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'RD 199 757 CS 206 243 AUTHOR Gentry; Larry 4. TITLE Pundtuation Instruction in Elementary School Textbooks. INSTITUTION 'Southwest Regional Laboratory fOr Educational Research and Development, Los.Alamitos, Calif. ;PONS AGENC1 'National Inst. of Education (ED), Washington,D.C. EEPORT NO SWRL-tN-2-81/C2 PUB DATE 10 Mar 81 CONTRACT 400-80-0108 NOTE 36p. EDRS PRICE ME01/PCO2 PlusPostage. DESCRIPTORS *Content Analysis; Elementary Education:English Instruction; *Instructional Design; Instructonal Materials:- *Language.. Arts: * Punctuation; *Textbook
-Content; Textbook Evaluation; Textbook Research; , *Writing Skills
ABSTRACT A computer-assisted analysis was conduCted of the punctuation skills taught in nine series of languagearts textbooks. Each text was subjected to a detailed, page-by-pageanalysis of instructional content, 'resulting ina content-specific analysis of punctuation instruction at each-grade level. Theresults indicated significant differencei among the texts in thetreatment of punctuation skills. Some texts, especially thosestressing the primacy Of oral language, gavd the subject-minimalattention. Those that gave-greater ewphasis to written composition tendedto include .a correspondingly larger number of exercises. Differencesamong texts also extended to the grade levels at which specific skillswere introduced. .The introduction of quotation marks, forexample, began in five different series at five ,different gradelevels. Seven other punctuation'skills spanned four grades in leveldf,introduction.,Of the 34 different skills noted in the analysis, onlysix were taught in. all nine textbook series. Seven of the 'nine series expanded punctuation instruction dramatically in the th.iFdgrade. Another significant jump occurred in fourth-irade, but itwas difficult'to locate commonalities among the texts beyond the fourthgrade. In summary, it was difficult to det;ect a systematic pattern of instruction .reflecting an expert body of opinion. (EL)
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TECH N ICA L NOTE U.R. DEPARTMENT Of EDUCATION NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) TbiN tkietenereKann been le rntlileeff fecovixtffoltirhe eteeOn Or ortPotrillio0 or.goamili It DATE: March 10, 1981 Mlnrr cr.arnjes have brim "mile el iTuprove feerodoeflOn febeep NO: 2-81/02 4 Ponff.Of view or upiniOne %heed in :NS (leer reen1 to fief ntretb-eafily reoresent ulhtwl NIE _ idcy.
PUNCTUATION INSTRUCTION IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEXTBOOKS
Larry A. Gentry
ABSTRACT
An analysis of nine language arts series was undertaken to identify
the scope and _sequence of instructionnstruct on in elementary schools,
Similarities and differences among texts and implications for instruction
are discissed.
This repOrt was prepared under Contract No. 400780-0108 with the National Institute of Education, Department of. Education. Its contents do not. necessarily reflect the views of the National Institute of 8duCat' on orof-any'other :agency of the United States Government. PUNCTUATION INSTRUCTION IN ELEMENTARYSCHOOL TEXTBOOKS
Larry A. Gentry
A perfunctory consideration of writinginstructhan might lead one
to believe that the reaching of punctuation skillsis'a relatively
stable and straightforwardaspect of the curriculum; language arts
educators should be in generalagreement regarding how and when such
skills should be taught. Unfortunately, this is not thecase. A review
of the.pertinent literature revealsthat there are two majorareas of
dispute: (1) To what degree shouldinstruction in puhctuation be
emphasized at the-elementary and/or secondaryschool 'levels? 2) Should
punctuation skills be taught systematically or,on13, indirectly?
