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Children's Reflections On Punctuation. AD.
Children's Reflections On Punctuation. AD.
Dolores-Amira Dvalos-Esparza
To cite this article: Dolores-Amira Dvalos-Esparza (2017): Childrens reflections on the uses
and functions of punctuation: the role of modality markers / Reflexiones infantiles sobre los usos y
funciones de la puntuacin: el papel de los marcadores de modalidad, Infancia y Aprendizaje, DOI:
10.1080/02103702.2017.1341100
Punctuation is one of the most important mechanisms for organizing the contents
of a written text and for contributing to its correct interpretation (Figueras, 2001;
Real Academia Espaola [RAE], 2010). Todays children come into early contact
with punctuation through different discursive genres that circulate socially in a
variety of print and digital media. Due to its relevance, it forms part of curricular
content beginning from basic schooling1, although as Ferreiro, Pontecorvo,
Ribeiro Moreira, and Garca-Hidalgo have said (1996), it is taught under two
criteria that are difficult to reconcile the theory of punctuation as logical-syntac-
tical separator [for writing] and punctuation as a natural place where the reader
pauses for breath [for reading], (p. 131). How do children conceptualize those
small marks? How do they integrate the (not always consistent) information they
receive from these different sources? Our knowledge of childrens ideas about
punctuation is still incipient.
Despite its important role in writing, there have been few studies that address
the processes of understanding and using punctuation on the part of school-aged
children (Hall, 2009). It is just from the last four decades that we have been able
to locate some independent studies performed inside basic education classrooms
(last grade of preschool and the first two years of primary school)2: in the United
States (Cordeiro, 1988; Edelsky, 1983; Wilde, 1987), in France (Chanquoy &
Fayol, 1991), in England (Hall, 1996) and in Portugal (Leal & Guimares, 2002).
Data collection characteristics varied from one study to another, but all called on
children to draft and punctuate their own text. These studies coincided in the type
of analysis performed on the obtained texts, which tended to deal with the type of
syntactic units punctuated and the punctuation marks used for their delimitation.
These units were evaluated from a normative point of view leading to a dichot-
omous classification of correct or incorrect.
There were not many studies at all that, from a prescriptive orientation,
employed other methodologies. We found studies by Lematre (1999) conducted
in French primary education classrooms and Rosell (2011) in Spanish secondary
education classrooms. These two researchers asked children and young people to
punctuate other peoples texts and to participate in an oral (primary children) or
written (high school) interview in which they were asked to explain the reasoning
and knowledge that they possessed regarding the punctuation used. The analysis
of the responses, however, took punctuation rules as the sole parameter. This
perspectives limitation was that it only provided data on what students at various
levels of schooling could and could not do and from that determined the
relationship that could exist between the uses of punctuation and school perfor-
mance but did not offer elements that could help in the understanding of how
Childrens reflections on punctuation / Reflexiones infantiles sobre puntuacin 3
punctuation was learned and in knowing why certain punctuation errors were
committed and not others.
These studies also independently highlighted an early use of end punctuation
of a graphic line. Despite the scholastic differences of the countries in which the
studies were conducted, the authors coincided in searching for the reason for this
end punctuation, hypothesizing that it could have resulted from the practice of
punctuating simple sentences with an initial capital letter and a final full stop in
didactic books. Edelsky (1983), Lematre (1999) and Wilde (1987) also referenced
internal punctuation that appeared together with certain words tending to be
conjunctions (and, also), definite articles (the (masculine) / the (feminine) or
time markers (after). However, none of these authors accounted for the underlying
psychological processes for the childrens punctuation uses.
