Handwriting as a tool for learning in ELT

Introduction

Writing is a central element in foreign language education. Traditionally, learners have been
expected to develop their writing skills, at the same time as writing has been used extensively
in activities that aim to improve the learners’ mastery of the language more generally. This
dual perspective is often referred to as ‘learning to write’ on the one hand, and ‘writing to
learn’ on the other ( Manchón 2011 ). The most recent national curriculum for Norwegian
compulsory schooling emphasizes writing as a tool for learning in all subjects. Students in
teacher education, then, preparing for a career as foreign language teachers, need to develop
the ability to help learners recognize this tool and put it to good use.

This article is based on focus group interviews with 19 Norwegian EFL teacher training
students. The investigation aimed to cast light on the students’ cognition related to writing as
a tool for learning, which they will bring with them into their future English language
classrooms. The term ‘cognition’ refers to the knowledge, beliefs, and ideas that a teacher has
about an issue and which play a central role in shaping his or her classroom practices ( Borg
2006 ). Questions about the students’ present and prior practices were central in the
interviews, since personal experiences are seen to have considerable influence on teacher
cognition (ibid.).

I set out to answer the following questions:

 How do EFL teacher training students use writing as a tool for learning in their own
studies?
 How do they understand the concept of writing as a tool for learning?

All the students emphasized the importance of doing writing-to-learn activities by hand.
Their focus on handwriting came as a surprise to me as well as to the students themselves.
Our surprise can be seen as an indication of the fact that the different technologies of writing
have been given little attention in foreign language education. Since more attention
apparently needs to be paid to this topic, I will limit my presentation of results to what the
students said about writing by hand versus writing on a keyboard.
Theoretical framework and previous research

When writing is used as a tool for learning, it can be used to reflect, to reproduce facts, and to
reformulate issues. It can also help develop and organize one’s thinking about an issue. In
conjunction with reading, writing can be used to take notes, to select and interpret sources
and perspectives, to organize materials, and to structure new knowledge ( Langer and
Applebee 1987 ). A common view is that writing to learn is for the students’ private use only,
and should not be assessed ( Dysthe, Hertzberg, and Hoel 2010 ).

In foreign language learning, writing is used extensively for language practice. Therefore,
some scholars differentiate between writing to learn content and writing to
learn language (Manchón op.cit.). At the same time, it seems obvious that all types of
writing in foreign language education may contribute to the development of language skills.
It can be argued that most writing in foreign language education represents ‘an interaction of
purposes’ (ibid.: 4), since both learning-to-write and writing-to-learn activities represent an
opportunity to develop the learners’ foreign language proficiency ( Manchón op.cit. ).

Learners of a foreign language are often asked to complete gap-fill exercises and other rather
mechanical tasks ( Hyland 2003 ). Research shows, however, that the writing activities that
really stimulate language learning are those where learners have to produce language
themselves ( Swain and Lapkin 1995 ). When learners consider how to say or write
something, they become aware of gaps in their own competence. This is a necessary
prerequisite for them to address their own shortcomings and develop their competence further
( Manchón op.cit. ). Writing is seen to provide particularly good opportunities for reflection
on language and language use, both because it has a slower pace than speaking and because it
leaves a permanent record ( Williams 2012 ).

Writing is technology-dependent, but the affordances of the different technologies are ‘a

curiously ignored area of research’ ( Mangen and Velay 2010 : 387). To my knowledge, no
research has studied the effects of writing with a pen/pencil and paper versus a keyboard and
screen in foreign language education. However, some research on the technologies of writing
more generally is clearly of relevance to the teaching and learning of a foreign language.

One study tested groups of students at university level who took notes by hand and on laptops
respectively. The students who took notes by hand were found to learn better, both in
laboratory settings and in real-world classrooms ( Mueller and Oppenheimer 2014 ). They
performed considerably better on conceptual questions, and some of them also on factual
questions. The researchers explain this by referring to the fact that, for most students,
handwriting is a slower activity than typing. This forces them to process the contents of a
lecture, which results in better understanding and memory retention. The students who took
notes on a keyboard tended to transcribe lectures verbatim, a procedure which leads to a
shallower processing of the material.

Another explanation lies in the sensorimotor characteristics of writing by hand compared to a

laptop. Handwriting provides a different haptic (i.e. relating to the senses of touch and
movement) experience than typing does, and it requires more active and differentiated body
movement. Also, when writing by hand, the writer’s visual attention is with the tip of the pen
and with the text that is being produced (Mangen and Velay op.cit.).

