The relationship between handwriting style and speed and legibility

Steve Graham, Naomi Weintraub, Virginia W. Berninger

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

77 Scopus citations

Abstract

The relationship between handwriting style and handwriting speed and legibility was investigated. Three samples of writing (narrative, expository, and copying) were collected from 600 students in Grades 4-9. The copying task provided a measure of handwriting speed, and all 3 writing samples were scored for handwriting style (manuscript, cursive, mixed-mostly manuscript, and mixed-mostly cursive) and legibility. The handwriting of students who used a mixed style was faster than the handwriting of the students who used either manuscript or cursive exclusively. In addition, papers written with mixed-mostly cursive letters generally received higher ratings for legibility than papers written with the other 3 styles did. There were no differences between manuscript and cursive in terms of legibility or speed.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)290-297
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of Educational Research
Volume91
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - May 1 1998
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Education

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