From another theoretical orientation, the psycholinguistic with a psychogenetic
perspective, Ferreiro et al. (1996), Ferreiro and Zucchermaglio (1996) and
Ferreiro (1999) proposed that in addition to the normative aspects, constructive
aspects existed that could also be objects of analysis since they enabled an
account of the evolution of ideas and conceptions around the punctuation. As
Ferreiro explained (1999, p. 85), For a researcher in genetic psychology the
central and persistent question is: How does one pass from one state of knowledge
to another state of knowledge? What is it that, in the previous state Y, made that
which we observe in the subsequent state Z possible? What is it that existed on an
even earlier level X that made level Y possible? This involved a perspec-
tive with the transformation of knowledge as its object of study without reducing
it to a chronological sequence of the type of conceptions that children possess at
certain times (such as evolutionary psychology). Ferreiro (1999) explained:
The students were exposed to written material and school information on punc-
tuation (and other aspects of writing), but the construction of an object of
knowledge3 implied much more than a collection of information. It involved the
construction of a conceptual scheme that could interpret previous data (known
information) and new data (received information) in order to transform it into
knowledge (Ferreiro, 1986).
How do children conceive punctuation? When they use it, what do they
express knowing about it at different stages of development? To try to answer
these questions, Ferreiro et al. (1996) analysed 870 rewrites of the tale of Little
Red Riding Hood from Italian, Brazilian, Uruguayan, Argentine and Mexican
children (aged 46 years). She illustrated a process of progressive differentiations
drawn from situated uses within the confines of the text to indicate the beginning
and the end of the text and to then slowly advance towards the inside. In her
4 D.-A. Dvalos-Esparza
studies related to childrens punctuation. This focus, however, did not ignore the
use of other marks.
(1) In the texts, the way of saying (modality of the wording) and of what is
said (modality of the statement) could generate reflections over the func-
tion of punctuation and determine the mark to use and its location in the
text. As a consequence:
(2) The criteria used by the children to establish relationships between mod-
ality markers and punctuation could form part of the processes involved in
the acquisition and development of punctuation, particularly expressive
punctuation.
Until now we had not identified studies with a psychogenetic orientation such
as the one we present here, which has focused the study of the acquisition of
punctuation on the possible relationships with this type of punctuation in a given
text.
Given the relevance of the text typology as a variable, we worked with two
types of texts: a cartoon strip, a variant of the literary genre that in a sense
helps to more deeply explore the findings from Espinoza (2011), and a
childrens magazine cover that formed part advertising (a genre not used in
other studies for exploring reflections over punctuation). Due to space con-
siderations, we only address the details and results of punctuating the cartoon
strip here.
The main objective of this article is to show that, in addition to the normative
view, there exists another way of considering and addressing the problem that
punctuation poses for children. We intend to demonstrate that not only are
children subjects who are taught (students who receive prescriptive information
from school), but subjects who seek to acquire and understand punctuation
knowledge.
Method
Participants
We interviewed 60 children4 from seven to 12 years of age who were in the
second, fourth and sixth grades of primary school (Table 1). The children attended
four different public schools in Mexico. The selection of the schools depended on
the facilities granted for the study, whereas the selection of participants was left to
the head teacher of each group to which the students belonged.
Consistent with the psychogenetic orientation and with the qualitative focus
of his studies, we turned to the critical-clinical interview inspired by the
method developed by Piaget. The use of this method relies on the ability of
6 D.-A. Dvalos-Esparza
the children to talk about punctuation beyond simply repeating the normative
school discourse. The essence of Piagets clinical method resides in contra-
argumentative participation or questions that the experimenter asks the child,
to try to understand the reasoning behind his/her responses. This method also
offered another advantage. Childrens discourse allows the researcher to iden-
tify the type of centrations (the fixation on one aspect) that children experi-
ence in different stages of development, as well as the factors that allow them
to overcome them (decentration).
The classical version of the clinical examination was carried out between the
researcher and the child. However, psycholinguistic studies of the psychogenetic
type performed by Ferreiro and Kriscautzky (2003) and Baez (2009) on format-
ting texts showed the advantages of conducting the interview with pairs of
children of the same age or grade level. When the members of a pair resolve a
task differently, spontaneous counter-arguments arise. The researcher then high-
lights the differences and encourages the children to explain to each other the
criteria that they followed to arrive at their answers. The advantage lies in the
dialogue that occurs between peers and not between the child and the adult who
in the eyes of the child is the person who possesses and dominates the
knowledge.
