Impact of handwriting training on fluency, spelling and text quality among third graders

Abstract

As recent studies and theoretical assumptions suggest that the quality of texts composed by children and adolescents is affected by their transcription skills, this experimental field trial aims at investigating the impact of combined handwriting/spelling training on fluency, spelling and text quality among normally developing 3rd graders (N = 175). In addition to the combined handwriting/spelling training group, the sample includes two other intervention groups, a handwriting training group and a spelling training group as well as a reading fluency training control group. The participating teachers (N = 11) and their students were randomly assigned to the different intervention and control conditions, which were scheduled to last 20 units (each unit lasts 15 min) distributed over 5 weeks (4 units/week). Data collection was administered both before (pre-test) and after (post-test) the intervention as well as 3 months later (follow-up). Measures included group-administered tests and tasks (spelling, visuo-motor integration, copy task, and composing) and individually administered tests and tasks (working memory and several handwriting tasks on the digitizing tablet). As handwriting automaticity (measured on the digitizing tablet) was already high at the beginning of the study, the intervention was not able to improve it further. In consequence, an intervention effect on the quality of composed texts was not observed. Instead, text quality was predicted by working memory, fluency, spelling, and gender irrespective of the intervention.

The Effects of Planning and Handwriting Style on Quantity Measures in Secondary School Children’s Writing

“…Previous research has found gender differences in writing where male writers often produce less writing output (Kim et al, 2015; Williams and Larkin, 2013; Cordeiro et al, 2018; Lichtsteiner et al, 2018). Therefore, gender differences were addressed in the models of analysis in this study.…”

“…In line with a theme that runs through primary and secondary education, female writers tend to outperform male writers in a range of writing outcomes (Berninger and Fuller, 1992; Knudson, 1995; c.f. Jones and Myhill, 2007; Williams and Larkin, 2013; Kim et al, 2015; Cordeiro et al, 2018; Lichtsteiner et al, 2018).…”

Self‐reported knowledge on literacy of Israeli speech‐language pathologists and special education teachers

“…This distinction is not a dichotomy. Creating a dichotomy between motor skills and language skills is potentially problematic, as it is possible that child's phonology may affect handwriting (Lichtsteiner, Wicki, and Falmann, 2018), or that the cognitive load of writing may also have an impact on handwriting (Sumner, Connelly, and Barnett, 2013). Still, the subtleties and approach taken here on writing – as a modality or discursive style – enabled to capture the multifaceted nature of literacy and contributed to examine how SLPs and SETs perceive their own disciplines, as well as those of other professionals who work in the field of literature.…”

Promoting Handwriting Fluency for Preschool and Elementary-Age Students: Meta-Analysis and Meta-Synthesis of Research From 2000 to 2020

“…Writing comprises several sequential and simultaneous language, cognitive, and motor processes, all of which demand some of the writer's limited cognitive resources. Low level processes of handwriting involve an integration and coordination of spelling knowledge, allographic representations, and the execution of fine motor movements, while higher-level processes include planning, ideation, consideration of audience, and revising (Hurschler Lichtsteiner et al, 2018). Translating ideas into written language is not a significant problem for expert writers.…”

“…They were not concerned about fluency and timed writing or writing from memory as these practices were never observed in kindergarten classrooms. Traditional handwriting lessons used to focus on legibility of handwriting and the importance and the knowhow of teaching handwriting fluency is not yet well known (Hurschler Lichtsteiner et al, 2018). A lack of opportunity to set up writing fluency skills in the elementary grades is particularly problematic because formal writing instruction is typically not offered to students after elementary school (Hier and Eckert, 2014).…”