UNDERSTANDING DYSLOGOGRAPHIA (CHINESE DYSGRAPHIA) AND WHAT IS KNOWN ABOUT THE DISORDER

Yi Ya Tin BA(Hons), PGDE Noel Kok Hwee Chia EdD, BCET, FCP, FCoT, FCollP Meng Ee Wong PhD National Institute of Education Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Abstract Dysgraphia is a disorder in written expression that can be categorized into either developmental dysgraphia or acquired dysgraphia. There are three subtypes of developmental dysgraphia: dyslexic dysgraphia that bears similarities to dyslexia; dysgraphia due to motor clumsiness; and dysgraphia due to defect in understanding of space. The characteristics exhibited by these subtypes may apply to language systems that are alphabetical or phoneme-based in nature. For languages that are logographically based such as Chinese or Japanese, dysgraphia exists in another subtype known as dyslogographia. Though literature on dysgraphia is very limited as compared to studies done on dyslexia, literature on dyslogographia is even more limited. This paper will attempt to discuss about dyslogographia while drawing parallels if possible to the more known subtypes of dysgraphia and to some extent, also dyslexia.

Introduction Listening, speaking, reading and speaking are the four main skills in learning a language. The first two skills are developed very early during childhood whereas the latter two are mostly developed during schooling. As written expression is emphasized in the education system, students who are unable to express through writing are handicapped by their inability even though their cognitive abilities are non-impaired.

A disorder in written expression is often termed dysgraphia. Dysgraphia can be categorized into either developmental dysgraphia (childhood onset) or acquired dysgraphia also known as agraphia (more so in adulthood onset and in the form of brain damage). Kay (2004) defined dysgraphia as: “A specific learning disability that is neurobiological in origin…characterized by difficulties with accurate spelling as a result of phonological processing deficit (dyslexic dysgraphia) and by poor penmanship or handwriting due to inadequate motor skills (motor dysgraphia) and/or spatial perception (spatial dysgraphia). These difficulties typically result in problems in written expression that can be unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and with the adequate pedagogy” (p.2)

Deuel (1995) has identified three subtypes of developmental dysgraphia that have been incorporated into Kay’s operating definition. There are dyslexic dysgraphia that bears similarities to dyslexia; dysgraphia due to motor clumsiness; and dysgraphia due to defect in understanding of space. The characteristics of the subtypes are as follows:

Subtypes Dyslexic Motor Dysgraphia Spatial Characteristics Dysgraphia Dysgraphia Spontaneously Poorly legible Poorly legible Poorly legible written text Oral Spelling Very abnormal Preserved Preserved Copying of written Preserved Poorly legible Poorly legible text Drawing Preserved Poor Very abnormal Finger-tapping Normal Abnormal Normal speed Table 1: Characteristics of dysgraphia subtypes

From Deuel, R.K. (1995). Developmental dysgraphia and motor skills disorders. Journal of Child Neurology, Special Supplement, 10 (1), p.7

The characteristics exhibited by these subtypes as well as the operating definition may apply to language systems that are alphabetical or phoneme-

1 based in nature. For languages that are logographically based such as Chinese or Japanese, dysgraphia exists in another subtype known as dyslogographia.

Though literature on dysgraphia is very limited as compared to studies done on dyslexia, literature on dyslogographia is even more limited. This paper will attempt to discuss about dyslogographia while drawing parallels if possible to the more known subtypes of dysgraphia and to some extent, also dyslexia (see Chia, 1999).

Etiology There are various subtypes of developmental dysgraphia and they are neurological in origin. This means that one can improve the condition but not cure it. Similarly, Leong (2007a) has also identified three subtypes of dyslogographia: (1) ideographic, (2) ideophonetic, and (3) ideographonetic, which is a mixture of the two earlier subtypes. Many theories have been put forth to understand the relationship between language acquisition (including handwriting) and brain functions (see Alston & Taylor, 1987; Alston & Taylor, 1988).

A number of neural systems located in the left hemisphere represent the phonemes and its combinations, and rules in forming words that assemble and form words or sentences in the spoken or written form (Damasio & Damasio, 1999). Hence, abnormalities of these neural systems may result in dysgraphia as written forms cannot be reproduced with ease by a dysgraphic person. The International Dyslexic Association (2000) observes that a dysfunction of the interaction between two main brain systems impairs a person’s ability to translate mental into written language.