Studies in embodied cognition show how the body is an active component in our exploration
of and learning about the world, and how perception and motor action seem to be closely
connected ( Varela, Thompson, and Rosch 1991 ). Research suggests that the activity of the
hand supports the writer’s intake and understanding of an issue. One study of preliterate,
five-year-old children, for example, shows that handwriting increases brain activation. The
children’s brains were scanned as they either formed letters themselves by hand, or typed or
traced the same letters. Those who formed letters themselves showed more activity in an area
of the brain related to reading and letter recognition ( James and Engelhardt 2012 ). Other
studies suggest that learners have a stronger and longer lasting memory of formerly unknown
characters and letters if these are studied by way of handwriting rather than typing ( Mangen
and Velay op.cit. ). One study shows that students in Grades 2, 4, and 6 (aged 7–11 years of
age) who used handwriting wrote more words, wrote faster, and were able to express more
ideas than those who used a keyboard. A prerequisite for better performance is that
handwriting has become automatic, so that students can better focus on the organization of
thoughts that is required for effective composition ( Berninger 2012 ).

Research has also been undertaken on the use of laptops in the classroom, and one main
finding here has to do with how easy it is to get distracted and how students tend to waste
classroom time on social media and other laptop activities. One study shows students spend
42 per cent of the time during a lecture on multitasking and activities that are not related to
the course ( Kraushaar and Novak 2010 ). Another study shows how this distraction hinders
learning. Two groups of students were tested immediately after a lecture. One group had been
allowed to use their laptops for browsing, searching, and social activities in class, while the
other group had kept their laptops closed. The latter group performed considerably better in
tests on the material that had been covered ( Hembrooke and Gay 2003 ).

Material and methods

The students who were interviewed for this study are enrolled in EFL courses at three
different colleges of education. These courses provide students with the qualifications
necessary to teach English in Norwegian compulsory schools, and involve refining the
students’ own language skills. Colleagues helped me inform potential interviewees about my
project, and I interviewed those who had the opportunity to stay behind after an English class
on the day of my visit. The students were between 21 and 40 years of age, and there were
eleven women and eight men.

The participants were interviewed in groups of three, five, five, and six students. I
interviewed them in groups because I wanted to encourage a variety of viewpoints and to
elicit data and insights that would be less accessible without interaction in a group setting.
My idea was that students would remember earlier experiences better and perhaps come up
with new insights as they heard what their fellow students had to say. Such a procedure
means, of course, that the researcher has less control over the course of the interview ( Kvale
and Brinkmann 2009 ). In my case, this was clearly an advantage, since the issue of
handwriting was brought up and led to interesting and eye-opening discussions for the
interviewer as well as the interviewees.

Each interview lasted approximately one hour. It was recorded and then transcribed. The
interviews took place in Norwegian, and the students’ statements that are presented here have
been translated by me.

I had prepared an interview guide that would help me answer my research questions.
However, as the first group underlined the importance of writing by hand, I added questions
about the technologies of writing and made sure that the other groups discussed this issue
rather extensively as well. I asked them which technology they preferred for different
writing-to-learn activities, and what they felt that they gained from using pen/paper rather
than keyboard/screen. The answers were coded in categories which emerged from the
explanations they gave: concentration, embodied cognition, processing of language and
content, and creativity.

Results

All the students said that they use writing extensively as a tool for learning in their studies to
become English teachers, and that they have extensive experience with writing-to-learn
activities from their previous schooling as well. They mentioned note-taking, first and
foremost, and said that they take notes during lectures, during group discussions, and when
studying on their own. They make lists of words and expressions and they write summaries
of course materials and drafts for written assignments.

All the students prefer to do these things by hand. They linked the advantages of this to
concentration, to embodied cognition, to their own processing of the material and, ultimately,
to better retention and learning. Some also mentioned how writing by hand helps trigger their
creativity when producing their own texts. However, while the students explained their own
use of writing as a tool for learning with much conviction, it was obvious that they had little
awareness of the implications that their own practices and ideas might have in their future
classrooms.

