A crash course to improve punctuation skills of undergraduate students

Punctuation has always been a consideration in writing. In spite of its importance, it does not hold up a secure place in courses. Courses neither on grammar nor vocabulary allocate a place for the teaching of punctuation, and learning of it is expected to occur implicitly. This study aims to increase students and instructors’ awareness towards the importance of punctuation and teaching of it explicitly. In line with that, twenty students studying at the department of written translation, where punctuation is of great importance, were chosen, and the most problematic three punctuation marks were detected. Having detected them, the researcher applied a 3-weeks crash course programme in order to eliminate punctuation errors in students’ writing. The results showed that there is a statistically significant difference between pre-tests and post-tests in terms of lowering erroneous use of punctuation. Accordingly, this study suggests that explicit teaching of punctuation increases students’ awareness regarding the correct use of punctuation and the importance of it in writing. Therefore, instructors at translation departments should allocate a place in their course schedules. At the very end, this study submitted its own 5-days long crash course programme on the most problematic punctuation marks that had been found from the data through analyses.

Lisans Öğrencilerinin İngiliz Dilinde Yazarken Noktalama İşaretleri Kullanımlarını Geliştirmesi Üzerine Bir Çalışma

Noktalama İşaretleri, yazma sürecinde daima önemli olmuştur. Fakat önemine rağmen, İngiliz dili eğitimi tabanlı bölümlerin derslerinde üzerine durulmamaktadır. İster dilbilgisi isterse kelime öğretimi üzerine olsun, noktalama işaretleri hiçbir derste kendisine yer bulamamıştır ve bilinçaltı bir şekilde öğrenilmesi beklenilmiştir. Bu çalışma öğrencilerin ve üniversite hocalarının noktalama işaretlerine olan farkındalığını arttırmayı ve doğrudan öğretiminin önemini ortaya koymayı amaçlamaktadır. Bu doğrultuda, noktalama işaretlerinin kendileri için çok önemli olan Mütercim-Tercümanlık bölümünden 20 öğrenci seçildi ve kendilerinin en çok problem yaşadığı üç noktalama işareti belirlendi. En sorunlu üç noktalama işaretlerinin belirlenmesinden sonra öğrenciler üç haftalık bir eğitim sürecine tabi tutuldular. Uygulanan öntest ve sontest sonuçlarına göre öğrencilere verilen açık eğitim öğrencilerin yazımlarında yanlış kullandıkları noktalama işaret sayısını azaltmıştır. Bu doğrultuda, mevcut çalışma noktalama işaretlerinin öğrencilerin dolaylı olarak öğrenemeyecekleri ve açık bir şekilde ders içerinde öğretilmesi gerektiğini ortaya koymaktadır. Bu çalışma aynı zamanda beş günlük bir eğitim programını ekler bölümünde sunmuştur. Bu ekin, üniversitelerin dil eğitimi bölümü hocaları tarafından kullanılması tavsiye edilmektedir.

PDF

___

Alamin, A., & Ahmed, S. (2012). Syntactical and Punctuation Errors: An Analysis of Technical Writing of University Students Science College, Taif University, KSA. English Language Teaching, 5(5), 2-8.

Araman, B., & Wiggin, B. (1997). ESL reading: research and applications. TESL Reporter, 30(1), 4-6.

Ausloos, M. (2010). Punctuation effects in english and esperanto texts. Physica A, 2835-2840, doi:10.1016/j.physa.2010.02.038.

Bar-Aba, E. B. (2003). Punctuation marks: procedural and conceptual uses. Journal of Pragmatics, 35, 1031–1048.

Chen, X., Huang, B., & Ye, D. (2018). The role of punctuation in P2P lending: Evidence from China. Economic Modelling, 68, 634–643, DOI: dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.econmod.2017.05.007.

Daffern, T., Mackenzie, N. M., & Hemmings, B. (2017). Predictors of writing success: How important are spelling, grammar and punctuation? Australian Journal of Education, 61, 75-87.

Dowden, T., Pittaway, S., Yost, H., & McCarthy, R. (2013). Students’ perceptions of written feedback in teacher education: ideally feedback is a continuing two-way communication that encourages progress. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 38(3), 349-362 https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2011.632676.

Elkilic, G., Han, T., & Aydin, S. (2009). Punctuation and capitalization errors of Turkish EFL students in composition classes: An evidence of L1 interference. International Symposium on Sustainable Development, (pp. 279-284). Sarajevo.

Erel, S., & Bulut, D. (2007). Error treatment in L2 writing: A comparative study of direct and indirect coded feedback in Turkish EFL context. Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi, 22(1), 397-415.

Ghabool, N., Mariadass, M. E., & Kashef, S. H. (2012). Investigating Malaysian ESL Students' Writing Problems on Conventions, Punctuation, and Language Use at Secondary School Level . Journal of Studies in Education, 2(3), 130-143.

Hirvela, A., Nussbaum, A., & Pierson, H. (2012). ESL students’ attitudes toward punctuation. System, 40, 11-23, DOI: 10.1016/j.system.2012.01.006.

Houghton, K. J., Upadhyay, S. S., & Klin, C. M. (2018). Punctuation in text messages may convey abruptness. Period. Computers in Human Behavior, 80, 112-121.

Hyland, K., & Anan, E. (2006). Teachers’ perceptions of error: The effects of first language and experience. System, 34, 509-519.

Kesmez, A. (2015). An analysis of the L1 interference erros of Turkish university students in their written produtions. International journal of soial science, 34, 395-402.

Kulig, A., Kwapien, J., Stanisz, T., & Drozdz, S. (2017). In narrative texts punctuation marks obey the same statistics as words. Information Sciences, 98-113.

Leki, I. (1991). The Preferences of ESL Students for Error Correction in College-Level Writing Classes. Foreign Langugage Annals, 203-2018.

Marton, F., & Shirley, B. (2013). Learning and awareness. Routledge.

McCourt, F. (2003). Foreword. In L. Truss, Eats Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation (pp. xii-xiv). New York: Gotham Books.

McDermott, J. (2016). Punctuation for Now. Springer.

Ngangbam, H. (2016). An analysis of syntactic erros committed by students of English language class in the written composition of Mutah University: a case study. European Journal of English Language, Linguistics and Literature, 3(1), 1-13.

Rula, L. D. (2005). EFL University Students’ Preferences for Error Correction and Teacher Feedback on Writing. TESL Reporter, 38(1), 27-51.

Sawyer, R. (2018, 06 01). Teaching Punctuation with Literature. Retrieved 07 11, 2019, from https://digitalcommons.wou.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1136&context=aes

Thewissen, J. (2013). Capturing L2 Accuracy Developmental Patterns: Insights From an Error-Tagged EFL Learner Corpus. The Modern Language Journal, (97)1, 77-101 DOI: 10.1 lll/j.1540-4781.2012.01.

Trask, R. L. (2019). The Penguin Guide to Punctuation. Penguin.