Another cause may be genetics though more studies need to be done to prove that defects in genes may lead to dysgraphia.

2 Understanding the Chinese Script and Dyslogographia Unlike English, Chinese characters are logographs which are known as hanzi （汉字）. Each character has “morphemic meanings” (Leong, 2007b), and has its own distinct form, pronunciation and meaning known as xing-yin-yi (形－音－ 义) (Peking University, 2002).

The written and spoken forms of the Chinese language have undergone changes throughout the course of history, effectively removing the relationship between the both of them (Chia & Ching, 2001a, 2001b). Hence, students may have revisualization problem as they are to memorize each character. The writing of hanzi requires the correct sequencing of the strokes which give each character its unique form (Chia & Ching, 2001b)1.

Hanzi exists in monographs such as 上 (shàng, [51] which means “up”) or

compounds of different graphs, such as 花 (huā, [55] which means “flower”).

The latter has radicals which represent the semantic meaning and a phonetic component that signifies the sound.2 This comprises around 90% of present day hanzi (Chia & Ching, 2001b). There are rules governing the positions of the two components 3 . Hence, students will need to learn these rules to minimize confusion. A possible problem will be the space allocated to each component graph of the hanzi must be proportionate that can only be achieved through practice. Hence, a person with spatial perception problem may find difficult to write a structurally-sound hanzi.

Issues of structure are also not limited only to the ideograph itself but will have implications for learners with special perception problems in deciphering the

1 Refer to Appendix 1 for the sequence of strokes in Chinese characters. 2 The previous example of “花”, the” 艹” is the radical signifying of the grass which means that the hanzi is related to plants. The “化” is the phonetic component and it is pronounced as huà [51], which is similar to the pronunciation of “花”. 3 Refer to Appendix 2 for the rules.

3 reading and writing of text in its entirety. Chinese can be thought of being written in a square frame, and can be expressed in any direction. Depending on styles, written Chinese can be written in columns from top to bottom, moving from right to left. Alternatively, texts can also be written horizontally from left to right (Huang et. al., 2002). As observed with Japanese, Tollini (1994), and Shimizu and Green (2002) posit the difficulty in learning kanji (Japanese for hanzi) is also compounded by the structure of the written form – particularly for Western cultures whose alphabet whose language is written in a sequential, linear and serial expression. This departure from a uni-dimensional to a global, parallel, multi-dimensional system, Tollini (1994) argues to be difficult for learners to shift their decoding process. As written Chinese is also expressed in a similar format (Chen, 1999; Norman, 1988), it is plausible therefore to postulate that dysgraphic learners with special difficulties will be even more challenged.

In dyslogographia, the stroke sequence may be reversed or confused (Hong Kong Association for Specific Learning Disabilities, 2007)4, such as 土 (tŭ, [t214] which means “soil”) and士 (shì, [51] which means “a social class in the ancient

China”). Li (2004) classified the characteristics of Chinese dysgraphia as: 1. Size of characters varies; 2. Problems in copying of text from afar and the copying of a short passage; 3. Words with the wrong radical, but correct structure when copying; and 4. Words with the correct radical, but wrong structure when writing spontaneously (p.61).

Diagram 1: An imitation copy of a person with dyslogographia writing the Chinese character “tree” (with a word processor done by first author).

4 Refer to Appendix 3 for more examples of such words.

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Diagnosis A thorough diagnosis must be done to ensure that a person is dysgraphic. Poor teaching of writing, sitting postures or other environment and social factors may lead to a wrong diagnosis. Pseudo-dysgraphia can be remedied with learning to write properly with adequate exposure to the language.

For dysgraphia that affects the English (or similar language systems) users, the authors have found that the use of WISC-III tests are effective in determining dysgraphia. This does not necessarily mean that students with dysgraphia in English are also dysgraphic in Chinese though such possibility may exist.

