Thèse de Yitong Zuo

Writing is indispensable in children’s academic training and intricately intertwined with other cognitive processes in learning, plus most evaluations in school are carried out in this form. Consequently, mastering this skill is crucial for achieving academic success, while struggling with it can lead to significant inequalities. However, there is currently a limited understanding of individual differences in the acquisition of handwriting and orthography, as well as the impact of typing on this process. Additionally, it is unclear whether learning two writing systems at a young age can benefit this process or not. Here we would like to propose evaluating children’s writing skills and spelling ability on a large scale in the modalities of handwriting and typing, in order to identify the factors that predict difficulties. By investigating if bisciptuality has an advantage in the acquisition of handwriting, we hope to provide new options to improve handwriting skills in general and new remediation for children with dysgraphia. Lastly, by unraveling the neurobiological underpinnings of the possible advantage in biscriptual children in writing, we hope to gain a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon and provide more insights into developing targeted, more efficient protocols for school teaching, as well as handwriting therapy and reeducation.