Influence of the chosen handwriting style on reading and writing skills of second graders

Abstract

Current literature is inconclusive regarding the role of handwrit ing style in reading and writing performance of primary school students. This study aimed to investigate the impact of the handwriting style used by students (uppercase print, script, cursive) on spelling, use of punctuation and capital letters, richness of composition, and writing and reading fluen cy. A total of 152 second-grade students from middle socioeconomic level schools in Buenos Aires, Argentina, participated. The students completed word and pseudoword dictation tasks, writing composition, writing fluen cy, graphomotor skills and reading fluency tasks. Results showed that stu dents who used handwritten script (lowercase print) wrote a greater num ber of correct words and sentences, made fewer spelling errors, wrote more letters per minute, and read with greater fluency compared to those who used handwriting uppercase print or cursive, all with p < .045. Accu racy in pseudowords and phonological errors were explained by grapho motor development, both with p < .007. The results provide evidence to the debate on which handwriting style is better to use and are discussed in relation to their application in the school context.