The two concerns are not unrelated;those who believe that
punctuation skills should not,be emphasizedgenerally support indirect
instruction, and those who call fora- greater emphasis usually favor
dir c:t. and 'systematic instruction. Tiedt andTied(j1967)are illusir
tive of-the first point of vie
Punctuation; like spelling, .has beenoveremphasized as ah.espect-ofcompositiOn., Agai1,we stress the importance of placing primary-emphasis incomposition on the ideaS' expressed rather than the. mechanicsof recording the ideas. (°p. 140)
-Punctuation taught to students in theelementary school should be functional, that is,it should-be punctuation needed -by- -the student=-as he Isle] writes. (p.141)
Irmscher (1979) offe =rs a lucidargument on behalf of those AA° hold the apposing view.. He belfeyes thatpunctuetLonInstruction should be organized and presented systematically should begin -early: 2
Almost inevitably4py the advanced high schoolyears and certainly in the college years: teachershave adopted an aloof attitude toward mechanics. The errors are there, but teachers rationalize-that they must concern themselves withthe more important matters of substance andstructure. The irony is that a -"simil4r rationalization hasgone on throughout the school years, so that the students'exposure to systematic instruction in mechanics has beenrare and, at best, sporadic. (p 118) .
The questi n of how and when punctuationskills should be taught
takes on new importance whenone examines the propensity of punctuation
er,6rs in the writing ofboth chdren and adults. The ge -scale
assessment conducted by the National Assessment ofEducational progress
in 1969-70 revealed that punctuationerrors were made byapproXimately
50% of-the 9--year-o 40' of the 13-year-olds, 70% ofthe 17-year-olds,
and 76% of the adults (NAEP, 1971). The fact that older Writers make
more such errors than..their younger counterparts isexplained by the
fact that young writers write shorterpapers and use relatively simple
sentence. structure thus provlding themselves with fewer opportunities
make mistakes,'
The same trend is evident from the resultscf, the 1978 British
Columbia Assessment of Written Expression (Conroyand Rodgers 1978
In that study, comma errorswere made by 39% of the 4th- graders. 65% of
i1 the 8th- graders, and-75% of the Mh-graders.
Furness (1960) noted equally discouragingresults from several earlier studies and concluded thatmistakes in punctuation'were "the most frequent type of mechanical-errors in writing" (p. 185), She postulated that deficiencies in punctuationmust be the result of one of two factors: either "punctuation is difficultto acqui're,.or it has not been_and is not being well taught inour schools" (0 185). While this statement seems to imply that thecause may lie with either of the,.r:07
two factors, she suggests elsewhere that Punctuationmay be difficult
to acquire because it is poorly taught. According to Furness, the
studies she reviewed show that
children tend to havemany of the same needs for using punctuation items at every grade level andthat their ability to meet these needs shows littleimprovement e they advance through the various grade levels. This apparently means: (1) that few children have discove, the importance of these items; (2) thatthe items have been inadequately introduced; (3)that there has been insufficient review and drillupon the items to establish their use; and (4) that insufficientattention has been .g4ven to their use in genuine writingsituations,. (p. '185)
Unfortunately, few researchers have takenas much interest in
writing mechanics as Furness. C ronne ll (1980), d-19a review of the
literature on punctuation and capitalization found very few studies .
relating to the teaching of mechanics,and found none that e e very
helpful in determining effective methodsof instruction.
Methodology asitle, At would seem thatone-important variable in
punctuation instruction. is the relative difficulty . of specific punctua=
t'ion skills for students at differentgrade levels. Odom (1964) tested
the ability of 1818 students the. 4th, 5th, and 6th grades touse 49 various punctuation skills. He found that "there was a definitedegree of difficulty-relative to each of the punctuation skills" (p.13). For example, 68% of the 4th-graderscorrectly-placed a comma between the day and year in a date, but only 6 used-a Comma in separating thename of a person being addressed (e.g., Bill, can 1 help you?). Odom sfindings point out the need for teachersto be aware of the relative difficulty of the various punctuation skills andto design appropriate instruction for students at different grade `)1 iem here, of course,
is that no definitive sequence .11s has yet been.
established. (Odom's study, Jvexed only three grades.)
