with the letter ‘s’ or the letter ‘c’. Try thinking of other words beginning with the /s/ sound and think about their spellings.
 

4. Ee, ea or ey – phonic vowel sounds

As well as learning about the initial (first) sounds in words, which are usually consonant sounds, your child will also learn about short and long vowel sounds. These are often, but not always, found in the middle and end of words. Some of these sounds can be spelt in many different ways. For example, the long vowel sound /ee/, can be spelt using the letters ee (bee), ea (dream), ey (donkey), ie (thief), y (funny), or e (me).

Once you know what sound your child is focusing on at school, have fun noticing that sound in other words. For example, if you come across the word donkey in a story, pause and think about other words that end with the same sound and spelling (e.g. key, money, trolley). You can use a phonics spelling dictionary to come up with these other words for you.
 

5. Be creative in learning tricky spellings

Some words are just tricky to spell so their spelling has to be learnt. Your child will come across many common words that just need learning, such as the, are, friend, one, or said. Try to pick out words that your child struggles to spell and find engaging ways to help them learn these spellings. Some children learn through chanting and repetition, others find it helpful to link actions to letters to help them remember spellings. Sometimes inventing a rhyme or saying can help children remember spellings, for example, ‘because’ (big elephants can always understand small elephants).

Read this when thinking about which dictionary will suit your child.