The researcher abandons his adult way of thinking (lets go of his prejudices)
to try to understand the childs way of thinking (Ferreiro, 1997). This prevents
qualifying the childrens responses in relation to standard rules for the use of
punctuation or the more conventional functions of the marks that comprise
punctuation. In contrast, he/she is open and willing to discover new functions
for or between marks. The child is therefore not led in a direction determined
through suggestions. For example, in this study one restriction for the researcher-
interviewer was to not use the conventional name of punctuation marks and to
give room for the children to show how they named them (little dots, little dashes,
anger signs, question signs, etc.). During the interview, the researcher-interviewer
would use the names the children had used not to correct, but to give rise to
discussions.
Recognizing these advantages, we organized the children into pairs (10 pairs
from the same grade level). Our interest was in the individual justifications,
strengthened by the verbal exchanges between the members of the pairs concern-
ing their responses, and not in the type of interaction between them.
Childrens reflections on punctuation / Reflexiones infantiles sobre puntuacin 7
Materials
We designed a cartoon inspired by Aesops fable The Lion and the Mouse that we
took from the website from the Ministry of Education of Buenos Aires,
Argentina5 (Figure 1). We maintained the graphic design and the text from the
direct dialogue between characters (balloons) but in the area intended for the
narrator (boxes) we introduced qualifying adjectives, verbs expressing speech
and action verbs that expressed modality in order to explore this relationship. All
uppercase letters were used to avoid an association between a full stop and
uppercase letter and all punctuation was removed.
Procedure
We first asked the children from each pair to individually punctuate their own
copy. The individual punctuation guaranteed that one member of the pair would
not influence the answers from the other. When they finished, we invited them to
compare and justify their answers. We instructed: Now that you have finished,
please show your answers to one another. Compare them and explain to your
classmate why you think that punctuation is needed here or why it is not. While
the children exchanged their reasoning, we abstained from providing information
and qualifying any response as correct or incorrect. We kept to our interest in
understanding the childrens reasoning in this regard. The interviews were
8 D.-A. Dvalos-Esparza
audiotaped and transcribed for their subsequent analysis. The oral transcription
criteria suggested by Blanche-Benveniste (1998, p. 63) was followed and we
adopted conventions specific to psychogenetic studies (Zamudio, 2004). We
refrained from placing full stops and commas in the transcripts of the interactions
between and with the children. The following code was also used: a single
forward slash represented a pause (/), the double forward slash (//) was a long
pause, and the closing question mark (?) indicated the presence of a question;
words in small caps were those that appeared in the given text and mentioned by
the children; parentheses enclosed notes from the interviewer, with the abbrevia-
tion Int.
Results
The cartoon strip had two clearly delimited textual spaces in each panel: boxes
with narrative in the third person and balloons with first-person dialogues. To
analyse the individually punctuated texts, we paid special attention to the dis-
tribution of full stops and commas (basic punctuation) and question marks and
exclamation points (expressive punctuation), or an absence of marks (0) in those
spaces. This first analysis helped in knowing, from the graphic responses, if the
children selected a certain type of punctuation for the boxes and another one for
the balloons (discriminative use of punctuation).
We established 16 possible combinations of basic punctuation (BP) and
expressive punctuation (EP) use. In practice, the 16 possible combinations were
reduced to 15, since the absence of punctuation in both spaces was excluded per
the instructions (punctuate the text). To codify them, in Table 2 we noted the type
of punctuation used in boxes on the left side of the double forward slash and the
punctuation used in balloons on the right side. That same table shows the
combinations that were effectively made by grade level and those that were not
carried out.
Out of the total children, 73% (total of cases above the upper bold double line,
which corresponded to the BP//BP-EP, BP//EP and 0//EP combinations) per-
formed a discriminatory distribution of punctuation close to the conventional.
This means that the trend (mostly from children in fourth and sixth grades) was to
use BP in boxes and EP in balloons. Just three cases discriminated these spaces by
only punctuating the boxes with BP (combination BP//0).
At the other extreme, below the bottom bold double line, the absence of cases
in the five combinations that included EP in boxes (far removed from convention)
was the first clue that more than half of the children recognized expressiveness as
located and marked in the direct discourse between the characters and not in the
narrative.