Concentration

When asked why they preferred to write their notes by hand, most of the students started out
by describing how handwriting helps them concentrate. They complained that listening,
reading, and even writing on a laptop makes them lose their concentration easily. These were
typical formulations:

If I just sit and read or listen, the material goes in through my eyes and ears. But then it
goes right out again. (Female, 37 years old)

I can sit and read and read, and then oops, what was it that I read? So I have to pull
myself together and write. (Female, 23 years old)

The students argued that handwriting helps them concentrate more than typing does. Most of
them were proficient typists, and they described how easy it is to just ‘look out in the air’ and
‘let the thoughts wander’ when they type. Related to language learning, they underlined how
the slow pace of handwriting forces them to focus on what they write. They have to use ‘their
own words’ and ‘their own language’, they said, which seems to be a prerequisite for learners
to become aware of their own language production ( Manchón op.cit. ):

I think more about what I write down, and I become more aware of the language that I
use. (Male, 24)

When I write by hand, I have to keep my eyes on the pen or pencil and the text. This
forces me to focus more on the content, but also on the language that I use. (Female, 28)

Echoing the research of Kraushaar and Novak (op.cit.), the students also mentioned how easy
it is to get distracted by all the opportunities for multitasking that a laptop represents. One
student put it this way:

I am only human, so I get distracted. There are great temptations with a PC, right? If you
sit with a pen and a paper, you are isolated. You don’t get outside the nice, little box you
have, which is your paper, and then you work. When you have a PC, it is so easy to go
outside that box, since you have access to everything. (Male, 22)
Embodied cognition

Most of the students talked about how they like the movement of the hand as they write. One
student said that ‘there is something about the movement. I like how the pencil goes up and
down’ (male, 23). Another student said that ‘for me, the rhythm is important. You feel the
writing in your whole body’ (female, 23).

The students related the movement to learning by pointing to ‘the link between the hand and
the head’ as they write. Many of the students used this expression. One student claimed that
simply holding a pen in her hand helps her learn.

In line with research on motor action and cognition as interrelated processes (Varela et
al. op.cit.), all of them claimed that the movement of the hand helps them remember language
as well as content better. These were typical formulations:

You get closer to the letters and the text. With a PC, you just press buttons. (Female, 25)

Whether I have to learn new words, new expressions or new content, I have to get the
material into my hand. (Male, 24)
In order to learn something, I have to make my own picture, and it has to come out of
my arm and my hand. (Female, 27)

When I wonder about spelling or grammar, I try to remember the movement of my

hand as I wrote it down before. (Female, 32)
Processing of language and content

Writing is seen to provide a better opportunity than speaking for learners to reflect on their
own language production, because of its slower pace and the fact that it leaves a permanent
record (Williams op.cit.). For most of my informants, handwriting is a considerably slower
activity than typing, and they were unanimous in emphasizing that this is exactly the reason
why they prefer it. Echoing Mueller and Oppenheimer (op.cit.), they explained that verbatim
transcription of input is impossible:

You have to remember the meaning of what has been said or read, and then find your
own words to express that meaning. (Female, 28)

I don’t write exactly what the teacher says, but I use other words that I understand
better. And then I develop my own language, I think. (Female, 26)

Several students mentioned how they are more aware of spelling issues when they write by
hand. With reference to spell-check programs, one student concluded that ‘a laptop is too
much help when it comes to learning to write English’. Another student reported an
experience she had just had:

Today, I spent a lot of time trying to write ‘actually’. Now, is there an e in there? Are
there two c-s or just one? And I thought darn it, a PC would have helped me here, and I
could’ve just looked for the curly red line to disappear. But then I probably wouldn’t
have learnt it. (Female, 25)

The students found handwritten notes to be more useful for remembering content such as
literary, cultural, and didactic topics as well. ‘Writing a summary, or even just a note or a
sentence by hand’, one student said, ‘forces you to go over the material once more. And then
you learn’ (male, 23). Many students used this expression, ‘It’s the best way to make the
material your own’.
When talking about the product that they make, the students stressed the fact that their
handwritten notes, word lists, and mind maps are personal, with drawings and symbols,
‘colours, stars and arrows’. This, they said, helps them engage more with the text and learn
more:

If the text is on a screen, I sort of feel that it doesn’t have anything to do with me. (Male,
22)

Some students, however, claimed that the product is not important for them:

Often, I don’t even understand my own notes. But even if I never look at my notes again,
they still help me learn. (Female, 24)
Creativity

About half the students seemed to share perspectives with the study that shows how children
who used handwriting were able to write more and express more ideas than those who used a
keyboard (Berninger op.cit.). Although assignments have to be typewritten and handed in
digitally, these students said that they always start the writing process with a handwritten
draft, as ‘it is easier to get started with a pen and paper’. One student underlined how writing
by hand triggers his creativity:

It is easier to get started, and it is easier to get going. I concentrate better, and the ideas
come flowing. (Male, 28)

For later stages of the writing process, however, all the students preferred a laptop. They
talked about the obvious opportunities for revision and editing, in addition to the fact that the
product would look neater. ‘Of course I use a laptop when I write for the teacher’, one
student said. ‘But then the main purpose is to present something, not to learn’ (male, 26).

