Identification of Typographic Factors of Lower Primary School Children’s Handwriting Legibility in the Odia Script

Odia, one of India’s 22 official languages, is primarily spoken in Odisha, where it functions as the primary medium of instruction up to the senior secondary level. As the first language of children in this region, Odia handwriting holds strong cultural and educational significance, particularly in literacy development. Despite this importance, research on early handwriting education and assessment in Odia remains limited. This study examines typographic factors influencing the legibility of Odia handwriting among children aged 5–7 years. Sixty-two participants (Mage = 5.89, SD = 0.61) participated in systematic writing tasks based on listening and copying. Expert evaluators fluent in Odia assessed the handwritten samples for letter shape reproducibility and overall legibility. Qualitative analysis of evaluator comments, employing coding and thematic categorization, revealed key determinants of legibility, including stroke operations, inter-component relations, and functional letter-part attributes. The study concludes with suggestions for refined and systematic assessment methods based on typographic factors to inform Odia handwriting pedagogical practices and the management of handwriting-related learning challenges.