How then, do teachers gc punctuation? Given the
fact tnat e subject is selL in teachers' journals and the
fact that little in the way of zary. teaching materials are
available for.this subject, iE gal to presume that most teachers
rely'on classroom te-tbOoks. According to a study conducted by the
Educational -oducts Information Exchange Ins'titute (EPJE 1976),
approximately 90% Of classroominstruction is based on commercially
Prepared materials. If such is the case, then an adequate description
of punctuation' instruction must be gleaned fromthe texts that children
use
In an attempt to produce sucha description, researchers at 51,./RL
condxted_a computerassisted analysis of the skillstaught in nine
series of language a textbooks (see Appendix A). Mechanics was one
twelve content. categories included in the study. As a general con-
area, mechanics was divided into two subcategories--punctuation and
capitaliza on. The results of. the analysis relatingto capitalization
skills, have been reported elsewhere (Gentry, 1980).
Using a matrix of skills designed by Humes (1974),the investigators subjectedeachtextto a detailed, page-by-page analysis ofinstructional content. Each exercise was coded according its specific-instructional purpose using a comma in a series, using a'hyphen in compound,
rds, etc.). These data were then processed bycomputer, resulting in a content-specific analysis cif instructionat each grade level. The results of- the study indicate that thereare significant
differences-,ameng. text- in the treatment of punctuationskills. Some
texts, especially those that stress the primacy.of orallanguage, give
the subject 1-11i, 1 al attention. Those that give greater emphasis to
written composition tend to includea correspondingly larger number of
exercises.Figure l shows the . relative emphasi5 accorded punctuation by
each of the nine series. The grtatest difference is between Series F
and Series G. While Series F provides only 85 exercises in allsix
grades, Series G provides almostseven times as many -a total of 541.
Differences among texts, however, extend beyond theamount of
practice provided. One notable difference concerns the grade levelsat
which specific skills are introduced (see Appendix B) A dramatic
example is the inrruduction of quotation marks. One series begins
instruction for this skill in grade one in grade 2, a ,pother in grade
3, five in grade 4, and another waits untilgrade 5.'Seven other skills
span four - grades in level of introdUction,
Of the 34 different skills listed in AppendixB, only six are
4? taught in all nine series. The skills that all -agree must be included
are:
i. the use of a period at the end ofa sentence,.
the use of a question mark:
the use of a comma in a series,
4. the use of quotation marks;.
5. tht use of n exclamation mark, and
6. the use of an apos ophe in a contraction.
Five other skills are taught in eight ofthenine serie 541
5 3.4 500
404
400
5
300 264
203
-00 193
85
Series H
Figure 1
Kipber of Punctuation Exercises in Grades 1-G in Nine Series 7
The average number oP punctuation skills taughtper series i 20
Series B presents the greatest number of skills, offeringinstruction in
28 different types of punctuation Series E provides -the least number
of different skills, teaching only 17.
Appendix C indicates the specific skills and number of exercises
provided forea,J1 skill.at the various grade levels. It is readily
apparent that, with few exceptions, very little punctuation instruction
occurs in the first grade. The most common skill taught at this level
the use of a period at the end ofa sentence, but itis included in
obly five series. Four series Introduce the use of question marks. The
divergent treatment accorded pOnctuation is demonstratedby rle-fac
that three series do not provideany instruction at allin the first
grade, while one series (Series H) introduces studentsto seven different
skills.
in a_e 2, all nine series include exercises for the use of.a
period at the end, of a-sentence and for theuse of qtestion markS. Two
series teach-only those ements and two others add onlythe use of
exclamation marks.: Surprisingly, only two series offerany significant -
instruction i_n,.ttie'use of commas. These same two series provide exercises in more than twice asmany skills as other second grade texts, with each teaching-eleven skills In terms of the a:unt.of practice provided, Series A has the leastonlyseven exercises, while Series G --) leedg-'ell texts with 69.