Based the second author’s sample of 15 Chinese male subjects (at the Learning Disabilities Centre, Singapore) aged between 12 and 14 years old, the analysis of the WISC-III data has led him and the other two co-authors to make the following statements: 1. All 15 subjects have failed in their written Chinese language examinations in school for at least five consecutive years. 2. The subjects have been assessed and diagnosed by their respective psychologists and/or occupational therapists to have dysgraphia. 3. The Full-Scale IQ (FSIQ) of all 15 subjects is in the average and above average IQ ranges. 4. The Verbal IQ (VIQ) is significantly greater than the Performance IQ (PIQ) where the discrepancy between them is 11 or more for all the 15 subjects. 5. All 15 subjects have scored less than the scaled score of 20 for the Processing Speed Index – the last of the four WISC-III Factor Indexes. 6. Among them, 12 are found to fail in the ACID profile – the acronym for Arithmetic, Coding, Information, and Digit Span – the four WISC-III subtests which Wechsler (1991) has found to characterize the reading or learning disabled.

5 7. Similar results have also been found using the SCAD profile – the acronym for Symbol Search, Coding, Arithmetic, and Digit Span – which Kaufman (1994) has advocated to replacing the ACID profile to identify individuals with reading/learning difficulties. In other words, the same 12 subjects failed in the SCAD profile. 8. Seven of the 12 subjects are found to display the following pattern based on Bannatyne’s categories (1968, 1971, 1974), which involve regrouping WISC- III subtests into Bannatyne’s spatial, conceptual, and sequential patterns, used to identify children with learning disabilities: Spatial category > Conceptual category > Sequential category – which suggests the presence of “genetic dyslexia” (see Bannatyne, 1968, pp.247-248). This suggests that these seven subjects could have dysgraphia of the dyslexic subtype. 9. The remaining five of the 12 subjects are found to display two other patterns different from the classical Bannatyne pattern of genetic dyslexia: the first pattern being Conceptual category > Sequential category > Spatial category; and the second one, Sequential category > Conceptual category > Spatial category. In both patterns, the five subjects performed worst in the scaled score of the Spatial category. The finding suggests that these five subjects could have dysgraphia of the spatial subtype. 10. The authors wish to highlight a recent study done by Smith and Watkins (2004) has indicated that the presence of the Bannatyne WISC-III pattern would not necessarily lead to decisions that are useful in differentiating children with learning disabilities from those without. The authors also reiterate the need for additional screening tests to confirm if a child has dyslexic or spatial dysgraphia. 11. The authors have also noticed that all 15 subjects have performed very poorly on four WISC-III subtests: Coding, Object Assembly, Block Design, and Symbol Search. They have used the acronym COBS to represent these subtests. 12. Finally, only the three remaining subjects (not the other 12) have failed in the ABC profile (acronym for Arithmetic, Block Design, and Coding – the three

6 WISC-III subtests), which is a typical pattern for identifying suspected dyspraxia cases (Lexington Centre, 1999) in addition to the verbal/performance IQ discrepancy mentioned earlier. This suggests the possibility of the three subjects having dysgraphia of the motor subtype, which is also known as dyspraxic dysgraphia (Tay, 2004). However, the authors wish to emphasize that the WISC-III itself cannot be used to confirm the diagnosis of dyspraxia. It is important to conduct a review of the child's history and a motor skills screening test should also be administered.

Table 2 shows the summary of the above findings.

Subtypes Dyslexic Spatial Motor Dysgraphia Factors Dysgraphia Dysgraphia Written Chinese Have failed for at least five consecutive years examination FSIQ Average and above VIQ & PIQ VIQ > PIQ VIQ > PIQ VIQ > PIQ, pd=11 Processing Speed < 20 (Fails) < 20 (Fails) < 20 (Fails) Bannatyne Profile Sp > Cpt > Seq Cpt > Seq > Sp - Seq > Cpt > Sp COBS Profile Fail Fail Fail ABC Profile - - Fail Table 2: WISC-III test results are used in differentiating subtypes of dysgraphia

For dyslogographia, there are not many assessment tools available to test and identify individuals with such condition as research in this field remains very sparse or at its infancy. However, Li (2004), in her study of Taiwanese students, has designed some tests that may be developed as tools one day to assess all dyslogographia cases.

