It’s pretty common for dyslexia assessors to recommend in a diagnostic report that an individual learns to type – or even use speech-to-text software – to assist them with the process of written recording. This can even be true for children who are still in primary school. And in an increasingly digital world where being able to touch-type has enormous benefits generally, it’s easy to assume that perhaps the earlier you get-to-grips with a keyboard, the better – especially if you’re struggling to acquire literacy skills.
However, recent research suggests that the “old-fashioned” method of handwriting may still hold critical value – especially when it comes to learning how to read. I often peruse journal articles if I think they’re likely to be relevant to my practice, and this one in particular really struck a chord…probably because I am worried that support in schools to develop the handwriting of struggling writers is often piecemeal at best, and interventions to support spelling skills are becoming increasingly typing-based too.
The study of interest involved 50 pre-readers and explored how different methods of letter and word learning – handwriting by copying or tracing, versus typing with either a single or multiple fonts – impact early literacy. The children were taught nine letters and 16 pseudowords under these four different learning conditions. After training, their recognition and reproduction of the letters and words were evaluated through tasks such as naming, writing, and visual identification.
Students in exam
The findings were clear: children who learned through handwriting significantly outperformed those who learned through typing. This effect was consistent across all types of post-learning assessments. The two key factors that researchers believe contribute to the success of handwriting-based learning are:
- Graphomotor Activity – The physical act of forming letters by hand engages motor-memory in a way that typing does not. This motor involvement may help solidify the connections between how a letter looks, how it feels to write it, and what it represents.
- Visual Variability – Whilst typing with multiple fonts does introduce some variation, it doesn’t match the natural variability produced when letters are handwritten. This variability may be crucial for helping children form robust, flexible mental representations of letter shapes.
These findings support what researchers call the graphomotor hypothesis, emphasising the role of motor processes in learning letter and word forms. The study provides a strong argument for keeping handwriting practice in early education curriculums, particularly during the crucial period of reading acquisition.
So, whilst there’s no denying the importance of digital literacy, this research serves as a reminder that not all educational tools are interchangeable. In the case of early reading development, handwriting offers unique cognitive benefits that typing cannot fully replicate. Teachers and parents should be cautious about substituting handwriting with keyboard-based methods too early. Instead, a balanced approach – where both handwriting and digital tools have their place – may offer the best path forward for nurturing well-rounded literacy skills in younger learners.
For more information, see the full article: The impact of handwriting and typing practice in children’s letter and word learning: Implications for literacy development