This fall term over 3,300 first year students are taking some form of First- Year Writing seminar at Cornell. Many of these students are working with English as a second, third, (or yes, even) fourth language. This is an impressive endeavor, and the skills and strategies transferred across languages serve-up advantages for these English writers. Despite these advantages, many multilingual undergrads benefit from discovering written expectations of American university writing in our classes. This is pivotal window for FWS instructors to slow down and work thoroughly with all young scholars on the processes and foundations of reading and writing that they will need to be successful scholars and leaders in the future. Maybe those students who feel concerned about language are those who stand to gain the most from AI-free writing.
A 2025 review by Marano et al. published in the journal, Life, demonstrates that handwriting activates a broader network of more brain regions compared to those used for typing, integrating motor, sensory, and cognitive circuits. The deliberate fine-motor movements and tactile feedback involved in writing by hand promote deeper memory, whereas typing relies on repetitive tapping and often leads to superficial, verbatim transcription.
Analog writing can support multilingual university writers by reducing cognitive load, strengthening memory, and providing a flexible space for cross-linguistic thinking. Our FWS students have so many new subjects to read and write about that they need authentic mental space to intake new ideas and to digest them well. Writing by hand slows the process, giving writers more time to retrieve vocabulary, manage grammar, and organize ideas across languages. Additionally, the physical act of handwriting may also create stronger memory associations for new vocabulary and grammatical structures, while paper removes the digital notifications and distractions that can interrupt concentration.
We writing instructors already integrate lots of in-class writing. Let’s generate more using handwriting? A notebook allows writers to move freely between languages, mix scripts, add translations or definitions, and use arrows, diagrams, marginal notes, and mind maps to connect ideas. Unlike digital writing environments, paper does not automatically flag foreign words as errors or impose rigid formatting, which can make multilingual brainstorming feel more natural and reduce interruptions to creative flow.
Writing by hand can also strengthen script and vocabulary acquisition. Physically forming letters and characters provides sensorimotor feedback that can reinforce memory and recognition. This is especially valuable for writers working across different writing systems, such as Cyrillic, Arabic, or Chinese Hanzi. Repeated handwriting practice can help develop familiarity with stroke order, spacing, sizing, and the visual structure of unfamiliar scripts. And it can be creative, beautiful, and calming.
Instructors should include paper-based in-class brainstorming, translanguaging, vocabulary exploration, and initial drafting, taking advantage of the freedom and slower pace of handwriting. Students can then move their work into a digital environment for transcription, translation, editing, and polishing. This hybrid workflow combines the cognitive and creative benefits of handwriting with the efficiency and technical support of digital tools used in Word Processing.
Finally, there are meta benefits. Students can reflect and discuss about their writing experiences in a more robust way. What are the pros and cons of writing by hand? Consider your writing processes: planning, writing, revising…When do you prefer to write by hand? To type? Students feel more self-aware, authentic, and meaningful, when their writing experiences are real and shared.
Jessica Sands is a Teaching Professor and Multilingual Writing Specialist in the Knight Institute Writing Workshop.
