IS HANDWRITING RELEVANT TODAY?

ISHANDWRITING RELEVANT TODAY?

The relevance of handwriting is being questioned very oftenthese days, and quite a few of us have started believing that in today’shi-tech era handwriting is not important anymore. This is far from being true.Based on the scientific studies we can identify several reasons to support theimportance of Handwriting.

While a certain segment advocated against the use of the cursivestyle of writing, several experts in their study indicated that cursive writinghelps children with dyslexia and improves their memory. Some experts also saidthat contents in cursive writing fetch more marks.

Although we have several highly developed and easy to accessdevices that make communication fast and convenient, there are several studieswhich indicate that handwriting is equally important even today. Let us seesome of the very positive effects Handwriting has.

HandwritingContributes to Cognitive Development:

Studies conducted by French Scientists in neurosciences in 2000,came up with evidence indicating that handwriting despite being a routineactivity in education has a positive role in accelerating cognitive developmentin the school-going children. They also suggested that cursive handwritingshould be compulsorily used in schools until the students are comfortable andhave learned to write. Studies by other scholars not only support the role ofhandwriting in cognitive development but also confirm that handwriting has arole in helping to retain information that one writes.

Taking notes is a very common activity a student is expected todo. When one takes notes on a keyboard the intention is to take down maximum,if possible all of what is being said. But when one is taking notes by hand,the brain identifies and isolates the important information that is needed tobe written down. This process ensures that one is not only listening but isalso able to understand the important parts of the lecture and then takingnotes. This process also helps in retaining a lot of what is being written.While this may not happen when one is taking notes a keyboard. Moreover sincewriting in cursive also involves the joining of letters, the brain not onlykeeps track of the process but also has to work on correct spellings andsentence formation. It has been proved in several studies that retention ofinformation is far better and can be easily recalled later especially when oneis scripting a text by hand. It has also been seen taking notes on a keyboardis more of a mechanical process where the writer takes down what is being saidwithout actually trying it to remember it for the future.

Another proof of the retention is the fact that children areoften asked to write down the text several times so that they can remember andretain it in their memory. This has also been confirmed in studies conducted byPsychologists.

Handwriting is a complex process that involves the brain and notjust a pen and paper. It involves physical and mental activity. The informationor thoughts are processed into words and sentences, instructions are passed onthe motor activity or the hand to make the words and sentences on the paper.This involvement of the mind and the motor ensures that the text written byhand is also inscribed in the brain and can be recalled later.

Handwriting Enhances CreativeAbility:

Scientific studies indicate that the process of handwritinggreatly involves the brain because it is required to conceive thoughts andcompose them into words and sentences, and this process uses certain specificparts of the brain. This creates a catalytic effect as each word is chosen andhence the brain remains active and involved in the entire process. AdvocatingHandwriting is certainly not to discourage the use of the typewriter, but it isto bring forth the fact that due to the involvement of the subconscious brainduring the process of writing the creativity improves several folds. Thisfinding is also supported by eminent Novelists who do not hesitate to admit,that they have always been more creative while drafting their contents by handas compared to when they used the keyboard.

Moreover, the handwriting is very personal. The fact is that notwo people can write the same way. It is like a fingerprint, absolutelyindividual. Experts believe that although the keyboard enhances the speed ofwriting, handwriting is more personal and creative; the texts written by handare retained for longer in memory and can be recalled.

Handwriting also improves the word power by retaining the wordswritten by hand and thus enhancing the vocabulary. This over a period addsvalue to the quality of communication.

A handwritten note when passed on to someone always reflects agreat deal of personal touch.

Although handwriting may have lost in terms of the writing speedto modern gadgets, it certainly has not lost its relevance because of the addedbenefits as discussed above.

If you have lost interest in taking handwritten notes or are notsatisfied with the quality of your handwriting, or if this is the situationwith some students, it is time to take a corrective decision. The best would beto contact a Handwriting Expert and go in for a short stint for Handwritingtraining. This is important because handwriting will add to your ability tothink, be creative and improve the quality of all communication. This certainlycannot be achieved by using a keyboard.

You can find such experts at Write Right, one of the pioneerhandwriting companies. They have been into research and training of handwritingfor the last 23 years. They have been continuously working on re-establishingthe importance of handwriting among the students of today. They offer trainingfor Handwriting Improvement, Speed writing and Calligraphy.