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Handwriting: The Neglected Skill

By Mahamad M. Ajineh

Teaching handwriting to beginners may cause a lot of trouble for many teachers, either becausethey haven't had any training in this regard or because they have to forget their own habits ofwriting in order to teach their pupils the correct way of forming letters and words.

Most primary stage teachers in the United Arab Emirates and probably in most Arab countrieswere not trained to teach handwriting because most of them graduated from the faculties of Arts

and Letters where the courses focus on literature and not on methodology.

When these teachers start teaching English to beginners, they are face to face with the problemof how to teach handwriting skills. Although they usually attend a training program during their

first year of recruitment, their classroom performance in teaching handwriting is disappointing.

This could be due to the fact that the time allotted to training them to teach this skill is toolimited.

As a supervisor of English, I work with 60 teachers. I start my first round of visits on the first ofOctober and finish it at the end of November. In response to a frequently voiced request for

assistance on teaching handwriting, I worked out a training plan which was divided into thefollowing steps:

Step 1: The Agenda

I sent a circular to all teachers informing them of the training program, date, time, venue, andagenda. The topics to be covered were as follows:

1. Introduction: The importance of handwriting.2. Technical terms related to handwriting.3. Demonstration of how to write small letters.4. Classification system of small letters.5. Handwriting practice (small letters).6. Demonstration of joined script.7. Demonstration of how to write capital letters.8. Handwriting practice (capital letters).9. Discussion: Procedures for teaching handwriting.

n.b. Since the number of the teachers was large (60), I divided them into two groups, males and

females, 30 each. Each group had one evening session from 16:30 -18:00, a break, followed by

the second half from 18:30-20:00.

Step 2: The Materials

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1. A big ruler (essential) 120cm long, 5cm wide.2. Colored chalk.3. Sheets of four line paper.

Step 3: Introduction-changing Attitudes

After the teachers were welcomed, we discussed the importance of handwriting. I elicited termslike direction (left-right orientation), speed (correct hand movement and not lifting the pen when

writing), fluency (moving easily and smoothly) and rhythm (balance between letters). Most

participants acknowledged the importance of this training, but some had come with a negativeattitude, especially those who had many years of experience. To my surprise, this attitude

changed when they gradually realized that this program was useful right from the beginning.

Step 4: Relevant Terms

After the introduction, we started talking about the terms that teachers needed to be familiar withwhen teaching handwriting. We discussed the differences between script and print and joined

and unjoined script. We also discussed terms like entry and exit, low/high entry/exit, ascenders

and descenders, and horizontal and diagonal ligatures. To most participants these terms werecompletely new, and it was impossible to continue the session without clarifying them.

Below is a list of terms with definitions and examples that I have used.

1. Script = handwriting (opposite of print)2. Print = mark(s), letters, etc. in printed form.3. Joined script: the letters are joined together. e.g.4. Unjoined script: the letters are not connected, e.g.5. Entry (of a letter): where the letter begins. e.g. the dot shows the entry.6. Exit (of a letter): where the letter ends. e.g.7. High left-side entry. e.g.8. Low right-side exit. e.g.9. Diagonal ligature, e.g.10.Horizontal ligature. e.g.11.Left-side ascender/descender. e.g.

Step 5: Demonstration: Small Letters

I drew a set of 4 lines on the chalkboard, the base line (3rd line) with a different color. Then Iasked volunteers to write the letters on the board in alphabetical order. During this activity, adiscussion was going on in order to highlight some specific points and reinforce others. Teachers

felt free to ask any question related to the activity. Some of the questions that were asked were:

1. Where does this letter start? (entry)2. Where does it end? (exit)3. Is it a low or high entry?

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4. How is the ligature? diagonal/horizontal?5. What is the appropriate hand movement for writing this letter?6. Is it an ascender or a descender?

Step 6: Classification: Small Letters

The teachers, in groups, studied the letters, bearing in mind the script available in their pupils'books. After the discussion we came up with the following groups:

1. a, c, d, e, u, n, i, m, s.Features: a diagonal ligature, a high left-side entry, a low right-sideexit.

2. h, l, t, p, k.Features: a high left-side entry, a low right-side exit, and left-side ascendersand descenders.

3. v, w, r, o, b.Features: a high right-side exit and a horizontal ligature.4. f5. g, y, z, j, q.

Step 7: Practice: Small Letters

Teachers were provided with sheets of paper, and they started practicing writing the small letters.

Some of the papers were checked collectively, and some teachers were asked to write certain

letters on the board to show the correct hand movement.

Step 8: Demonstration: Capital Letters

I followed the same teaching procedure with capital letters that I used with the small letters.

Step 9: Practice: Joined Script

Teachers practiced writing in joined script, concentrating on the kinds of ligatures in each letter.

When this was done, one of the teachers wrote a sentence on the chalkboard (joined script) and

this was accompanied by actions, comments, instructions, etc.

Step 10: Discussion

Finally the teachers sat in groups of five and discussed the appropriate procedure for teaching

this skill. This is the methodology they suggested:

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