Analysis of Writing Errors in Younger School-Aged Children

Writing represents a complex human ability that plays an important role in communication and education. It involves a range of motor, sensory, linguistic, and cognitive components, requiring coordination across different parts of the nervous system. The aim of this study was to examine linguistic errors in the writing of younger primary school children, with particular emphasis on differences related to gender and age. The sample consisted of 90 pupils from the third, fourth, and fifth grades of primary school, evenly distributed by gender. For the analysis of written samples, the standard text “Dear Friends”, which contains all the letters of the Serbian language, was used. Errors were analyzed at the levels of letters, syllables, words, and sentences. The results showed that boys made a significantly higher number of linguistic errors compared to girls, especially in cases of adding unnecessary letters and syllables, substitutions and mixing, as well as grammatical and spelling errors. A clear tendency toward a reduction in the number of errors with increasing grade level was also observed. It was concluded that children of younger school age make errors across all language elements, with their frequency decreasing significantly with age. These results highlight the importance of monitoring the development of writing skills in children in order to enable timely recognition of disorders and the implementation of appropriate intervention programs.