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You will hear two education students discussing an assignment on teaching handwriting to children.
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First, you have some time to look at questions 21 to 24.
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Now listen carefully and answer questions 21 to 24.
STUDENT 1:
How are you getting on with the assignment on handwriting?
STUDENT 2:
You know, I hadn't realised that children benefit in so many ways from learning to write.
STUDENT 2:
It's such an important skill and yet most people think handwriting is less important than in the past because people hardly ever write by hand these days.
STUDENT 1:
Yes, and all the evidence suggests children should learn to write by hand before they learn to type, not least because it helps their memory.
STUDENT 2:
The physical act of writing helps children to remember letters.
STUDENT 2:
That seems pretty obvious when you think about it.
STUDENT 1:
What's less obvious is how it helps develop their concentration.
STUDENT 1:
They have to sit still and focus on one thing.
STUDENT 2:
Yeah, that aspect of handwriting had never occurred to me before.
STUDENT 1:
I'm not sure I understand how it improves children's imagination though.
STUDENT 2:
Well, there was that study which showed that primary age children generated more ideas when they were writing by hand than using a keyboard.
STUDENT 2:
I would have guessed that would be the case.
STUDENT 1:
I'd never associated spatial awareness with handwriting either.
STUDENT 1:
I thought spatial awareness was more to do with knowing where you are in relation to objects or other people.
STUDENT 2:
I thought that too.
STUDENT 2:
But good spatial awareness is essential for writing because you have to space words correctly.
STUDENT 2:
It's not just fine motor skills that improve through writing as I'd always assumed.
STUDENT 1:
Handwriting is so much harder for children with dyspraxia who have problems coordinating movement.
STUDENT 1:
It's good there are lots of things you can do in the classroom to help them.
STUDENT 1:
They need so much more support with letter formation.
STUDENT 1:
You need to play lots of games to help them distinguish letter shapes.
STUDENT 1:
It takes a lot of patience.
STUDENT 2:
I like the idea of using one of those pens that lights up if you press too hard.
STUDENT 2:
That seems like a really simple solution.
STUDENT 1:
Yes, absolutely.
STUDENT 1:
I'm not sure there's much you can do about children with dyspraxia writing very slowly.
STUDENT 1:
It's more important to focus on accuracy and as they get more confident, I think they eventually speed up.
STUDENT 2:
One quite simple thing you can do is to use grid paper.
STUDENT 2:
So they write each letter in a box and that trains them to space the letters correctly.
STUDENT 1:
That's more important for legibility than trying to get them to write in a straight line.
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Before you hear the rest of the discussion, you have some time to look at questions 25 to 30.
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Now listen and answer questions 25 to 30.
STUDENT 1:
For some children, it might be better to teach them to write on a laptop rather than by hand, like children with dyslexia.
STUDENT 1:
They often really struggle with handwriting and some just give up.
STUDENT 2:
It's not as frustrating for them if they get things wrong.
STUDENT 2:
On a keyboard, they can be more willing to have a go.
STUDENT 2:
But I read that developing fluency isn't any faster.
STUDENT 1:
Did you read that article on the benefits of teaching print rather than cursive handwriting, where the letters are joined up?
STUDENT 2:
Well, in the past, cursive writing was certainly considered more stylish and educated, but not anymore.
STUDENT 2:
Teachers' attitudes have changed because it's been proved that cursive is more difficult to learn, especially for children with learning difficulties who find joining up letters really challenging.
STUDENT 1:
I was always worried that my poor handwriting affected my exam results.
STUDENT 1:
And now research shows that I was right to worry.
STUDENT 1:
I'm sure a lot of students think it's unfair that they're being judged on their handwriting, not just their knowledge.
STUDENT 2:
Marks are definitely affected if examiners can't read the script.
STUDENT 2:
That's why it's always been so important to teach children to write legibly.
STUDENT 2:
Do you think the role of handwriting will change in the future?
STUDENT 1:
I can't see that changing much.
STUDENT 1:
Touch typing still isn't taught in most schools, which is a shame.
STUDENT 1:
But maybe that won't be necessary in the future because people will also be able to write by hand on digital devices.
STUDENT 1:
Anyway, teachers understand the value of handwriting.
STUDENT 1:
It's a basic life skill.
STUDENT 2:
However, the fact is that people are writing by hand less and less and relying on digital devices.
STUDENT 2:
That does cause some problems.
STUDENT 1:
You mean like note-taking?
STUDENT 1:
There are lots of apps for that.
STUDENT 2:
And for reading historical documents, apparently.
STUDENT 2:
But my mum is shocked by my awful spelling and the fact that my punctuation is really inconsistent.
STUDENT 2:
I think you can put that down to lack of practice.
STUDENT 1:
Personally, I miss writing by hand.
STUDENT 1:
I hardly ever write anything now.
STUDENT 1:
I remember my grandparents had such beautiful handwriting and it was so individual.
STUDENT 1:
Nobody I know would be able to identify my handwriting now.
STUDENT 2:
I feel the same way.
STUDENT 2:
I used to write a diary by hand and now I do that digitally.
STUDENT 2:
It just seems less effort to do it that way.
STUDENT 2:
So, it's not just a problem.
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That is the end of Part 3.
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You now have 30 seconds to check your answers to Part 3.
