How Do Spelling, Handwriting Speed, and Handwriting Quality Develop During Primary School? Cross-Classified Growth Curve Analysis of Children's Writing Development

Aim: Longitudinal studies are rare in the field of writing research, and little is known about the concurrent development of the two transcription skills: spelling and handwriting. This study was designed to provide a comprehensive picture of the development and the longitudinal relations between spelling, handwriting speed, and handwriting quality at the word level.Method: Over a period of 3 years (coh1: Grades 2–4; coh2: Grades 3–5), 117 French-speaking children were assessed on a single-word dictation task. At each testing time, measures of spelling accuracy, handwriting speed, and handwriting quality were collected on 40 words. Words varied in both orthographic and graphic complexity, making it possible to investigate the influence of these levels of complexity on transcription abilities.Results: Linear growth analyses using cross-classified Bayesian structural equation modeling (CC-BSEM) revealed that spelling and speed continued to improve until Grade 5, while handwriting quality reached an early plateau in Grade 2. In the younger cohort, graphic complexity had a significant influence on the pace of development of handwriting speed and on spelling and handwriting quality performance in Grade 2. In the older cohort, a positive relation between spelling and speed and a negative relation between handwriting speed and handwriting quality were found, indicating that fast handwriting is associated with high spelling ability and that fast handwriting is detrimental to handwriting quality. By providing a better understanding of writing development, this study yields innovative findings not only regarding the development of transcription skills but also regarding how spelling, handwriting speed, and handwriting quality can influence each other's performance throughout primary school.

The Lecture Note-Taking Skills of Adolescents With and Without Learning Disabilities

The note- and test-taking skills of typically functioning undergraduates are significantly and positively related to handwriting speed, listening comprehension, background knowledge and sustained attention. This study attempted to replicate these findings with two groups of high school students—those with and without the diagnosis of a learning disability (LD). Students without LD scored significantly higher than those with LD on handwriting speed, listening comprehension, background knowledge, sustained attention, quality of notes, and test performance. Results of regression analyses indicated that note-taking ( f2 = 1.94) and test-taking ( f2 = 2.69) were associated with listening comprehension and background knowledge predominately. If these results are replicated, they suggest that the variables related to note-taking in typically functioning undergraduates are similar to high school students with and without LD. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed.

Pencil Grip Patterns of Students and Skilled Workers

Background: Pencil grip can be defined via detailed descriptions of the variables constituting the grip and it commences in the preschool years with writing instruments and therefore relevant to graphologists, forensic medicine and anthropology. The purpose of this investigation was to describe the diversity of pencil grip patterns among students and skilled workers in Delta State, Nigeria. The research also aimed at determining the effects of sociodemographic factors, handedness,and handwriting speed on pencil grip patters. Methods: Stratified random sampling was employed in this cross sectional observational study. Five hundred and fourty three volunteers between the ages of 11-77 years were investigated. Students were observed while writing from their textbooks and skilled workers were observed writing from any available news paper. Photograph of the writing hand was captured with the digital canon camera. The data was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 20. Kruska wallis test was used to establish relationship between pencil grip patterns and sociodemographic factors. Handwriting speed was determined by a speed score (letters per minute) and timed for 60 secounds for each participant. A self administered questionnaire was used to obtain data on sociodemographic factors. Results: This investigation demonstrates that gender had a significant effect on pencil grip patterns among secondary students (p<0.05)(K.W=7.54. df=1. p=0.01). Further observation showed that age and profession had a significant effect on pencil grip patterns among skilled workers at p<0.05 (K.W= 43.09,134.69 ,df=3,3, p=0.00,0.00). Conclusions: Findings from this investigation present the dynamic tripod grip as the most predominant grip pattern in the studied population.

Relationship between body functions and Arabic handwriting performance at different acquisition stages

Background. The written languages and handwriting acquisition stages place different demands on the writer. Therefore, the relationship between body functions and handwriting performance may vary in different languages and acquisition stages; yet these demands have not been studied in the Arabic language. Purpose. We examined the relationship between linguistic, visual-motor integration (VMI), and motor coordination (MC) functions and Arabic handwriting at two handwriting acquisition stages. Method. This study used a cross-sectional and correlative design. Second- ( n = 54) and fourth-grade ( n = 59) students performed tasks examining reading, handwriting automaticity, VMI, MC, and copying a text. Findings. Handwriting automaticity significantly explained the variance in handwriting speed in both grades, in addition to the VMI in second grade and the MC in fourth grade. Enhanced performance in the VMI increased the likelihood of having good legibility in second but not in fourth grade. Implications. Similar to other languages, the body functions related to Arabic handwriting vary at the different acquisition stages. Handwriting evaluation should be adjusted to students’ acquisition stage.