Seven of the nine series expand. punctuationinstruction dramatically in the third grade, indicating thatmost publiihers bell-eve-that- students at this level are capable of learning more than the basicuses of -.the a period and the queStion mark. Feur skills account for much ofthe
increased attention. They, are: the comma in addresses (8 series),
apostrophe in contractions (8 series), the apostrophe inpossessives. (6
,series), and the period innonsentence elements such as abbreviations
and initials (5 serie ). ie divergent philosophies of various pub7'
lishers are again apparent in third gradeinstruction, with two texts
providing more than 100 punctuation exercisesand, two others providing
fewer 1-ian 20.
Ancther Significant jumpoccurs in fOurth grade. Eight skills
(some.tught previously in few series) are nowadded to the total
taught in a majority of texts. One is included in e ght%series: the
use of quotation marks. 'Four of the skills involve varioususes of the
comma; one pertains to the use ofthe exclamation point;another is the
use of punctuati n within quOtations, and the final. skill involvesthe
. , use of the colon. The median number of practice exercises-amongfpurth
grade texts is'50. Series t leads all series with 145 exercises, while,
Series H 'provides the fewest,with 20.
Iti s difficult to Jocate,commonalities-among texts beyond grade 4,
One series (Series E) continues to providea substantial amount of
practice,. but does not presentany new skillu. Another (Serie'
introduces one new skill, but provides a ,total offOr-practice exercise
in grade 5 and only two in grade 6. Series C leads all fifth.gradetexts by presenting six new skills; three sixthgrade series introduce three skills each, the greatest number of new skills-taught at that level,
terms of number of-practice exercises, three seriesprovide more practice at grade 4 thanany other level, two reach their instructional peak in gra and three in grade (One series (Series H)provides
its reatest number of exercises ingrade 3.)
In summary, difficult-to detect a systematicpattern o instruction that can be said to reflect an expert bodyof opinion. Th0i is no doubt, due to the-loaucityof research in the f eld and thediffering views of language-arts autho ties regarding theproper plate of pundtua- t on instruction in the curriculum., Until further research isconducted and disseminated and until a majority of adthorities reach-agreementon
matters of educational philosophy;_ likely that such-instruction-
will continue to beinconsistent among texts
The prgsent Situation indicates the need fortextbook_selection committees to be aware of the divergent content inlanguage arts texts 'and to establish earful criteria f- adoption. At the classroom level, teachers must be aware -of the strbngths and weaknesses,of the texts they
are using, and must -be preparedto upplement instruction appropriately. 10
erences
Conry, R., & Jeroski, S. The British Columbia assessment of en expression Summary report. Vancouver, B C.: Ministry o Education, Province.of British Columbia, 1978.
Cr nnell, B. Punctuation and capitalization: A review of the literature (Technical Note 2-80-27). L6s Alamitos, CA: SWRL Educational Fkesearch and Development, 1980.
Educational Products Information ExchangeInstitute. Report on a national studof the nature and the ualit of instructional materials most used by teachers and learners. Report No New York: EducatioPal Products Information ExchangeInstitute, 1976.
Furness, E.L, ,PupilS, Pedagogues, and punctu'a ion.Eleri-j22-En11,- 37, 184-187', 1960.
Gentry, L. A. Capitalization instruction in elementaryschool textbooks (Technical Note 2-81-01). Los Alamitos, CA: SWRL Educational Research and Development, 1980.
Humes, A. Proficiency verification_ systems (PVS): Skills indices for language, arts (Technical Note 3-78-14). Los Alamitos, CA: SWRL Educational Research and Development, 1978.
Irmscher, W. F. Teaching expositiry New York: Holt, Rinehart
. and Winston, 1979.
National Assessment of EducationalProgress. Writing: National results-- writing-mechanics. Assessment Report No.41 Denver, CO: National Assessment of Educational Progress, 1972.
Odom, R. R. Growth of a language skill: Punctuation. Cali nia Journal (Di' Educational Research, 15,12-17, 1964.
Tiedt,I. M., &.Tiedt, S. W. Contem r English he elemep a school. Inglewood.0 iff N Prentice -Hall, 19.7. APPENDIX A
Language Arts Series Analyzed
Anderson, F. B. tekrming_on, J, M. ,. & Dusel, W. -New directions in En-lish. New York: Harper & Row, 1973.
