The study investigated whether young writers can accurately estimate the length of space required for words written in cursive script. 53 third-grade students were asked to draw boxes estimating the amount of space they would need to write 16 words of 3 to 6 letters. Significant correlations were found between the lengths of the boxes and the lengths of the words. No significant differences were found between boys and girls in ability to predict length. The word's referent and the context of the word affected significantly, but not consistently, the length of the box drawn.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Berthaud-PapandropoulouI. (1978) An experimental study of children's ideas about language. In SinclairA.JarvellaR. J.LeveltW. J. M. (Eds.), The child's conception of language. New York: Springer-Verlag. Pp. 45–64.
2.
DysonA. H. (1983) The role of oral language in early writing processes. Research in the Teaching of English, 17, 1–30.
3.
EdelskyC. (1983) Segmentation and punctuation: developmental data for young writers in a bilingual program. Research in the Teaching of English, 17, 135–156.
4.
GravesD. (1975) An examination of the writing processes of seven year old children. Research in the Teaching of English, 9, 227–241.
5.
KintschW.MrossE. F. (1985) Context effects in word identification. Journal of Memory and Language, 24, 336–349.
6.
LammeL. L.ChildersN. M. (1983) The composing processes of three young children. Research in the Teaching of English, 17, 31–50.
7.
LesterD. (1982) Graphoanalytic differences by sex and handedness. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 55, 1190.
8.
LundbergI. (1978) Aspects of linguistic awareness related to reading. In SinclairA.JarvellaR. J.LeveltW. J. M. (Eds.), The child's conception of language. New York: Springer-Verlag. Pp. 45–64.
9.
PomeroyJ. P. (1971) The relationship between selected Piagetian spatial concepts and legibility of manuscript handwriting. Dissertation Abstracts International, 32, 1924A.
10.
RothE. M.ShobenE. J. (1983) The effect of context on the structure of categories. Cognitive Psychology, 15, 346–378.
11.
Trap-PorterJ.GladdenM. A.HillD. S.CooperJ. O. (1983) Space, size and accuracy of second and third grade studentsapos; cursive writing. Journal of Educational Research, 76, 231–233.
12.
WeinerE. S. (1980) Diagnostic evaluation of writing skills. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 13, 43–48.
