The objective of the current study is to investigate how junior students understand and use punctuation better。 The common punctuation mistakes in junior students’ writing will be collected and analyzed。 Also, possible reasons will be highlighted in the research to find out ways for English teachers to improve their teaching of punctuation。 Therefore, the study on punctuation has its significance both theoretically and practically。 

The major research questions are as follows:

1) What are the punctuation mistakes junior students usually make in their English writing?

2) What are the main possible reasons that lead to the improper use of punctuation?

3) What should English teachers do to improve students’ understanding and use of punctuation?

The research described below begins by defining punctuation both generally and specifically, and providing some background information about the issue through the literature review of some previous studies。 By both quantitative and qualitative research, the common punctuation mistakes in junior students’ writing are analyzed。 In the result part, the possible reasons resulting in the improper use of punctuation would be pointed out。 Then the discussion would focus on how to improve students’ understanding and use of punctuation。

2。 Literature Review on Punctuation

In the past years, many researches focus on the punctuation。 As an important part in the English writing, the proper use of punctuation marks affects the cohesion and coherence of a writing a lot。 This part displays some related researches and studies on the punctuation。

2。1 The Definition of Punctuation 

Since 1950s, punctuation has been attached with great importance and studied by many researchers both home and abroad。 In Wikipedia, punctuation is explained as the use of spacing, conventional signs and certain typographical devices to promote the understanding and correct reading, both silently and aloud, of handwritten and printed texts。 More specific definitions can be seen in other papers。 According toCrystal(2010)’s The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language points out that the punctuation has two functions。 The first function is to make writings more coherent and the second is to suggest the rhythm as well as emotion of language。 Truss(2003) also expresses a similar idea in her book Eats, Shoots and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation that our communication is meaningless at all without the use of punctuation。 From her point of view, the punctuation can combine or pide meaning groups and is helpful to our reading。 Baron(2001) studies the function of punctuation both in speaking and writing。 Sabin(1997) puts a lot of efforts on the rules of punctuation usage。 论文网

In China, Xiao Fushou(2007) regards the punctuation as an important part of mechanical principles of writing and states in his study that punctuation is used to make the meaning clear, to promote the ease of reading and to contribute to the writing style。 He Wei(2012) thinks that punctuations are the set of symbols used to indicate the structure and organization in written language when words are put together to form sentences。 Also, he believes that punctuations, as an indispensable part of written English, are of great significance to disambiguate the meaning of sentences。 Zhang Qi(2010) has referred to many Chinese studies about punctuation marks。 Then he categorizes those studies and points out the features, shortcomings and research trends about punctuation in different periods。 According to Zhou Bangyou(2015), punctuation is regarded as a system of signals that help writers communicate easily and efficiently with readers。 Xiao Fushou(2007) states in his book that in contemporary writing, the tendency is to punctuate only when necessary to prevent misreading of text rather than to use all punctuation that the grammatical structure will allow。 The former one usually results in a more inviting product, but it involves subjective and arbitrary use of some punctuation marks。 A good writer is always consistent in his use of punctuation。 Yuan Yin and Luo Mingan(2002) make a comparative research about real cases about punctuation in English writing。 Lu Gusun(1995) includes 16 works in his English-Chinese dictionary, 8 of which are English works and the other 8 are Chinese works。 He makes a generalization and summarization about the punctuation marks used in these works and finds that the improper or mistaken use of punctuation marks is the result of ignorance of language learners。 Researchers like Ding Wangdao, Wu Bing, Zhong Meisun, Guo Qiqing(2009) state that punctuation is helpful to clarify and sometimes emphasize the meaning of a sentence。 Zhou Bangyou(2015) and He Wei(2012) put punctuation as an independent chapter in their books Practical English Writing and Constractive Analysis and English Writing。