Learning outcomes

6
Punctuation
Learning outcomes
By reading this chapter you will develop your understanding of:

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  what children need to understand about punctuation;
  
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  what we need to know as primary teachers;
  
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  some of the challenges we face when we teach children to punctuate;
  
• 
  approaches to teaching punctuation.
  

Teachers’ Standards
This chapter will help you with the following Teachers’ Standards.
3 Demonstrate good subject and curriculum knowledge:

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  have a secure knowledge of the relevant subject(s) and curriculum areas, foster and maintain pupils’ interest in the subject, and address misunderstandings;
  
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  demonstrate a critical understanding of developments in the subject and curriculum areas, and promote the value of scholarship;
  
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  demonstrate an understanding of, and take responsibility for, promoting high standards of literacy, articulacy and the correct use of Standard English, whatever the teacher’s specialist subject.
  

Introduction
Within two years of publication, Lynne Truss’s (2003) book about punctuation, Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation, had sold three million copies. Even though the book you are reading covers spelling and grammar too, we would not dare to dream of selling even 5 per cent of that figure! But why should a book about commas, colons and apostrophes attract such interest? One reason was that the title held an appeal, being based upon a misunderstanding caused by a missing comma:
A panda walks into a café. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and proceeds to fire it at the other patrons.
“Why?” asks the confused, surviving waiter amidst the carnage, as the panda makes towards the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder.
“Well, I’m a panda,” he says, at the door. “Look it up.”
The waiter turns to the relevant entry in the manual and, sure enough, finds an explanation. “Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves.”
(Truss, 2003, back cover)
Another reason for the book’s appeal was that it was well-written, entertaining and full of humour. Nevertheless, many people were taken by surprise by the book’s success, and it certainly provided plenty of prompts for discussion in educational establishments and among the wider public.
That punctuation should be such a topic for discussion and debate is interesting, particularly given that we managed quite well without it for many centuries. The word punctuation derives from the Latin pungere, ‘to prick’ (think of ‘puncture’); this gives punctus – ‘pierced’ – as the participle. Until 300 years ago very little punctuation was used in texts, and then its main function was to help actors when reading aloud. The marks showed suitable places to pause, breathe, and change the emphasis or tone of voice. Gradually, punctuation marks began to be used more widely, and during the eighteenth century they started to look and be used as they are today (Crystal, 1987).
In this chapter, you will look at the range of punctuation used in English and consider ways in which we might develop children’s understanding. You will also see that punctuation can be a very powerful tool when we write, enabling us to express ideas in different ways and often substituting for the tone, volume and expression we are able to use in speech. You will find out more about all major punctuation marks, but you will need to look at Chapter 7 for details about apostrophes. Such are the problems associated with correct usage of apostrophes that we have devoted an entire chapter to them!