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September 9, 2009
Who seriously values penmanship anymore?
I'm reading for one of my classes tonight--The Practice of English Language Teaching by Jeremy Harmer (4th ed., 2007)--when I stumble across something I can't believe...
In the chapter on writing, there's a brief tangent about handwriting and how people will look poorly upon you if you have bad handwriting, how it's important for teachers to not insist that all students write exactly the same way (form of letters, etc.)... and then I find a real gem: "we should encourage students with problematic handwriting to improve" (324).
Seriously?
I have a difficult time swallowing this along with other material in the chapter that suggests that almost all writing is done on a computer. In the very same chapter, there is an example of how teachers can use BLOGS to encourage collaborative, developmental student writing. (Gee, that sounds familiar, eh, Dr. Jerz? :-D)
In the 21st century, I doubt many people are judged by their penmanship. If people were ranked according to how they wrote and awarded jobs according to it, our current doctors would not be doctors (oh those poor doctors--always lamented for their crummy penmanship).
While I realize that I live in a nation where computers are readily available to many people, students included, I know that not all have this luxury. I recognize that I write from a position of privilege and power, as I study for an advanced degree to become a teacher. I question this regard for penmanship with these facts in mind, and I wonder still how it is that we are to equate learning English writing (the linguistic skill) with learning good writing (the physical act) when I can confidently say that better English skills (writing, reading, speaking, listening) will get someone a job before better penmanship. (Unless the job is as a calligrapher, in which case I'm screwed too!)
My concern lies in where teachers place their focus in the classroom. A textbook telling me that handwriting is important feels like something out of the 1930s. I'm glad the book took only about a page to dote on handwriting, but in this day and age it seems like even a page is too much. I've been in my TESOL program over a year now (almost two) and this is the first I've encountered any discussions on handwriting (whether I write from a privileged position or not, at this point, is irrelevant, since the none of the literature my professors have recommended has not mentioned handwriting in the least, now with the exception of this one source).
Posted by KarissaKilgore at September 9, 2009 8:02 PM
Comments
I consider it an extra social skill to be able to write personal notes, but I certainly wouldn't look down on anyone who didn't develop that skill.
Posted by: Dennis G. Jerz at September 10, 2009 9:33 AM
While I appreciate that many of the things I do can be done without hand-writing anything, my math classes would be sorely damaged if I tried to do all of my class writing work electronically. As a person with poor handwriting, I make a deliberate point to write clearly and neatly whenever I am writing for a person other than myself. Having graded some of the most illegible assignments over the past years, I believe that handwriting is like organization; it needs to be there so that your ideas can be presented effectively. Given enough advance warning, I can type up all of my ideas, but I should be able to communicate using other mechanisms...
Posted by: Joshua Sasmor at September 11, 2009 6:06 PM
You have a valid point, Dr. Sasmor--I never did a math class with a computer bigger than a graphing calculator, and I can't imagine having to use a computer.
My point, though, lies in ESL teaching and where we're supposed to place our focus. Say I'm teaching an college-level introductory English course for ESL students (as this book I'm reading suggests I may, and I hope someday that I will). Should one of my focuses for the course be neater handwriting? (Absurd.)
A (forgotten) hobby of mine is handwriting analysis. I love looking at how people form letters in print or script writing. Seeing how they have evolved from the basic training we're given as youngsters to their current form of writing, unique as their own fingerprints, is fascinating. While handwriting analysis is not an exact science (to most, even though it stands up in a court of law), sloppy writing isn't always "bad" writing. (Sometimes the really neat writers end up being the serial killers.)
I digress... I really just don't think that handwriting is a valid thing for ESL teachers to have to worry about upfront in the classroom. If handwriting became an issue, it'd be worth helping someone who struggled. But in thinking about the classes I could/would teach, I doubt much physical writing would take place.
Posted by: Karissa at September 12, 2009 8:44 AM
I happen to agree with you. My use of a fountain pen on the overhead (document camera) makes my writing slower and (hopefully) clearer to my students. I'm not sure the ESL is the right place to pursue handwriting, but your students may never have learned it in their prior writing courses (regardless of the language in which it was taught). Best of luck with ESL!
Posted by: Joshua Sasmor at September 14, 2009 4:22 PM