Writing as a tool in future classrooms

When it comes to writing as a tool for learning in their future classrooms, the students were
very much aware of the limitations of traditional gap-fill exercises, and advocated the use of
freer and more creative writing activities instead. Handwriting, however, was obviously a
topic that they had not given much thought. They were a bit puzzled when the topic was
brought up, but they were even more surprised when they discovered that their fellow
students felt as strongly about the benefits of handwriting as they did themselves. One student
exclaimed:

Everyone here says they prefer writing by hand. That’s funny, because I never thought
about it before. (Female, 24)

One reason for the lack of awareness may be that the national curricula for compulsory
schooling as well as for teacher education mention technologies of writing only in general
terms. Norwegian children are expected to ‘develop the ability to write by hand and on a
keyboard’, but nothing is said about the possible differences between the two and what they
might be used for. None of the ELT coursebooks on the students’ reading lists address the
issue, and the students reported that they had never discussed handwriting versus writing on a
keyboard in any of their ELT classes. As one student remarked, ‘it’s strange that we don’t
talk about it, if it is so important’.

Students felt that college professors also lack awareness of writing as a tool for learning, and
some of them even seem to discourage writing. One student exemplified this by referring to
professors who sometimes say that students do not need to take notes, because everything is
written on the PowerPoint handouts. She commented, ‘I think that’s a strange thing to say,
because I don’t learn anything if I don’t take notes. And isn’t it by writing ourselves that we
learn?’.

Some of the students wondered if they preferred handwriting because this was how they
learnt to write when they first went to school. Most of them had not started using a computer
until secondary school, which is clearly different from the situation of young learners today.
Many of the older students had learnt to type at an even later stage. Still, I was surprised to
learn that students in their twenties were just as ardent advocates of handwriting as the older
ones.

One student suggested that people over 20 years of age are ‘part of a dying generation’. But
others referred to the fact that many tablets today come with a handwriting function: ‘Surely,
this must mean that handwriting does have certain benefits over typing?’. Based on their own
experience, however, they all agreed that handwriting is such a powerful tool for learning and
that young learners today, too, should be helped to develop good handwriting skills. All
learners will benefit from being good at and fond of writing by hand, they said. Some
commented further:

In foreign language education, where there are so many things to learn, you need all the
best tools you can get. (Female, 23)

We do our pupils a great disservice if we don’t teach them handwriting. (Male, 28)
Concluding remarks

The students in my investigation reported that they make extensive use of writing-to-learn
activities. They learn better when they write by hand than when they write on a laptop, they
said, and their claim is supported by recent research in the field. However, the investigation
also reveals that the students have regarded their handwriting habits as their personal
idiosyncrasies, and that they have not been fully aware of the potential for learning that good
handwriting skills represent. They reported that neither course literature nor classes deal with
the impact of writing with a pen/paper versus a keyboard/screen, and they claimed never to
have discussed the issue in an educational setting before.

During the focus group interviews, students became aware of the fact that writing is
technology-dependent, but that the affordances of different technologies are rarely discussed.
With their new insight, they expressed concern that so little attention is paid to the benefits of
handwriting in writing-to-learn activities. However, as future teachers of English they felt
that they could contribute to changing this situation. After all, they said, their job is to help
future pupils learn as much as possible and show them the best tools possible in their
language learning processes.

This study is a small one. Nevertheless, the students’ extensive use of handwriting as a tool
for learning and their unanimous claim that handwriting leads to better learning seems to
indicate an issue that should be given more attention in future research and discussions of
foreign language teaching and learning. The fact that the students had not discussed
handwriting versus writing on a keyboard in their studies, and also that they were not aware
of the didactic implications of their own preferences, accentuates the need to focus on the
affordances of different technologies of writing in foreign language education.

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