Abstract
Background“Horizontal strokes should be level and vertical strokes should be straight” is a common guideline in the teaching of Chinese handwriting. Measuring deviations in level horizontal and straight vertical strokes in students’ Chinese handwriting is usually assessed manually. However, this task is time-consuming and may have inconsistent outcomes when judged by different people. In this paper, we aim to formulate a method to automatically evaluate the tilt and slant degrees of students’ Chinese handwriting using digital handwriting tablets. Furthermore, we analyze the relationship between the tilt and slant features of students’ Chinese handwriting and other demographic and handwriting features.MethodsFive hundred and ninety-one primary school students from grades 1 to 6 were recruited in Hong Kong. Before the assessment, a grid paper was attached to a digital handwriting tablet. The participants were then asked to copy 90 Chinese characters from a template to the grid paper. Their handwriting processes were recorded as two-dimensional points and then analyzed. The tilt and slant of the students’ handwriting were calculated based on the inclination level of their horizontal and vertical strokes. Linear regressions between slant/tilt degree of the manuscripts and other handwriting features were performed. The students’ demographic information was also explored.ResultsSlant was found to be significantly correlated to Gender (p < 0.001) and tilt×standard deviation of pen pressure (p < 0.001). Tilt was found to be significantly correlated to ground time (p < 0.001), slant (p < 0.001) and slant×special education need (p = 0.021).ConclusionsOur results demonstrate the relationship between slant, tilt and Chinese handwriting performance in primary school children. Slant and tilt can be adopted as an indicator in students’ special education need diagnosis, as tilt level in the students’ Chinese handwriting was related to ground time and slant× special education need, while slant is related to tilt×standard deviation of pen pressure and female students. These findings may also inspire ways to increase special education need students’ writing speed.
Highlights
The inclination of strokes in characters is a prominent feature in individual handwritings, as the inclination of strokes determines the whole structure of characters
Slant was found to be significantly correlated to Gender (p < 0.001) and tilt×standard deviation of pen pressure (p < 0.001)
Tilt was found to be significantly correlated to ground time (p < 0.001), slant (p < 0.001) and slant×special education need (p = 0.021)
Summary
The inclination of strokes in characters is a prominent feature in individual handwritings, as the inclination of strokes determines the whole structure of characters. This study aims to quantify the inclination of strokes in Chinese handwriting and evaluate whether the inclination of strokes is related to other handwriting and demographic features of students. If we refer to a similar concept in English handwriting, the slant of cursive English writing is defined as the angle of inclination of the axis of letters relative on the baseline [1], is an important writing feature. Difficulties with Western letter slant affect handwriting legibility, thereby constituting poor handwriting [2]. The Test of Legible Handwriting [4] separates left and right slanted writing to measure the legibility of handwriting for children in grades 2 to 12. The Children’s Handwriting Evaluation [5] considers slant in its quality score rating to measure the fluency and quality of children’s handwriting from grades 3 to 8
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