Handwriting is dead, long live keyboard skills!

書寫已逝，鍵盤技能萬歲！

So says the Finnish education system. From 2016 handwriting will no longer be taught in Finnish schools. And when a high-performing country like Finland makes an educational move, the rest of us who are slipping down the international ladder of academic performance should at least consider whether there would be any benefit in following in their footsteps.

這是芬蘭教育制度所傳達的信息。從2016年開始，芬蘭學校的寫字課將不復存在。當像芬蘭這樣一個教育如此發達的國家有此行動時，其他在學術表現遜色的國家至少應該想想效仿芬蘭是否能帶來益處。

Should we ditch handwriting lessons too?

我們是不是也應該廢除寫字課？

Does handwriting matter?

書寫重要嗎？

Most would agree that everyone should at least be able to pick up a pen or pencil and craft a message that others can read. But beyond legibility, does it matter how you form your letters when you hand write?

很多人都同意每個人至少應能拿起筆寫出清晰可辨的信息。但是除了可讀性之外，書寫的方式真的重要嗎？

There is research linking fluent handwriting with better written compositions. But the key isn’t the quality, form or style of the handwriting, but rather the automaticity of the handwriting. That is, the less you have to concentrate on getting your letters right, the more brain space you can devote to getting your message right. So, your handwriting just needs to feel natural for you.

有研究表明流暢的書寫與更好的文筆具有相關性。但關鍵不在于書寫的質量、形式或風格，而在于書寫的自動化程度。也就是說，你在寫好字上花的精力越少，你構思文章的精力就越多。因此，你的書寫只需自然流暢即可。

Typing versus handwriting

打字vs手寫

Writing automaticity is just as easily achieved on a keyboard. It is actually more time efficient to teach a child to type than it is to teach them a particular handwriting style. By the time they are eight years old, they can already type faster than they can handwrite.

寫字的自動化程度很容易通過鍵盤來實現。實際上，教一個孩子打字比教他們一種特定的字體有效率多了。等到他們八歲的時候，他們打字速度已經比手寫要快了。

In 2016, the national standardized literacy and numeracy tests, NAPLAN, will be completed online. We can assume this means students will type their compositions rather than handwrite them. And perhaps the nation’s writing scores will improve as a result. Typed written assessments typically score more highly than handwritten compositions. Assessors rate them as better organized, and, quite simply, easier to read.

2016年，芬蘭國家標準化識讀與運算測試（NAPLAN）將采用機試。我們可以認為，這意味著考生們會用鍵盤打字而非手寫，而且全國整體的寫作分數也可能會有所提高。一般來說，打出來的文章比手寫的文章得分更高。閱卷者會認為打出來的文章構思更好，當然，也更易讀。

Should we bother teaching handwriting?

我們應該把精力花在教學生寫字上嗎？

As prevalent as keyboards are, handwriting isn’t obsolete quite yet, so it remains important to teach letter formation to young children.

雖然鍵盤大行其道，但是手寫至今也還未過時，所以將字母編排教給幼兒依然重要。

The letters of the alphabet are complex abstract symbols and children can’t begin to write their letters until they can draw a circle. If they can’t draw a circle then they can’t form letters like a, b, d, o, p, q.

字母表中的字母是復雜而抽象的符號，只有等孩子們可以畫圓圈時，他們才可以開始書寫字母。如果他們不會畫圈，那么他們便寫不出a、b、d、o、p、q這些字母來。

This ability to draw an enclosed shape is a very important marker of both cognitive and physical development, and it is a skill that emerges from their scribbles. So drawing, scribbling and playing with crayons and pencils are an important part of learning to hand write.

畫封閉圖形的能力是認知和身體發展的重要標志，這項技能從涂鴉開始形成。所以畫畫、涂鴉和擺弄蠟筆與鉛筆是學習寫字的重要部分。

An old-fashioned anachronism?

手寫過時了？

The history of handwriting has always been one of convenience and change according to the writing technologies available.

方便省事和根據已有書寫技術產生的演變共同譜寫出了手寫體的發展史。

In our first alphabets, Phoenician, Greek and Roman, the letters were angular due to the writing technologies of the day - chisels, granite, marble and clay. The first writing was from right to left across the page – a more natural direction for the chiseller.

