Does a script change affect handwriting ability?

npj Summary: a study assessed whether practical experience writing in Cryllic might affect a child's handwriting ability in Latin script⎮1 minute read
Published in Neuroscience
Does a script change affect handwriting ability?
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Despite the rise of digital tablets and labtops in schools, handwriting remains an important skill. It demands the development of linguistic, attention, perceptual, and fine motor skills, so students can express their creative ideas, write stories or take notes. According to current research, good handwriting skills benefit a child's cognitive and behavioural development. 

In a new study led by Thibault Asselborn, based at the CHILI Lab in Switzerland, the research team wanted to test whether poor handwriting skills were transferrable between the Latin and Cyrillic alphabets.

190 children from Grade 1 to 4 completed a series of handwriting exercises. Students in the higher grades had more experience writing in the Cryllic alphabet compared to students in Grade One. This situation provided an interesting opportunity to assess whether practical experience writing in Cryllic might affect a child's handwriting ability in Latin script. 

To learn more about the results of this research study, please read the article: "The transferability of handwriting skills: from the Cyrillic to the Latin alphabet" published by npj Science of Learning. 


Reference

Asselborn, T., Johal, W., Tleubayev, B. et al. The transferability of handwriting skills: from the Cyrillic to the Latin alphabet. npj Sci. Learn. 6, 6 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-021-00084-w

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