Discuss the difficulties with writing.

Writing is a complex activity and demands an integration of several different skills. Writing involves:

i)                    selection of ideas

ii)                  expressing the ideas in words and sentences

iii)                 mechanics of writing (like handwriting, spelling, format etc.)

iv)                 motor skills of forming letters in writing or typing (if on a computer)

According to Johnson and Myklebust (1967) difficulties in writing may occur at different stages and in different areas. These could be in:

·         planning and selection of ideas

·         expression in language

·         spelling

·         handwriting (fine motor skills)

Difficulty in planning and selection of ideas

In the initial stages’ learners are expected to copy words and phrases in blanks from a box in a highly controlled manner. Planning and coordination are not required much in classes 1 and 2. Difficulties will become evident when the learner is expected to do some guided or free writing which involves coordination of planning, sentence structure and spelling. Writing tasks like writing stories, letters, describing personal things or writing about personal experience may show evidence of writing difficulties.

The difficulty in planning and selection of ideas can be due to basic language difficulty with inadequate vocabulary, expression and general knowledge. The cause of the difficulty may be traced back to the child’s early years when the s/he was not exposed to reading, books, stories or oral communication due to the home environment.

Another kind of writing difficulty can be seen amongst children who can read well and have a good oral language but are unable to express themselves in writing. They may be very active in the class responding to questions orally or reading well but writing poorly.

A child can be placed in different levels of writing ability and then by means of focused activities helped to reach the next stage and progress to the required level.

Difficulties with grammatical structure

The second requirement for a piece of writing is that it should be presented in adequately formed sentences and paragraphs. The other difficulty children face is with developing sentences with correct grammatical structure.

The teacher can help such children by using the methods given below:

·         First encourage them to create clear and interesting sentences orally through discussion and then transfer them onto writing.

·         Use topics that interest the child so that s/he is encouraged to talk about it before putting it down on paper

·         Practice in meaningful discourse

Difficulties with Handwriting

Initial attempts at writing are conscious and often a child speaks aloud each word as she writes. As she matures, she develops fluency and automaticity. The act of writing now requires less conscious effort. This skill of fluent writing is a kind of kinetic melody which requires an integration of the hand, motor parts of the brain controlling movement, the eye, the language areas and the association areas in the brain and the frontal cortex which is responsible for attention, short term memory tasks, planning and motivation.

Difficulty in handwriting may happen due to a defect in visual –motor integration which means that a child is unable to translate visual information into a motor activity. Other causes may or may not be due to language problems.

Writing disorders can be of various degrees. The types of writing errors can be classified as:

·         Reversals: ‘gosd’ for ‘gods’

·         Orientation errors, e.g. ‘bogs’ for ‘dogs’ (Also happens with letters p/q, m/ n, a/o, r/v, h/k and d/b)

·         Other forms of errors, e.g. ‘kiten’ for ‘kitten’, ‘teleision’ for ‘television’

·         Preservations: e.g. ‘bananana’ for ‘banana’

 

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