Li (2004) used three modes of assessments: (1) copying of characters; (2) copying of short passages; and (3) spontaneously writing. The first mode consists of four sub-tests: copying of common characters from near, copying of uncommon characters from near, copying of common characters from afar, and copying of uncommon characters from afar. A correct character is awarded 1

7 point with the maximum being 25 points for each sub-test, and then the points from all four sub-tests are totaled up. The second mode of test concerns copying of short passages. It requires a selection of a short passage to be copied within a certain timeframe. 1 point is awarded for each correct character. Finally, the last mode of test is writing spontaneously to finish incomplete sentences and calculate the number of correct characters.

Though Li (2004) did have control groups, the tests administered for her study needs to be tweaked if anyone in the field will like to adopt for diagnostic purposes. More can be done to design a toolkit that can diagnose dyslogographia across logographic languages.

Intervention Strategies The intervention methods employed are similar regardless of language system. As writing involves many fine and gross motor movements, most intervention strategies recommended in the literature are also similar to those used for dyspraxia.

To be able to write, one must have a sound cognitive and nervous system and good concepts of organization. A person must also possess visual spatial organization that can visualize and estimate space between words or characters. Simultaneous processing skills must be sound as the forming of words and expressing them in print are simultaneously done in our brains. The other aspect of writing will be revisualization whereby a word or character can be visualized and realized in print soon after seeing it for the first time (Kay, 2007).

The intervention strategies are to strengthen these aspects for a dysgraphic individual to write legibly with time.

Penmanship practice must be done as early as the diagnosis is confirmed, especially with kinesthetic writing. Kinesthetic writing means that writing with the

8 eyes closed or averted which serves as an effective reinforcer (International Dyslexic Association, 2000). As Chinese characters involve the writing of strokes at the assigned places, such practice is effective in helping students to learn the

characters. Below are examples in writing a Chinese character shù [51] (tree) and chuan [35] (boat) stroke by stroke, whereby students can learn to

mimic the writing of the characters:

Diagram 2: Stroke sequence of the Chinese character “tree”, pronounced as shù [51].

Diagram 3: Chinese character of “tree”, pronounced as shù [51]. The purple portion is the radical “wood”, pronounced as mù [∓51].

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Diagram 4: Stroke sequence of the Chinese character “boat”, pronounced as chuán

[35].

Diagram 5: Chinese character of “boat”, pronounced as chuán [35]. The purple portion is the radical “boat”, pronounced as zhōu [55].

10 Deuel (1995) said that “the lower the motoric requirement, the better and faster the written expression” (p.S8). This applies to the Chinese language as well. Students will just need to input hanyu pinyin to generate the Chinese characters. Teachers can also help the students by setting un-timed written tests and using other modes of assessments such as oral or aural form.

Teachers can avoid asking dyslogographic students to copy notes from the board. Instead, printed notes should be given to these students. Lined paper or gaozhi (稿纸) (foolscap paper with boxes to write Chinese characters) should be used to record or write things.

Conclusion There is certainly a need for more studies to be done on dyslogographia since very little is known about the condition. In fact, the authors feel that it would be most ideal if researchers from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore, where Chinese is the majority ethnic group, could come together to share and exchange information what they have discovered to date about dyslogographia. However, more importantly, studies should focus on how we can pinpoint the characteristics of dyslogographia with relation to the Chinese language so that effective intervention tools and suitable diagnostic assessments can be developed. In this way, more students can receive help to cope with their condition.

11 References Alston, J., & Taylor, J. (1987). Handwriting: Theory, research and practice. London: Croom Helm.

Alston, J., & Taylor, J. (1988). The handwriting file (2nd edition). Cambs: Living and Learning.

Bannatyne, A.S. (1968). Diagnosing learning disabilities and writing remedial prescriptions. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 4, 242-249.

Bannatyne, A.S. (1971). Language, reading and learning disabilities. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.

Bannatyne, A.S. (1974). Diagnosis: A note on re-categorization of the WISC- scaled scores. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 7, 272-273.

Chia, K.H. (1999). Hanzhi, hanayu pinyin and developmental ideophonetic (Chinese) dyslexia. SRL News Magazine, 11(2), 13-15.

Chia, K.H. & Ching, S.K. (2001a). Recognizing Chinese dyslexia.” Health Digest, 12(3), 53-57.

