Handwriting of

Hong Kong

Secondary Students Magdalene Poon

Special Interest Group, Child & Adolescent Service

Hong Kong Occupational Therapy Association

background

• Research in Hong Kong Secondary Students in

handwriting function

• Duration of the research: 4 years

Our Team

Agnes Ng Frances Chan Linda Yau Rosita Yip

Anita Fong Hellen Yang Mandy Chui Sanne Fong

Anita Mo Hui Yee Ki Magdalene Poon Shiren Wong

Amy Tsam Ingrid Ngan Marcus Ng Vivian Bux

Cecilia Leung Ivy Tam Minami Hung Wendy Tam

Cheung Kin Sun Joy Lau Miranda Ng OT students (2013-14)

Danny Lo Katrine Chau Phoebe Chan

Donna Chan Kwan Chung Yee Phoebe Cheung

Doris Ting Lenzs Lin Rita Ng

Mrs Cynthia Tang Occupational

Therapy Promotion Fund,

Hong Kong Occupational

Therapy Association

Handwriting…

• An important skill for school-age children in

• Learning situations

• Taking notes

• Marking student handbook

• Submitting written assignments, etc

• Examinations

Handwriting

• The developmental nature of handwriting in speed and legibility

• These relationships have been relatively consistent in the studies of handwriting of English, Chinese, Hebrew and Norwegian children (Graham, 1998; Karlosdottir, 1996; Tseng & Cermak,

1993; Tseng & Chow, 2000; Yochman & Parush, 1998)

• The relationship between visuomotor skills and handwriting (Yochman & Parush, 1998)

Extrinsic factors The instruction in handwriting, the quality and extent of practice

undertaken, the requirements of the task, and the materials used

Intrinsic factor Orthographic coding, orthographic-motor integration, visual-motor skills,

fine motor skills, cognition, linguistic skills and motivation (Tseng &

Chow, 2000)

DSE Subjects

Biology**

Business, Accounting and Financial Studies

Chemistry**

Chinese History

Chinese Language

Chinese Literature

Design and Applied Technology**

Economics

English Language

Ethics and Religious Studies

Geography

Health Management and Social Care

History

Information and Communication Technology

Liberal Studies

Literature in English

Mathematics# - Compulsory/Extended M1. Calculus and Statistics M2. Algebra and Calculus

Music

Physical Education

Physics

Combined Science (Biology & Chemistry) (Biology & Physics) (Chemistry & Physics)

Technology and Living

Tourism and Hospitality Studies

Visual Arts

Sample Paper of Writing

(Chinese)

• 本卷三題,任選一題。

選擇題 1 或題 2 者,作文一篇,字數不少於650(標點符號計算在內)。 選擇題 3 者,作短文兩篇,每篇字數不多於350(標點符號計算在內)。

• 文言、語體不拘。

1. 個人私隱比公眾知情權更重要,你同意嗎?談談你的看法。

2. 摩天輪與過山車

Sample Paper of Writing

(English)

• You have TWO hours to answer Question 1 in Part A and ONE question from Part B.

Part A Write about 200 words on the following topic:

• Sunday, 10th September, 2008 Hong Kong Post

• LOCAL NEWS

• Trapped in Building

• Yesterday, six people were trapped for five hours in a Wan Chai office building when the electricity suddenly went off and they discovered that the fire exits were locked. The Fire Services eventually rescued the six. The drama began at 11 am ......

• You are Pat Chan. You were one of the six people trapped in the building. Write a report for your own school newspaper describing what happened.

Part B Write about 400 words on any one of the following topics:

• Learning English through Sports Communication

• You have received a letter from your brother Andy who is studying in America, telling you he has taken up motorbike racing as a hobby. Write a reply to him, explaining why you are worried about his new hobby. Try to persuade him to take up a different sport and give reasons for your recommendation.

• Learning English through Drama

• You recently went to s……

Handwriting Assessment

• Motor Assessment

• Functional (Writing) Assessment

• Visual Perceptual Assessment

• Clinical Observation

• Environmental Observation (demands in daily life)

Copying Speed Test for

Hong Kong Secondary

Students

- Chinese

- English

• An assessment simulates the situation in taking essay

examinations in Hong Kong

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE

ASSESSMENT

Chinese Characters

• A morphemic language with each symbol being a bound or unbound

• Comprising of:

• the character

• Can be an independent written unit

• May not have distinct meaning

• the radical

• Same radical may occupy different positions in the character

• the stroke

• The writing sequence can be started from left to right, top to bottom

or outside to inside

• Stroke sequence

• Details of character formation

• Writing in confined space

English Characters

• Alphabetic system related to phonological process

• A set of basic unit (letters) in upper and lower cases

• Strung together from left to right to produce a word with

specific meaning

Chinese/English

Assessment Template

• A simulated task to examination demand

• Minimize language and word understanding issues • Difficulty level

• Meaningful passages instead of random words

• Chinese:

• Counting the no. of strokes in the words to some typical demands of the students

• double check with the commonly used words in primary school students (Poon & Hong, 2003)

• Expert panel on difficulty level

• English:

• Counting the no. of alphabets in the words to some typical demands of the students

• Expert panel on difficulty level

Template development

Expert Panel

• Occupational therapists working with children

• Teacher Panel

Pilot Test

• Two phases

• Convenience sampling to a group of about 30 secondary

students

• Convenience sampling to all students (919) at a secondary

school

Grade

1 2 3 4 5 6

No. of

Students 151 218 203 159 129 59

Estimated Sample Size

Grade

1 2 3 4 5 6

Sample

size 189 232 255 200 248 272

Validity

• Content validity

• Reliability

• Inter-rater

• Test-retest

Inter-rater reliability

r p

Chinese Accuracy Error 0.9426 0.0000

Formation Error 0.9500 0.0000

English Accuracy Error 0.8726 0.0000

Formation Error 0.9714 0.0000

Ø 16 raters including:

• occupational therapists

• research assistants

Ø Analyzed by ICC

Main study

• Random Sampling to all 458 secondary schools in Hong

Kong (2009/2010)

• 14 schools (3453 subjects)

Demographic Data

Hand Dominance

Difference

Dominant Hand

No. of individuals Percentages

Right 3299 95.5 %

Left 154 4.5 %

Total 3453 100 %

Result

• Significant difference in

• Gender

• Grade

• Age

• No difference in hand dominance

• Copying Speed Test for Hong Kong Secondary Students

• Trainers

• Certified therapists

CERTIFICATION OF CST-HKSS Since 2012

Assessment of Functional

Performance of students

• Motivation

• Attention+/-hyperactivity

• Motor function

• Visual perceptual function

• Language abilities

• Behavioural issues

• ADHD

• SLD

• ASD

• Slow learners

Assessing ADHD students

• How to get the best performance of the child

• Interview with child and parent(s)

• On medication? (timing)

• No medication (alert program?)

• Attitude of the client in taking the assessment (motor

assessment Vs copying speed tests, tolerance and fatigue)

• Difference of a ADHD handwriting and motor clumsy

handwriting

• Comorbidity

Recommendation

considerations

• The suggested additional time to reach a low average

standard of normal student

• Other factors: diagnosis and presenting symptoms, etc

Handwriting problem to

the child and family

The Child

Self confidence

Self esteem

The parent(s)

Frustration misunderstanding

Examples of

Recommendations

• Physical environment

• ETA

• Rests

• Prolonged preparation time

• Special format of question paper……

Accommodations in other

countries

Our ultimate goal

Acknowledgements

• Schools and students

• Hong Kong Red Cross John F Kennedy Centre