An Analysis Of Punctuation Errors In English Majors' Writings

In the present study, the author has adopted a qualitative approach to investigatingpunctuation errors in compositions written by English majors. Within the frameworkof Error Analysis (henceforth EA), Contrastive Approach (CA) and MarkednessTheory (MT), and with forty seniors majoring in English from the School of ForeignStudies of Nanchang University as the subjects, this research attempts to reveal theproblem in the use of punctuation marks by the subjects through investigating theerrors found at two different stages. Both subjective and objective factors areanalyzed in order to offer solutions to reducing punctuation errors. The instrumentsused for the analysis include the subjects' compositions in their final exam papers attwo different stages (to display the practical situation of punctuation use amongsubjects in their English writings), excerpts from six classic novels (both in Chineseand English versions)—Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Sword of the Yueh Maiden,Wuthering Heights, Ulysses, Treasure Island, and one questionnaire for subjects (toseek for the possible causes of punctuation errors).Based on the survey and analyses of the data collected and on the theoreticaldiscussions of the data, the findings can be listed as follows:1. Errors of punctuation in students' writings occurred in their use of colon, comma,stop, question mark, semicolon and ellipsis. In Term 3 of students' English study,errors of colon, ellipsis, semicolon, comma and stop stand in a line from highfrequency to low frequency gradually. In addition, two graphic signs of Chinese areused in students' English writings. In Term 6, errors of colon take up the first place,comma the second, question mark the third and stop the last. The data show thatcolon and comma are the two punctuation marks difficult for the learners since errorsin colon and comma occurred in both terms with high percentage.Our data also pointed to the problem of capitalization in students' writings ofEnglish. Errors are usually made in titles, proper nouns although they occur much lessin initials of sentences. 2. With the aid of T-test, we find that with the passage of time the problem ofstudents' use of punctuation remains unchanged.3. There exist both subjective and objective causes for punctuation errors. Negativetransfer as well as the difficulty in learning caused by the difference related to themarkedness of punctuation, and students' and instructors' neglect of punctuation arethe main causes of the above errors.Feasible solutions are proposed in order to reduce punctuation errors.This research can shed light on the present situation of students' use of punctuationmarks and arouse both teachers' and students' attention to punctuation marks and as aresult it will improve students' writing levels. What's more, the successful applicationof markedness theory to accounting for punctuation errors is an initiative which offersa new perspective for explaining the causes of linguistic errors in second languageacquisition.