Chia, K.H., & Ching, S.K. (2001b) Developmental ideophonetic dyslexia: Challenging issues in learning Chinese language. The Educational Therapist, 22(1), 16 – 18.

Damasio, A.R. & Damasio, H. (Eds.) (1999). Brain and Language. In The Editors of Scientific American (Eds.). The Scientific American Book of the Brain (5th ed.). Guilford, CT: Lyons Press.

12 Deuel, R.K. (1995). Developmental dysgraphia and motor skills disorders. Journal of Child Neurology, Special Supplement, 10 (1): 6 – 8.

Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press. (2001). New Century Chinese- English Dictionary. Singapore: Learners Publishing Pte Ltd.

Hong Kong Association for Specific Learning Disabilities (2007). The International Dyslexic Association – Finding Answers. Retrieved January 17, 2008, from Hong Kong Association for Specific Learning Disabilities Web site: http://www.asld.org.hk/SLD/SLDFacts/03.html

Huang, L., Peng, Y., Wang, H., and Wu, Z. (2002). Statistical part-of-speech tagging for classical Chinese. Text, Speech, and Dialogue: Fifth International Conference, 115-122.

International Dyslexia Association. (2000). Dysgraphia. Retrieved January 20, 2008, from the International Dyslexia Association Web site: http://www.dyslexiasd.org/factsheets/dysgraphia.pdf

Kaufman, A.S. (1994). Intelligent testing with the WISC-III. New York, NY: John Wiley.

Kay, M. (2004). Defining and understanding dysgraphia [Monograph]. Los Angeles, CA: Association of Educational Therapists.

Kay, M. (2007). What is dysgraphia? Retrieved February 10, 2008, from Dr Margaret J. Kay’s Home Page Web site: http://www.margaretkay.com/Dysgraphia.htm

Leong, Y.K. (2007). Are you dyslexic in Chinese? SRL News Magazine, 20(1), 20-22.

13 Leong, Y.K. (2007, June 15). More about Chinese Dyslexia and its subtypes. Retrieved January 18, 2008, from Learning Sparks Educational Services Web blog site: http://www.lesnet.com/blog/?cat=25

Lexington Centre (1999). Assessments for dyspraxia: Protocol (brochure). Singapore: The Author.

Li, Y.T. (2004). Writing characteristics of Taiwanese students with handwriting difficulties. Journal of Taiwan Normal University : Education, 49(2), 43 – 64.

Norman, J. (1988). Chinese. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Peking University, Modern Chinese Research and Teaching Group, Department of Chinese Language and Literature (2002). The contemporary hanyu. Beijing, China: The Commercial Press.

Shimizu, H., and Green, K.E. (2002). Japanese language educators’ strategies for and attitudes toward teaching kanji. Modern Language Journal, 86(2), 227- 242.

Smith, C.B., and Watkins, M.W. (2004). Diagnostic utility of the Bannatyne WISC-III pattern. Learning Disabilities Research and Practice, 19(1), 49-56.

Tay, K.H. (2004). Understanding childhood learning disorders: clues to their diagnosis and management. Retrieved October 6, 2004, from the National University Hospital Children’s Medical Institute (at the Jurong Polyclinic) Web site: http://www.nuhkids.com/medical_education/postgraduate/neurology/understandi ng_learning_disorders.htm

Tollini, A. (1994). The importance of form in the teaching of kanji. Sekai no Nihongo Kyouiku, 4, 107-116.

14 Wechsler, D. (1991). Wechsler intelligence scale for children (3rd ed.): WISC-III manual. New York, NY: Psychological Corporation.

About the authors Tin Yi Ya has recently completed her Post-Graduate Diploma in Education at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, and is currently a junior college school teacher of Chinese Language and Literature. Dr Chia Kok Hwee is a board-certified educational therapist. Both Dr Chia and Dr Wong Meng Ee are assistant professors with the Early Childhood and Special Education Academic Group at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

15 Appendix 1: Sequence of strokes for Chinese Characters

Peking University (2002, p. 158) classifies the six common stroke sequences of Chinese characters:

Up follows by bottom (先上后

下 ). Stroke sequence of “ 下 ”

(down), pronounced as xià

[˚51].

Left follows by right （先左后

右）. Stroke sequence of “叶”

(leaf), pronounced as yè [51].