Bote ,M;, & Dawkins, J. Communicating. Lexington, A: Heath, 1973.
Conlin, D. A., Fillmer, H. 7.,:Herman, G.R., Lefcourt, A., LeRoy, A; R., Mart,in, E., McCoy, E., & Thompson, N.C. -Ourlappage today, New YOrk\i American:ffook Company, 1978.
Dawson, M. Elwell, M A Zollinger, M. &:Johnson, E. Lan uage tsar .daily use. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich,. 1973.
Lexin t n MA: Ginn & Company, 1979.
Nana, S. -Mars-11,-W., New, .W., &. Shane,' H.G. language. Rlvet Forest, IL: laidlaw,- 1979._
Martin, J., -& Olson, D. C. -Patterns_ .of language.R . . NeW York: Book Company,--1977. .
.Pollock, Soifer, 1,, & Gpist, Macmillan English series. -New-York: Macmillan, 1973,
Thoburn, Tina, Cox, McLeod, A., Schlatterbeck, .,'Terry, Thoburn, Terry.. acmillan English: Series E. New York: CRADE,TINELS ATIHICH PUNCTUATION SKILLS AkEiiNTRODUCEG In NINE,LANGUAGCARTS SERIES
Seri es and Introductory Level
D E F G
Apostrophe: contractions
Apostrophe: plurals
Apostrophe: possessives
intr 0 duction.of marialte
Colon: seParation of materia 4
Colon: her 4
Comma: addresses .e,, city, state
4
mma:, dates , 2.
introductory grouping.
Comma: introddctOry,phrase
omm \i letters (i.e w eling,closing, -Appendix G (continued)
Series and. Introductory level
F G
Comma: parentheticalelements 5
ComMa: series 14
Comma: tit 1 5 Comma: words of speaker
Comma: after yes and no
Dash: separating elements
ExclaMation Point 4
Hyphen: compound words 5
Parentheses
Period: sentence
-Pe-10d; other Initials, abbreviations
Punctuation within ouoiatiobmarkS
Question Mark, '.1
Quotation Marks `4
Semi-colon: series-w. 4
Semi-colon: dividing clauses 4.
IJ itlbs :Appendix
PUNCTUATION EXERCISES IN NINE LANGUAGE'ARTS SERIES_-
GRADE ONE
Nuo!her of Exercises per Series
A
Apostr contract iOns
Apost phe: possessives amma: addresses
ConVria letters
Period: ence
Period: other initials, abb-rekiia tions)
Question Mark
ati6n Mark
Total 2 5 Appendix C (continued)
GRADE TWO
Number of Exercises per Series
B
Apostrophe: contractions
Apostrophe: possessives
Comma: address
Comma: compou nd sentences
Coriima: w dates
Comma: dialogue
Comma: letterS
Exclamation Point
Pe riot sentence 1
Period:- other intials abbreviations
Pundtuation within quotation narks
Question M,;'rk
':--Uotation Marks-,
Underlining T1t1es Appendix continued}
GRA -_,THREE
Number of Exercises per Series
B C E C H 1
Apostrophe: contractions 8- 4 6
Apostrophe plurals 5 1., 2 1
Apostrophe: possessives- l3 3 12.
Comma: addresses 5 8
Comma: compound sentences -
Comma: dates 10
Comma: dialogue
Comma: di rect address
Comma: lette
Comma: parenthetical elements'
Comma: series
-Comma: titles
-Comma: after yes And no
Exclamation Poine. 7
Period: sentenee. ) 3 24 2
Period: other (e:g.-;' initials, abbreviation's 1.2
Punctuation within quotation marks . Appndix C (continued),
GRADE THREE'
. (continued),
Number of Exercises per Series
C E
7 26
uotation Mar-ks 8 tinderrining Titles 0 5
Total r 4 45 11 15 130 Appendix C (continued)
GRADE FOUR
Number of Exercises per Series
-ApostrOphe: contractions
Apostrophe :.po$sessiye-
]-- introduction of material
eparation of material.
