CHAPTER: 25 DEVELOPMENT OF WRITING SKILL

 

CHAPTER: 25

DEVELOPMENT OF WRITING SKILL

This Chapter Deals with

Introduction

Meaning & Definition

Aspects of teaching Writing

Characteristics of a Good Writing

Writing Script

Printed script

Cursive script

Rounded cursive script

Methods of teaching writing

Kindergarten method

Tracing method

Free imitation method

F.G. French method

Causes of defects of handwriting

Causes of defects of handwriting

Suggestions for improvement good handwriting

Conclusion

 

Development of Writing Skill

 

Introduction: Speech come to a man as a gift from nature oral work is the back bone of language teaching. It is essential to remember that language activities-listening, speaking, reading and writing-are integrated in actual communication. The main focus and purpose of the language is to develop the four basic skills. The skill of writing is of immense importance. According to Bacon,” Reading makes a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an exact man.” Mahatma Gandhi has also emphasized the importance of writing by saying, “fair and legible handwriting makes a man perfect in all walks of life.” It is universally acknowledged that English handwriting has a vital role to play in the compound school curriculum, beautiful handwriting not only attracts the reader but the writer also experiences pleasure in the process of writing.    

 

Meaning & Definition: Writing is the graphical representation of the speech. It is an important tool which enables man to organize his thoughts and communicate it to his fellow beings. Teaching of writing is an important aspect of language teaching as writing skill reinforces oral and reading works. The primitive man who lived in the caves invented picturing writing, But as man become more civilized, he invented letters or symbols representing different sounds. Emphasizing the importance of writing skill, Educationists have given various views regarding the importance of writing.

 

“Fair and legible handwriting makes a man perfect in all walks of life”

M. K. Gandhi

“Reading makes a full man, conference a ready man and writing an exact man”.

Fransis Bacon

“Writing is a tool which enables us to express what is in our mind and for some people it is almost as important as speech”.

Bell

“Writing is a means of preserving the knowledge which the pupil has gained or the judgment he has its own value. It serves as check on his forgetting useful items of knowledge and ideas. The habit of making notes of what is read and of summarizing helps the recollection of what has been studied”.

S.S.M. Gaudar

Aspects of teaching Writing: According to Bell, “Writing is a difficult act, it requires complete control of the muscles of the hand and wrist and this control a small child does not naturally possess”. Thus teaching of writing involves the following aspects-:

v  To teach to control the muscles of hand and wrist.

v  To teach how to coordinate hand and eye movement.

v  To teach right posture while writing.

v  Giving various exercise in written works.

v  To teach the students to write with proper space and size.

v  To teach them proper spacing between letters, words and lines.

v  To teach them controlling over figures.

v  To make them a fluent hand movement from left to right.

Characteristics of a Good Writing: Good handwriting is an essence of education and it also gives a pleasant impression on all. So a teacher has to help the students to write beautifully from very beginning. If the writing skill will not develop earlier, then it may be difficult for us to modify ill writing skill. The following are some of the characteristics of good handwriting-:

v  Legibility: the hand writing should be legible and easy to read.

v  Simplicity: Letters should be simple, bold and free from all unnecessary strokes and flourishes.

v  Uniformity: There should be regularity in the size of letters, gap of words and sentences. The direction of the strokes should be uniform.

v  Distinctiveness: Each letter should have a characteristics form of its own. For example “a” should not look like “e”.

v  Proper spacing: There should be proper spacing between words and lines. Words should not be written too close in a line. The letters in a word and words in a structure and sentence should also be placed properly.

v  Attractive: The writing should be attractive and beauty in look which will be the cause of pleasing to the eyes of the reader.

v  Reasonable speed: The speed of writing should be adequate. For this enough practice should be given to the students.

v  Pride: A good handwriting is a source of satisfaction and pride. On the other hand, bad handwriting makes the pupil feel shy of his writing.

v  Correlation between writing and thinking: It implies that there should be no omission of words or phrases due to quick thinking in fast writing. There should be proper coordination in between the speed of the hand and the speed of the mind.

 

Writing Script: The writing script consists of plain letter forms usually based on straight lines and curves. The cursive writing consists of running letter forms joined together by links and loops. The English letters have their origin in Roman script. At present English have mainly three kinds of scripts-:

1.                  Printed script.

2.                  Cursive script.

3.                  Rounded cursive script.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Printed script: In printed Script the letters are joined together as it can be easy to learn. These scripts are seen in the text books, newspapers and magazines.

Advantages of Printed Script: the following are the advantages of printed script.

v  It is easier for little children.

v  Beginners also find it easy.

v  It follows the maxims of easy to difficult.

v  It has beauty, cleanliness and clarity.

v  It is more convenient for the reader.

v  No strokes are needed to join the letters.

v  Children can easily compare their letters with printed ones.

v  Less eye and physical strain is involved.

v  Print script is suited to the muscular and motor development of young children.

Disadvantages of Printed Script: the following are the disadvantages of printed script.

v  It is time consuming.

v  It appears childish in senior classes.

v  No more uniformity in printed script.

v  It creates obstacles on the way of speed of writing.

Cursive script: In cursive writing letters are joined together with strokes or loops. It is also known as running writing. In this type of writing, pupils can learn to write better in cursive style.

Advantages of Cursive script

(i)                 It saves time as it facilitates speed.

(ii)               Due to uniformity of letters, it looks beautiful and neat.

Disadvantages of Cursive script

(i)                 It cannot be used at pre-primary stage.

(ii)               Writing in cursive script lacks clarity and cleanliness.

Rounded Cursive script: it is also known as Marion Richardson’s. I t is a combination of printed and cursive scripts. In this type of script, some letters in the word are joined together.

Advantages of Rounded Cursive Script

(I)                It facilitates reading and writing.

