NARRATOR:
You will hear two education students discussing an assignment about teaching children to write by hand.
NARRATOR:
First, you have some time to look at questions 21 to 24.
NARRATOR:
Now listen carefully and answer questions 21 to 24.
NARRATOR:
Now listen carefully and answer questions 21 to 24.
MAN:
How are you progressing with the handwriting assignment?
WOMAN:
I hadn't appreciated how many different advantages children gain from learning to write.
WOMAN:
It's clearly a fundamental skill, although many people now regard it as less relevant because so little everyday writing is done by hand.
MAN:
Yes, and the research strongly supports teaching handwriting before keyboard skills.
MAN:
One reason is that forming letters manually strengthens children's recall.
WOMAN:
The movement involved helps the shapes of letters remain in their minds.
WOMAN:
Once you consider it, that connection is quite easy to understand.
MAN:
What I didn't expect was the effect on children's ability to concentrate.
MAN:
Writing requires them to stay seated and direct their attention to a single task.
WOMAN:
I'd never thought of handwriting in that way either.
MAN:
I'm still less certain about why it encourages imagination.
WOMAN:
Remember the study of primary pupils?
WOMAN:
They produced a larger number of ideas when writing by hand than when working at a keyboard.
WOMAN:
That result was more or less what I would have predicted.
MAN:
The link with awareness of space was another surprise for me.
MAN:
I'd always associated that ability with judging where your body is in relation to people or objects.
WOMAN:
But writers need a good sense of space to judge the gaps between words and place them correctly on a page.
WOMAN:
I'd assumed handwriting mainly developed precise hand movements, but its effects are much broader.
MAN:
Of course, handwriting presents much greater difficulties for children with dyspraxia because coordinating movement is hard for them.
MAN:
Fortunately, teachers can use several classroom activities to support them.
MAN:
Letter formation often needs a great deal of work.
MAN:
Games can help children tell similar letter forms apart, but progress in that area requires considerable patience.
WOMAN:
I liked the suggestion of giving them a special pen which produces a light when they push down with too much force.
WOMAN:
That provides immediate feedback and seems very straightforward.
MAN:
There isn't an equally direct way to deal with very slow writing.
MAN:
Accuracy should come first, and speed may increase later as confidence grows.
WOMAN:
Squared paper offers another simple form of support.
WOMAN:
If children put one letter in each square, they gradually learn to leave more consistent gaps.
MAN:
Improving the spacing has a greater effect on readability than making every word follow a perfectly straight line.
NARRATOR:
Before you hear the rest of the discussion, you have some time to look at questions 25 to 30.
NARRATOR:
Now listen and answer questions 25 to 30.
MAN:
For certain pupils, including some with dyslexia, learning on a laptop may work better than writing by hand.
MAN:
Handwriting can be so demanding for them that some stop trying.
WOMAN:
A wrong answer doesn't feel like such a serious setback on a computer, so they're generally more prepared to attempt the task again.
WOMAN:
However, the evidence says they don't achieve fluency any sooner.
MAN:
That's what I found as well.
MAN:
Did you see the article comparing print, where letters are separate, with cursive script, where they're connected?
WOMAN:
Joined writing used to be viewed as more elegant and a sign of education, but that attitude has changed.
WOMAN:
Teachers now recognise that it takes longer to master, and connecting letters is especially demanding for pupils with learning difficulties.
MAN:
At school, I used to wonder whether my untidy writing lowered my examination results.
MAN:
Current research suggests that concern was justified.
MAN:
Many candidates probably feel they should be assessed only on what they know, rather than on the appearance of their work.
WOMAN:
Even so, assessors can't award credit for an answer they're unable to read, and studies show that marks can suffer.
WOMAN:
That's why readable handwriting has always been an important classroom goal.
WOMAN:
Do you expect handwriting to have a different role in the future?
MAN:
I doubt it will change greatly.
MAN:
It's unfortunate that most schools still don't teach touch typing.
MAN:
Perhaps that will matter less once people can write directly onto digital screens.
MAN:
In any case, teachers know handwriting remains a basic skill, so children will continue learning it.
WOMAN:
Still, people depend increasingly on electronic devices and use pen and paper less often.
WOMAN:
That can weaken certain abilities.
MAN:
Do you mean taking notes?
MAN:
There are plenty of digital tools for recording those.
WOMAN:
Some people also mention difficulties with reading historical documents.
WOMAN:
My own problem is more immediate.
WOMAN:
My mother is amazed by my poor spelling and the irregular way I use punctuation.
WOMAN:
I'm sure that comes from not practising enough.
MAN:
I actually miss the habit of writing by hand.
MAN:
These days I hardly do it at all.
MAN:
My grandparents' writing was beautiful and distinctive, whereas nobody could recognise a note as mine now.
MAN:
I think we've lost something valuable.
WOMAN:
I once kept a handwritten diary, but now I type every entry because it takes less effort.
WOMAN:
Digital writing is convenient, but I'm sorry that handwriting has disappeared from so much of my daily life.
