Punctuation Errors among Students of Secondary Schools in English

Abstract

This study investigates the punctuation errors made by the students of Al.Mustafa secondary school. It aims to analyze the errors that students make in using punctuation marks. The researcher hypothesizes that students face difficulty in using punctuation marks in writing. To attain this goal the researcher used a written test includes different types of unpunctuated sentences to examine the students in the use of punctuation marks. The test is used as instrument for collecting data. It was administered to 80 students from the third year at Al.Mustafa secondary school–South Darfur State. 40 teachers were given a questionnaire to assess their students in the use of punctuation marks. There are many types of punctuation marks, but this study focuses on seven of them. The findings of this study revealed that most of the students confuse to use some punctuation marks such as comma, colon, quotation mark and exclamation mark due to the insufficient punctuation exercises provided by SPINE (6) textbook. In addition to lack of materials for teaching punctuation marks, lack of teaching methods and little understanding of punctuation marks.