AD ALTA
JOURNAL OF INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH
about the appropriateness and inadequacy of teaching writing in
the case of cursive handwriting or alternative script Comenia
Script. Our aim was to find out and interpret the opinions of
primary school teachers in elementary schools on the current
type and its alternative.
2 Methodology
The methodology of qualitative research with corresponding
design was chosen for the processing of the issue. The decision
to realize a qualitative examination was based on the
consideration that we are finding opinions and attitudes that
cannot be calculated and expressed as a percentage. Qualitative
research also suited us because it emphasizes individual
understanding of the issue. The aim of the research was not to
assess and evaluate, but to find out the opinions of research
subjects (teachers of primary education) on the examined
phenomenon.
The research problem arose from observing and analyzing
specific cultural discussions in the school educational context.
The main aim of the research was to find out, analyze and
interpret the opinions of primary education teachers on the form
of written script. Based on the above, our intention with regard
to the title of the study was:
•
To identify the positives of the current cursive handwriting.
•
Identify the negatives of the current cursive handwriting.
Research questions:
•
What aspects do primary education teachers consider as
positive of cursive handwriting?
•
What aspects do primary education teachers consider as
negatives of cursive handwriting?
•
What aspects do primary education teachers consider as
positive of Comenia Script?
•
Which aspects do primary education teachers consider as
negatives of discontinuous Comenia Script?
The selection of research subjects was intentional, and the
selection of specific teachers was conditional with at least five
years of teaching experience at primary school. The inclusion of
participants in the research was always preceded by a personal
interview with a request for approval to record the interview,
information about the objective of the research and clarification
of the ways that each research informant will be anonymous. The
research sample consisted of primary education teachers in
amount of twenty subjects from Bratislava and Trenčín regions,
aged 31 to 52 years. The exact number of informants that made
up the research sample was determined during data processing
when we reached the desired level of saturation.
The research tool used was an in-depth interview. An in-depth
interview was realized as a non-standardized questioning to one
researcher through
several open questions (Švaříček, Šeďová et
al., 2007, p. 159). The reason for the selection was that it
captures statements and words in a natural way, which allows
data to be obtained in the form of information on the views and
attitudes of research subjects. We conducted a unstructured
interview. The questions in the interview met specific criteria by
using direct questions that were wide enough, not describing the
objectively given phenomenon, and focusing on the type of
writing that teachers teach. We only realized a direct interview
with both the written and the audio recording of the answers, on
the basis of which we created the transcript.
The transcription of research data was the first step of a thematic
analysis carried out by open coding. Open coding was a "process
of disassembling, examining, comparing, conceptualizing, and
categorizing data" (Strauss a Corbinová, 1999, p. 42). In the
research data record, we wrote code names in the form of
conceptual designations in parallel with the unit boundaries.
Open coding was performed through successive and repeated
analysis of data in individual paragraphs, lines and transcript
words. We understood coding as a procedure through which we
specified variables related to the set research questions. We then
moved on to a systematic categorization where the category
names are related to the identified data.
After the end of open coding, we implemented another analytical
method called "cards on the table", which is an extension of
open coding. The choice of the research technique of cards on
the table was favored over other research data processing
techniques because all induced categories were interconnected
and related to the research questions (Švaříček, Šeďová et al.,
2007, p. 226). An essential condition of this technique is just
established link between the induced categories.
3 Interpretation of research results
In the following part of the study, we present research findings
that constitute a repertoire of primary school teachers' opinions
and attitudes about written script. This conceived theory was
based on induced categories of relevance to the research
objective of the study, which we present with samples of data
units and codes identifying individual subjects of research.
Table 1 Gives an overview of the identified concepts and their
respective categories.
Source: own processing.
CATEGORY
CONCEPTS
WRITING IN THE
ELEMENTARY YEAR
Central nervous system, cognitive functions,
graphomotorics, print hand, handwriting, writing
practice, teacher and pupil motivation, selection
of a written model.
STUDY PROBLEMS IN
WRITING
Health indications, dysgraphia, attention deficit
disorder, visual discrimination, visual memory
problem, neurosis.
CULTURAL TRADITION
Conservatism, cultural heritage, protection of
traditions, generational differences, globalization,
lack of interest in society, refusal of change.
Writing in the elementary year - Part of the current typeface is a
form of printed and written writing. The frequency of printed
fonts in our society is much higher than the frequency of written
fonts. The child gets in touch with the printed form from the
earliest age of life and thus becomes natural for him. The nature
of the printed script is presented by an interview sample: "I think
the more natural is the printed script for them, it is easier. They
have been encountering the printed alphabet from their
childhood more in their everyday life, in shop signs and so on.
Or in the newspaper, there is a printed font everywhere" [R11].
This is also described by the statement: "I think from the
beginning the printed is more natural for them, because in
kindergarten they also meet with printed capital letters" [R16].
A printed font is considered to be easier to imitate than a written
font. Writing capital letters occurs to pupils at the first stage of
primary school. "Pupils tend to use print hand. They connect it to
such a whole ... basically they want to imitate each other. It's like
an uniform, print hand is just like that" [R6]. The look at the
script that pupils perceive and prefer is also related to the impact
of technologies that are an integral part of our lives. "I think it is
also this computer era and mobile phones, there are a lot of used
mainly printed and discontinuous font" [R4].
When teaching Comenia Script with its innovative concept of
contemporary didactics of writing, the emphasis is not on perfect
typography and unnecessary difficulty, but primarily on the
writer's interest in the content (Fasnerová, 2018, p. 53).
"Unbound and simple scripts allow students to express
themselves more quickly, making learning more interesting and
efficient. But I do not want to say that the one who writes in
cursive handwriting will not achieve the same goal, only the
road is more difficult" [R14].
The cursive handwriting is linked differently than the print hand,
it is flowing and runs from bottom to top. Teaching cursive
handwriting is considered more difficult for the writer. "Cursive
handwriting is more difficult than print hand script because there
are several elements involved that participate in a demanding
psychomotor process such as writing" [R5]. "When I compare
the cursive handwriting with Comenia Script, the script is more
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