Abstract

Punctuation is very important in English writing, which leads to a better understanding of the writing. Junior students start to learn English writing and this is an important stage for them to form good writing habits. This paper studies the improper use of punctuation in junior students’ English writing and the possible reasons that result in such impropriety which include the negative transfer of mother tongue, school education and the quick pace of people’s life. The subjects are from Class Nine, Grade Nine in Hangzhou Jialvyuan Middle school. By observing and collecting the punctuation mistakes in students’ English writings, the author gives a concrete analysis about those mistakes. At the same time, the students’ responses for the necessity of punctuation are examined in the questionnaire. At the end of the study, the three possible reasons have been analyzed one by one. Based on all of these, suggestions for the teachers are given to a better teaching of punctuation in students’ English writing.

Keywords: punctuation, junior students’ English writing, improper use of punctuation

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1. Introduction-1

2. Literature Review on Punctuation-2

2.1 The Definition of Punctuation-2

2.2 The Classification of punctuation marks-3

2.3 The Differences of punctuation marks between English and Chinese languages-3

2.4 The Specific Definition and Function of some punctuation marks-4

3. Methodology-8

3.1 Participants-8

3.2 Research Method-8

4. Results and Discussion-10

4.1 Examples of Students’ Improper Use of Punctuation in English Writing-10

4.2 Discussion-15

5. Conclusion-18

References-20

Appendix-22

Appendix 1 Mini-test-22

Appendix 2 Questionnaire-24