2。2 The Classification of punctuation marks

In many researchers’ studies, there is not so much difference in the classification of punctuation marks。 Sometimes the classification of the punctuation marks depends on the researcher’s research direction。 Xiao Fushou(2007), who studies the principles and strategies of English composition pedagogy, regards punctuations as the mechanical principles of writing which include 20 kinds of punctuation marks such as apostrophe, bracket, colon, comma, dash, ellipsis and so on。 Zhou Bangyou(2015), in Practical English Writing, includes14 kinds of punctuation marks such as periods, exclamation marks, comma, semicolon and so on。 And in Handbook of Writing, which is for English majors, the researchers include12 kinds of punctuation marks such as the comma, the period, the semicolon, the question mark and some other commonly used marks。

2。3 The Differences of punctuation marks between English and Chinese languages

Punctuation marks in English and Chinese languages have much in common。 However, differences do exist between these two languages。 According to He Wei(2012), students’ use of English punctuation marks will be affected by the negative influence of Chinese punctuation conventions。 Thus in this part, differences of some mainly used punctuation marks between English and Chinese languages will be talked about in order to help juniors have a better understanding of English punctuation conventions and write in a more idiomatic and accurate way。 

As for commas, there is greater similarity than difference in conventional usages between English and Chinese languages。 Commas are used after adverbial clauses or phrases before the subject of the sentence, before coordinating conjunctions that join independent clauses, between items in a series of three or more, and to set off interjections, direct speeches as well as tag questions。 Such usages of the comma are relatively easier for students to grasp。 But there are also differences because of negative transfer。 According to He Wei(2023), English and Chinese differ when commas are used to link clauses。 In English, one should be careful not to use only a comma between independent clauses while in Chinese, linking two or more such clauses together without a conjunction is possible, which is considered a serious grammatical error called a comma splice in English。 In English, the right way is to either use a coordinating conjunction after the comma or to use a semicolon。 For example, it is grammatically wrong to write “I had finished studying for the test, I went to bed。” What is correct in English is “I had finished studying for the test, so I went to bed。” Also, English and Chinese differ in setting of parenthetical or transitional elements。 In English, commas are frequently used to set off parenthetical or transitional elements while Chinese does not do that。 In the example “Tom in fact told a lie。”, the failure to set off “in fact” might be influenced by the corresponding Chinese structure “汤姆实际上撒谎了。” When Chinese students transfer the thinking pattern and language conventions into English it results in an error。 Moreover, English and Chinese differ in the representation of dates。 In English, the comma has to be used when it is in the order of month-date-year。 But in Chinese, when referred to date, commas are not required and the date is in the order of year-month-date。文献综述

Speaking of colons, He Wei(2012) mentions that Chinese students are inclined to bring into their English writing the Chinese convention of using colons to introduce an explanation, a summary or a series, to precede a quotation or statement and so on, which facilitates their English writing a lot。 He adds that in most cases, Chinese use colons more than English does。 Therefore, some Chinese conventions of colon usage cannot find their counterparts in English。 Negative transfer will happen when students carry such usages into English。 To begin with, it is different in the use of colons when ending the salutation of a letter。 In English, colons are only used in business letters to end the salutation while in Chinese colons are used both in personal one or a business one when for such a purpose。 In English, a comma is commonly used in a personal letter。 For example, in English, use “Dear Mary,” instead of “Dear Mary:” Furthermore, when marking a subtitle, English and Chinese differs。 In English, a colon can introduce a subtitle of an article or book but in Chinese the same service is done by a dash。