在最早的字母表——腓尼基、希臘和羅馬字母表中，由于當時的手寫技術為鏨子、花崗巖、大理石和粘土，字母呈一定的角度。最初人們寫字的方向是從右到左的，對鑿工來說，這一順序來得更自然。

But when ink and paper came along, moving from right to left was too messy for right handed writers and the direction of our writing changed from left to right. (To the chagrin of all left handers, until the invention of the fast drying ballpoint pen!)

人類發明了紙和墨之后，對習慣于用右手寫字的人來說從右到左寫字太麻煩了，于是書寫的方向就變成了從左到右（但這也讓左撇子們惱怒不已，這種情況直到人類發明了速干圓珠筆之后才得以改變。）

It wasn’t just directionality that changed as we made the shift from stone to paper. Pen and ink made it easier to produce curves rather than angles, and the shape of our letters changed accordingly.

在我們的書寫載體從石頭到紙張演變的過程中，改變的不僅僅是書寫的方向。筆墨讓畫弧線變得比畫角度容易，字母的形狀也由此改變。

The technology of the fountain pen meant directionality of strokes became important. Down strokes were important because the shape of the nib and flow of the ink didn’t easily allow for upstrokes.

鋼筆的發明讓筆畫的方向性變得重要起來。要知道鋼筆尖和墨水的流動是不利于寫向上的筆畫的，因此向下的筆畫很重要。

The invention of the ballpoint pen meant we no longer relied on ink refills, and nib shapes. Felt tip pens meant that even gravity no longer played a role in the way we write. Yet children still complete pages of handwriting exercises based on the technology of the fountain pen and ink.

圓珠筆的發明意味著我們不再需要勤換墨水，不再受筆尖形狀的限制。簽字筆意味著甚至連重力都不再影響我們書寫的方式。然而，小孩子仍然需要用鋼筆來完成一頁又一頁的書寫練習。

Handwriting vs writing

手寫vs寫作

Handwriting is often wrongly conflated with writing ability. You only need to glance at the handwritten manuscripts of our greatest writers to know there isn’t a link between handwriting skills and literacy skills.

人們往往錯誤地把書寫能力和寫作能力混同起來。你只要看看我們那些偉大作家的字跡，便可知道書寫技能與寫作水平無關。

I remember my son’s Year 2 teacher was very worried about his handwriting. Apparently he started his letters at the bottom, using upstrokes instead of downstrokes. His teacher was concerned it may hamper his literacy development in some way, and that I should “train” him out of it.

我記得我兒子讀二年級的時候老師十分擔心他的書寫。很顯然，他寫字都是從底部開始，用向上的筆畫而非向下的筆畫。老師擔心這可能在某種程度上阻礙他寫作能力的發展，而認為我應該多教孩子寫字。

There may have been a few reasons why he wrote his letters this way. The first language he learned to write was Greek, which has a different alphabet. He is also a left-hander and they often do things a little differently as they try to reconcile their way of seeing the world with that of their right handed teachers. Or maybe it was just his style; natural and automatic to him.

他這樣寫字可能有以下幾點原因。他最早學習的語言是希臘語，而希臘語有著一套不同的字母體系。他也是個左撇子，這使得他在協調自己看待世界的方式與習慣于用右手寫字的老師看待世界的方式的時候，寫字的上下順序有所不同。或許他的書寫風格就是這樣，他寫起來流暢自然。

It was not, however, an indication of a literacy difficulty.

然而，這并不表明他的寫作能力低下。

Perhaps there are more important things to do

也許我們還有一些更重要的事情要做

With so many things to do in a school day, it is hard to see why dedicated handwriting lessons persist.

學校的一天當中有那么多事情要做，很難說專門的寫字課為什么要保留。

No matter how standardized we attempt to make handwriting, we all end up with our own style. So perhaps there are better things to do in the school day than have children complete pages of handwriting exercises. Perhaps we’d do just as well to let children play with drawing and writing implements and find their own style.

不管我們試圖讓自己的書寫變得多么標準，我們最后總會以自己的風格去寫字。所以，比起讓孩子們完成數頁的寫字練習，在學校可能還有更重要的事情值得去做。也許，我們只需要讓孩子們學會使用寫字畫畫的工具，從而發現自己的風格。

Vocabulary

legibility: 易讀性

standardized: 標準化的

alphabet: 字母表

cognitive: 認知的

scribble: 涂鴉

chisel: 鑿子

granite: 花崗巖

marble: 大理石

clay: 粘土

messy: 散亂的

directionality: 方向性

manuscript: 手稿

conflate: 合并

literacy: 讀寫能力

（譯者：陳思迪? 編輯：王偉）