RESEARCH STUDY ON JOINED-UP LINEAR HANDWRITING IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC

Primary school pupils in the Czech Republic learn how to use joined-up linear handwriting, that means bound handwriting, which is different from handwritings used in other European countries. Bound handwriting comes from a natural graphomotorical development of children since their pre-school education. The preparation for bound handwriting is initiated at least one year before start of primary schooling, which is compulsory in case of the Czech Republic since 2017. It is a traditional type of handwriting that has been replaced by simpler unbound handwriting. Therefore we focused on an analysis of bound handwriting observing to what extent this type of handwriting varies from standard, considering different variables. At the same time we observed to what extent the written record is readable for the writer himself. The quantitative research survey lasted 5 years and the research sample comprised of 1st to 5th grade primary school pupils.