Truxius Lidia, Sägesser Wyss Judith, Maurer Michelle N
Institute of Psychology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Institute of Special Needs Education, Bern University of Teacher Education, Bern, Switzerland.
Front Psychol. 2025 Jan 8;15:1466061. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1466061. eCollection 2024.
Learning to write is a complex task involving peripheral (e.g., handwriting speed and legibility) and central (e.g., spelling) processes. Coordinating these processes is particularly demanding for novice writers who have not yet automated their handwriting skills. To better support children in developing handwriting, it is crucial to understand the development and interactions of these peripheral and central processes over time.
This longitudinal study ( = 363; 49.8% girls) investigated the development and interrelations of handwriting speed (time spent on writing tasks), legibility, and spelling in German-speaking first-grade children ( = 7 years) across 12 months. The children were assessed at three time points, spaced 6 months apart, from the beginning of the first grade to the start of the second grade.
While performance in all domains of handwriting (time, legibility, and spelling) improved over the school year, these skills were particularly strongly interrelated at the beginning of writing acquisition but became increasingly independent towards the second grade. Surprisingly, the results from the structural equation model showed that the relations between handwriting legibility and time reversed over time: Initially, faster handwriting was associated with more legible handwriting, while with increasing practice a trade-off appeared. Furthermore, when considering cross-lagged paths, the structural equation model revealed that handwriting legibility at the beginning of the first grade significantly predicted subsequent handwriting time and spelling abilities at the end of the school year. In summary, handwriting proficiency stabilizes quickly, while patterns of associations between peripheral and central handwriting processes change across the first year of handwriting instruction.
学习写作是一项复杂的任务，涉及外围（如书写速度和易读性）和核心（如拼写）过程。对于尚未使书写技能自动化的新手作者来说，协调这些过程尤其具有挑战性。为了更好地支持儿童发展书写能力，了解这些外围和核心过程随时间的发展和相互作用至关重要。
这项纵向研究（n = 363；49.8%为女孩）调查了德语一年级儿童（平均年龄 = 7岁）在12个月内书写速度（花在写作任务上的时间）、易读性和拼写的发展及相互关系。从一年级开始到二年级开始，在三个时间点对儿童进行评估，时间间隔为6个月。
虽然在学年中书写的所有领域（时间、易读性和拼写）的表现都有所提高，但这些技能在写作学习开始时的相互关系尤为紧密，而到二年级时则越来越独立。令人惊讶的是，结构方程模型的结果表明，书写易读性与时间之间的关系随时间发生了逆转：最初，书写速度越快，字迹越易读，而随着练习的增加，出现了一种权衡。此外，在考虑交叉滞后路径时，结构方程模型显示，一年级开始时的书写易读性显著预测了学年末随后的书写时间和拼写能力。总之，书写熟练程度很快就会稳定下来，而外围和核心书写过程之间的关联模式在书写教学的第一年中会发生变化。