Horizontal follows by vertical

（先横后竖）. Stroke sequence

of “ 干 ” (to do or dry),

pronounced as gàn [kan51] or

55 gān [kan ].

Left-falling stroke follows by

right-falling stroke （先撇后

捺）. Stroke sequence of “人”

(human), pronounced as rén

16 [35].

Outwards follows by inwards

（先外后内）. Stroke sequence

of “习” (practice), pronounced

as xí [˚35].

Closing the gap last（最后封

口）. Stroke sequence of “国”

(country), pronounced as guó

[kuo35].

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Appendix 2: Combination of radicals

Peking University (2002, p. 156) classifies the seven common combinations of radicals of Chinese characters:

Left-right（左右结构）

“ 信 ” (letter or trust),

pronounced as xìn [˚51].

Left-Middle-Right （左-中-右结 构）

“树” (tree), pronounced as shù [51].

Top-Bottom （上下结构）

“ 花 ” (flower), pronounced as huā [55].

18 Top-Middle-Bottom（上中下结 构）

“器” (utensil), pronounced as qì [˚51].

Encircle （包围结构）

“国” (country), pronounced as guó [kuo35].

Half-encircle（半包围结构）

“ 风 ” (wind), pronounced as fēng [55].

19 Intersecting （穿插结构）

“ 乘 ” (to ride), pronounced as

chēng [55].

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Appendix 3: List of hanzi with similar structures

Hanzi Hanyu Pinyin IPA Meaning 人 rén 35 Human 入 rù 51 Enter 八 bā ≺55 Eight

Hanzi Hanyu Pinyin IPA Meaning 土 tŭ 214 Soil 士 shì 51 Social class in ancient China

Hanzi Hanyu Pinyin IPA Meaning 刀 dāo 55 Knife 刃 rèn 51 Knife blade 力 lì 51 Strength 办 bàn ≺51 To do

Hanzi Hanyu Pinyin IPA Meaning 又 yòu 51 Again (adverb) 叉 chā 55 Fork 久 jiŭ ˚214 A long time 义 yì 51 Righteousness

Hanzi Hanyu Pinyin IPA Meaning 大 dà 51 Big 太 tài 51 Too 犬 quăn ˚214 Dog

Hanzi Hanyu Pinyin IPA Meaning 王 wáng 35 King 玉 yù 51 Jade 主 zhŭ 214 Main

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Hanzi Hanyu Pinyin IPA Meaning 天 tiān 55 Sky 夫 fū 55 Man or Husband 元 yuán 35 First 无 wú 35 None

Hanzi Hanyu Pinyin IPA Meaning 木 mù ∓51 Wood 禾 hé 35 Grain, especially rice 术 shù 51 Skill 朱 zhū 55 Red or Surname 本 běn ≺214 Root of plants or Origin 未 wèi 51 Have not 末 mò ∓51 End

Hanzi Hanyu Pinyin IPA Meaning 午 wŭ 214 Noon 牛 niú 35 Cow

Hanzi Hanyu Pinyin IPA Meaning 丘 qiū ˚55 Hill 兵 bīng ≺55 Soldier 乒 bīng ≺55 Character forming the morpheme “Table tennis” 乓 bāng ≺55 Character forming the morpheme “Table tennis”

Hanzi Hanyu Pinyin IPA Meaning 今 jīn ˚55 Today 令 lìng 51 Order

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Hanzi Hanyu Pinyin IPA Meaning 比 bĭ ≺214 As compared 北 běi ≺214 North

Hanzi Hanyu Pinyin IPA Meaning 去 qù ˚51 To go 丢 diū 55 To throw 云 yún 35 Cloud

Hanzi Hanyu Pinyin IPA Meaning 田 tián 35 Farmland 申 shēn 55 To state 甲 jiă ˚214 First or Amour 由 yóu 35 Reason

Hanzi Hanyu Pinyin IPA Meaning 石 shí 35 Stone 右 yòu 51 Right

Hanzi Hanyu Pinyin IPA Meaning 瓜 guā n55 Melon 爪 zhuă 214 Claw

Hanzi Hanyu Pinyin IPA Meaning 鸟 niăo 214 Bird 乌 wū 55 Crow or Black 马 mă ∓214 Horse

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