Emerging Issues in Handwriting Instruction.

N

34

Elementary Education; Handedness; Handwriting; Lateral Dominance; Mathematics Achievement; Reading Achievement; Sex Differences; Writing Research; Writing Skills

Noting the general lack of research on handwriting instruction, a study examined hand and eye dominance, hand positions, and handwriting production of children. Subjects were 310 children from grades one through five in classrooms of regular children, mainstreamed team teaching classrooms, and self-contained gifted classes in a large elementary school in south Florida. Subjects wrote the letters of the alphabet, some other short passages for copying, and then wrote about whatever they wished. Subjects' eye dominance was also determined, and scores from standardized achievement tests in math and reading were collected. Results indicated: (1) no significant relationship between handwriting position and grade level; (2) significant relationships among dominances and hand positions; (3) no significant relationship between school placement and handwriting position, or between eye-hand dominance and school placement; and (4) no significant differences for reading achievement or math achievement due to eye dominance, no differences due to handwriting position in reading or math achievement, and no gender differences in eye dominance or handwriting position. Findings question previous assumption that handwriting positions form developmentally. Findings suggest that teachers must realize that all children do not need to hold their writing tools in the same manner. (Contains 19 references, 6 tables, and 3 charts of data.) (RS)

1994

ED371382