(II)             It saves time and increases speed.

Disadvantages of Rounded Cursive Script

(i)                 It lacks clarity.

(ii)               Only experienced person can write in this script.

Style of writing: There are two type of style of writing-:

• Vertical: In vertical style the letters are straight and it is the best style.
• Slanted: There are two types of slanted style of writing i.e. forward and backward slanted.

 

Methods of teaching writing: There are various methods of teaching writing which are as given below-:

(i)                 Kindergarten method.

(ii)               Tracing method.

(iii)             Free imitation method.

(iv)             F.G. French method

 

Kindergarten Method: it is based on the principles of kindergarten method of education. Under this method a kindergarten box is used. In it, there are pieces of wood or plastic of different shapes. By joining this piece, the letter of English alphabets (both capital and small) can be formed. Pupils are given practice of constructing letters of the alphabets by joining those pieces.

Merits of Kindergarten Method: It has the following merits

v  It is easy.

v  It is interesting.

v  It is based on play way method.

v  It suits the nature of the little children.

Demerits of Kindergarten Method: It has the following demerits

v  Pupils might have learnt writing their mother tongue through this method. They may not take interest in this method.

v  This method is not appropriate to use for the VI class’s belong to the age group 10 to 13 in which teaching of English generally starts in India.

Tracing method: In this method, the learner is required to make movements over the printed letters with a pen or pencil held in his hand. The letters are generally printed in doted lines or the teacher writes in their notebook with a soft pencil.

Merits of Tracing Method: It has the following merits

v  There are no chances of wrong learning.

v  Children learn by imitation and this method follows the principles of learning by imitation.

v  Dr. Monteswari has also recommended this method and asked students to pass their fingers over sand paper letters.

Demerits of Tracing Method: It has the following demerits

v  It discourages the habits of hand works.

v  It does not handle properly individual differences.

v  All students reach up to the same level of development.

v  It depends upon learning by imitation.

v  It creates obstacles in developing the ability of free writing.

 

Free imitation method: The children learn to copy or imitate from given figures of letters from the black board or flash card. There are books available in the market in which the letters are written at the top of the page with space to write below it. This is a useful method for the beginners and has some advantages. The children learn to write with their imagination utilizing their power of retention to the utmost. They can demonstrate their ability and skills. It helps them in becoming self-dependent.

Merits of Free imitation Method: It has the following merits

v  They become self-dependent.

v  Individual difficulties can be stressed and remove easily.

v  Peoples get a chance to show their ability and skill.

Demerits of Free imitation Method: It has the following demerits

v  Due to mistake there is slowness in development.

v  If the child copies some word incorrectly, he learns it for ever.

v  The teacher has to work hard in pointing the mistake of the copying.

v  In copying there are chances of mistake.

F.G. French method: In this method, the child does not learn letters straight away but learns certain basic movement. These movements are done in a tray of sand or with chalk on a brown paper.

Causes of defects of handwriting: Conducting research on handwriting S.S.M Gaudar has come to the following constructions.

 

	Defects	Causes
1.       2.       3.     4.     5.     6.       7.	Too much slant       Writing too straight       Writing too heavy     Writing too light     Writing too angular     Writing too irregular       Spacing too wide	(a)    Writing too near the body. (b)   Thumb not mobile enough. (c)    Point of nib far from fingers. (d)   Paper in the wrong position. (a)    Arm too far from the body. (b)   Finger too near the nib. (c)    Index finger along guiding pen. (d)   Incorrect position of paper. (a)    Index finger pressing too heavy. (b)   Using the wrong pen. (c)    Penholder too small in diameter. (a)    Pen hold to obliquely or too straight. (b)   Eyelet of pen turned sideways. (c)    Penholder too large in diameter. (a)    Thumb too stiff. (b)   Penholder too lightly held. (c)    Movement too slow. (a)    Lack of freedom of movement. (b)   Movement offhand too slow. (c)    Pen gripping. (d)   Incorrect or uncomfortable position. (a)    Pen progress too fast to write. (b)   Too much lateral movement.

 

Causes of Bad Handwriting: The various reasons for bad handwriting are:

(i)                 Lack of practice in writing.

(ii)               Lack of freedom of hand movement.

(iii)             Lack of good sitting arrangement.

(iv)             Bad sitting posture.

(v)               Way of holding pen or pencil.

(vi)             Imitation of bad example.

(vii)           Use of ball pens or foundation pens at s very early stage of writing.

(viii)         Poor quality of paper and ink.

(ix)             Physical defects in the students.

(x)               Fatigue is one of the cause’s bad handwriting.

Suggestions for improvement good handwriting: There are some suggestions given by S.S.M. Gaudar which are as given below-:

v  Used of four lined note books.

v  Use of calligraphy notebooks.

v  Using black board for difficult words.

v  Use of proper writing material.

v  Holding the pen properly.

v  Properly sitting arrangement.

v  Arranging hand writing competitions,

v  Individual attention.

v  Adequate practice.

v  Sympathetic treatment.

v  Motivating the pupils to find their own mistakes.

v  Inculcate habit of good handwriting in the beginning.

v  Posture at the time of writing.

v  Present good examples

Conclusion: While, concluding, we can say that writing is a difficult art and has an instrumental importance in our schools. It is an essential aid for expressing one’s ideas, thoughts and feeling in a more lasting way. Writing should be started after word recognition exercises. Therefore, the teacher must himself be well acquainted with how to teach writing English. Writing is one of the most vital workout routines associated to language getting to know and a very fine way of changing passive vocabulary to active. Other advantages consist of its capability to polish the learner’s grammar, mainly when you have the possibility to have your writing corrected. And, as a innovative activity, the manner can be as a substitute enjoyable.