Comma: addresses
Comma: compound sentences
Comma: dates
Comma: dialogue
Comma: direct address.
Comma: introductory clause
Corrima:- introdpttOry grouping
-Comma:' introductory phrase
Comma: letter
Comma: nonrestrictive clause
Comma: es"
Com rds of spea Appendix C( con t inued)
GRADE FOUR (continued)
Number of ,Cxercises per Series
A C D F
Comma: after yes *andrye 4 .14
Dash : sepa rat i ng elements 1
114 Exc 1 ama t i on Poi nt 1 3 15
'Hyphen: compound words 2
hyphen: other
Parentheses
Period: sentence 18 16 21
Period: other (e. initials, abb'reviations) "4 13 7
Punctuation within quotation marks 5 4 9
Question Mark 2 10 15 2 19 15
Quotation Marks 7 5 -9 10 4
Semi-colon: v i di ng, r i es
Semi-colon: di vi di ng 'clauses
2 Underlining titles 1
Total 94 35 144 50 1145 20 103 Appendix C (continued)
GRADE FIVE
Number of Exercises per Series
A C G
ApoStrophe: contractions 2 1 15
Apostrophe: plurals
Apostrophe: possessives 2 6 19 2 5 Colon: introduction of material 3
separation of eri a1
Colon: other
Comma: addresses 4 5
ComMa: ambiguity
Comma: compound sentences
Comma: ;dates
Comma: ,dialogue 10 10
Comma: direct address 5 1 8 4
Comma: introductory clause
Comma: introductory grouping
Comma: introductory phrase
Comma: .letters
Comma: parenthetical elements 5 Appendix C (continued)
GRADE FIVE ,(conti-nued)
Number of Exercises per Seri es
A C E
Comma: r series 10
Comma: titles
Comma: words of speaker
Comma: yes and no 7
Exclamation Point 8 I 5
Hyphen: compound words
Hyphen: other
Period: sentence 16 14 24 27
Period: other initials, abbreviations 15 15
Punctuation within quotation marks 7 9 9
Question Mark 11 13 10 16 6 17
Quotation'Marks . 6 12 1 10
Semi-colon 1
Underlining titles 2
Total 54 73 70 182 137 121 Appendi-x C (continued)
GRADESIX,
Number of Exercises per Series
Apostrophe: contractions
Apostrophe: plurals
Apostrophe: possessives
Colon: introdjction material
Colon: sepa ion of material _
Colon: other
Comma:- addresses
CoMMa: ambiguity
Comma: compound sentences
Comma; dates
Comma: dialogue
Comma: direct address
Comma: introductory clause
Comma: introductory grouping -2
Comma: introdutory 'phrase
Comma: lette
Comma: nonrestrictive clause Appendix C (continued.
GRADE SIX (continued)
Number of Exercises per Series
C D F G
Comma: parenthetical elements, 4 4
Comma: series 2 16
Comma: words of speaker 1
Comma: afteyes and no 4 5 2
Exclamation Point 9 2 2
Period: -sentence,- 12 2 46
Period; other -,-(e.g., initials, abbreviations 1 5
Puncguation within quotation marks 8 8 2 7
Question Mark 23
Quotation Marks 8 12 iii 9 8
Semi -colon ,1
Underlining titles
Total 70 56 11 . 141 WC 2 51. 36 199 Appendix Cl
-TOTAL NUMBER, OF PUNCTUATION EXERCISES IN NINE LANGUAGE ARTS SERIES
Number of Exercises per Series
Grade A B C 0 E F G H .n.www=mmmammimmic
Fi rat- 2 5 1 9 15 14
Second 7 10 26 15 23 13 69 31 14
Third 25 11 43 49' 111 15 130 62 83-
Fourth 35 94 35 78 44 50 145 20 103
Fifth 54 88 73 '10 182 4 137' 39. 121
.Sixth 70- 56 16, 141 44 2 51 36 199
TOTAL 193 264 193 353 404 8 5 541 203 534