Exploring interpersonal meanings of report cards and WISC-V scores: A case study of a gifted child

Abstract

Using a discourse approach, this study examines interpersonal meanings and judgmental resources constructed in academic assessment reports and Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children—Fifth Version (WISC-V) results. This research opens fresh avenues for analyzing the linguistic and cognitive elements of a gifted child’s early performance. The target child is a gifted student with a Fluid Reasoning score of 132 (98th percentile). In-depth English text analysis was performed on his eight academic report cards from the playgroup, prenursery, kindergarten, first two years of primary school, and one WISC-V test. The appraisal system serves as the study’s theoretical foundation, providing an interpersonal analysis of how behavior is evaluated and judged in the areas of capacity, normality, tenacity, veracity, and propriety. The findings indicate that when teachers’ observations and the WISC-V are integrated, a gifted student’s cognitive abilities and academic performance strengths and weaknesses can be revealed comprehensively. The alignment of teacher evaluations in the areas of languages, mathematics and science, as well as work habits and social attitudes and WISC-V test results, is also examined. This study contributes to the understanding of the behavioural patterns of gifted student and the implications for their education development.