In this digital age, children find it easier to drop the pencil and press the keys on tablets or keyboards. Should we teach cursive in schools if children prefer to type speedily and are hesitant to write efficiently?
“The mastery and automatization of handwriting skills is an important prerequisite to a student’s development as a competent writer” (Graham, 1986: 373)
Cursive writing is a building block to learning, and it is essential to consider the long-term effects of the habit of cursive handwriting as scripting out a beautiful and legible cursive is a gift. Cursive writing is famous not only for its loops and curves but for its speed too. Encouraging children to write and improving their handwriting, are important aspects to be addressed even in the digital era.
This article focuses on insights from research about cursive writing and its relation to child development.
Is Cursive Writing and Cognitive Development Entwined According to the Research?
Many studies have been conducted in the past to determine whether technology can take over writing or whether cursive writing should continue. Let’s delve into the topic.
A study conducted by Evs Ose Askvik (2020) indicates that writing in cursive is an ability that integrates both motor and sensory abilities across regions of the brain. Cursive writing is used as a tool for learning. As a result, it has been regarded as a necessary prerequisite for later academic success.
The research by Askvik also shows that cursive promotes critical thinking, enhances linguistic skills, and improves memory. Further, it kindles the synchronization between the left and right hemispheres of the brain. Such type of development cannot happen when a child presses the keys of tablets or keyboards.
When children write with a pen on paper, their brain focuses all of its energy on forming each letter accurately. Higher-order cognitive functions like analysis, assessment, and movement coordination are activated, which are not stimulated when typing or texting.
The Importance of Penmanship Skills in Today’s Digital World
A study by Cristina Semeraro and colleagues (Semeraro et al., 2019) states, “There is increasing evidence that mastering handwriting skills play an important role in academic achievement. This is a slow process that begins in kindergarten: at this age, writing is very similar to drawing (i.e. scribbles); from there, it takes several years before children are able to write competently.”
From an early age, children learn to write with their hands and cursive writing helps them to learn about the strokes and curves required to form the letters. Cursive writing is beneficial as it helps in letter and word formation, and prepares a child’s hand for more complex writing. It also helps in increasing writing speed and makes it easier for children to comprehend what they have written.
- Cursive handwriting reflects the traits of a child’s personality like creativity, emotional stability, and communication skills with the surrounding people.
- It is easier for children to write in cursive handwriting as the movements of cursive are natural for them.
- Cursive handwriting also makes it easier for children to acquire knowledge and recall the facts and figures written by hand.
- Cursive writing promotes the ability to read and spell words with ease.
- Use of punctuation and proper grammar is improved when a child continues to write in cursive handwriting.
Does Research Show the Value of Learning Cursive?
As stated in the Wall Street Journal, Virginia Berninger (2010), a professor of educational psychology at the University of Washington, says “Handwriting differs from typing because it requires executing sequential strokes to form a letter, whereas keyboarding involves selecting a whole letter by touching a key.”
It is stated that her research also demonstrates that finger movements while writing cursive handwriting activate massive regions of the brain that promote the storage and managing of information. Children tend to write faster and express their ideas in better ways.
It is fascinating that a daily practice of at least 20 minutes of cursive writing promotes cognitive development, enhances motor skills, and improves reading and writing ability.
The secret to effective learning is skill layering. Cursive writing allows the children to focus their attention and concentration on the idea of what they are writing. In turn, the child can utilize their ability for better reading, spelling, grammar, and further better academic outcomes.
When children write cursive writing, they combine two things in their mind – one is the abstract concept of the word and the other is the actual act of writing it out. This is crucial because children develop the ability of reasoning which can be utilized, later in life, for hard activities like programming or dealing with numbers.
Cursive Handwriting and the Children with Impairments.
The benefits of cursive writing have been noted for several years for both children and adults. It is also beneficial for children who have disabilities like dyslexia and underdeveloped fine motor skills.
Cursive writing and dyslexia – A language processing problem called dyslexia can make it difficult to read, write, spell, and occasionally even talk. In a report from PBS Newshour, Marilyn Zecher, a former teacher and language specialist at the Atlantic Seaboard Dyslexia Education Center (ASDEC) claims that students with dyslexia struggle to learn to read because of ineffective sound-letter associations in their brains. However, because cursive handwriting integrates hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, and other brain and memory functions, it can aid in the decoding process.
Cursive writing is a task that requires continuous flow, and this involves muscles and joints in the hands. When children practice writing by hand, muscles are building and this promotes fine motor skills and hand-brain coordination.
At times, even adults who have weakened fine motor control due to old age or arthritis can improve it by practicing cursive handwriting again.
Conclusion
In the modern world where even texting is gradually being replaced by voice-over messaging, the researchers reveal that scripting or handwriting wires the brain connects us to history, is a beautiful art, and the gains go beyond reading, spelling, or forming words.
In terms of the overall development of children, Research has shown that cursive handwriting increases brain activation and enhances children’s cognitive and visual skills. It also improves the academic performance of the child. Scripting proper cursive influences writing skills, which in turn improves reading and critical thinking.
With all the above findings described through various research, cursive writing should not be abandoned in schools, rather, it should be added as one of the essential components of the curriculum.
References
- Askvik, O. E. (2020). The Importance of Cursive Handwriting Over Typewriting for Learning in the Classroom: A High-Density EEG Study of 12-Year-Old Children and Young Adults. Frontiers in Psychology. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01810/full
- Bounds, G. (2010). How Handwriting Boosts the Brain. Wall Street Journal (October 5, 2010) https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704631504575531932754922518
- Graham, S. (1986). The Reliability, Validity, and Utility of Three Handwriting Measurement Procedures. The Journal of Educational Research, 79(6), 373–380. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220671.1986.10885708
- Jones, E., & A. Brown. (2014). How cursive can help students with dyslexia connect the dots. PBS NewsHour. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/education/connecting-dots-role-cursive-dyslexia-therapy
- Vail, J. K. (1992). The effect of systematic cursive instruction on the length of writing samples. https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/819
- Semeraro, C. (2019). Teaching of cursive writing in the first year of primary school: Effect on reading and writing skills. PLOS ONE. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209978