To statistically evaluate whether these data really showed a difference in the
use of the two types of punctuation according to textual space, we used the chi-
square test to verify the null hypothesis (H0): The distribution of BP is indepen-
dent of the textual space and The distribution of EP is independent of the textual
space. Tables 3 and 4 show the results.
We see that the 2 value indicated p < .05. There was more than a 95%
probability that the unequal distribution was not random.
In this case, the 2 value indicated p < .001. There was more than a 99.9%
probability that the unequal distribution was not by chance. In conclusion, the
type of textual space had great effect over the type of punctuation used, especially
in the case of expressive punctuation.
With respect to the total of cases located below the upper bold double line
(corresponding to the BP//BP, BP-EP//BP-EP, BP-EP//EP and EP//EP combina-
tions), only 27% had a distribution of non-discriminatory punctuation (same type
of score in boxes and balloons) that coincided with the second-grade children.
The second approach to the individual punctuation data consisted of analysing
the graphic location of marks (text edges, line edges and within the text) in each
one of the combinations. We were able to classify the 60 children into six groups
according to the similarities in distribution and location of their graphic responses.
In addition, we identified an evolutionary progression that placed marks in
graphically defined spaces, such as the end of a graphic line (which coincided
with the non-discriminatory combinations) and moving towards using marks
inside of the text in a box or a balloon (which coincided with the discriminatory
combinations). In evolutionary terms, the resulting groups were ordered from the
least to the most elaborate (Table 5).
The number of cases per school grade in each group also suggested an
evolutionary line. Most of the second-graders were concentrated into Group I,
fourth-graders into Group III, and sixth-grade children were distributed into
Groups IV and V. We did not judge the relevance of the punctuation mark used
or its location. We instead analysed the justifications from the child-producer
of the marks obtained in the clinical-critical interviews to try to
Table 5. Distribution of the population into groups according to the type of graphic
responses.
Group Graphic characteristics of the answers 2nd 4th 6th N =
Group I No clear distinction over BP and EP opposition in boxes 10 1 0 11
or in balloons
Group II No punctuation in boxes and only EP at the edges of 4 3 3 10
balloons
Group III No internal distinction in balloons, just in boxes with BP 4 7 4 15
Group IV Internal distinction in boxes with BP and internal 0 4 4 8
distinction in BP only or EP only balloons
Group V Internal distinction in box with BP and internal distinction 0 3 6 9
in balloon with mixed use of BP and EP
Group VI Limited punctuation 0 5 2 7
Total 18 23 19 60
Childrens reflections on punctuation / Reflexiones infantiles sobre puntuacin 11
understand the reasoning that led them to produce a certain punctuation mark
over another.
In the following pages we show you the essential evolutionary aspects that we
identified in the childrens conceptualization of punctuation in each one of the
groups. One or two examples are presented per group.
Group I
Punctuation from this group was characterized by an exclusive use of punctuation
(they used only BP or only EP) at the periphery of the boxes and balloons (at
edges of text or edges of graphic lines). These data were consistent with previous
studies performed in various languages and educational traditions. However, the
clinical-critical interview data allowed us to add that the BP used at the end of a
line was driven by graphical criteria, guided by the need to give an ordered
appearance to the text. In the literal words of the children these marks were
used: so that it does not look so close together [the text]; so that it does not look
crowded together [the text]; to separate and to fit what is in the little boxes.
When they used EP, they did so to visually highlight content. They said: [they are
used] to see everything that is happening in the story [sic] or rather so that you
see what they say [sic] the characters. In both cases (use of BP or EP), the
punctuations function was generalized to all the texts spaces.
One might think that the children did not take note of the texts content.
However, they justified the use of expressive marks in some boxes and balloons
from their reactions as readers to content from certain passages in the text. For
example, Sebastian (second) used a closing question mark in the balloon from the
fourth panel that tells how the mouse proposes that the lion release him. When we
asked him to talk about his punctuation, Sebastian reread the text and exchanged
the mark (that indicated the question from the mouse) for an exclamation point
that indicated how unbelievable it was to him that a mouse proposed saving the
life of a lion. Figure 2 shows his punctuation for the balloon from the fourth panel
and the excerpt of the interview that corresponds to him.
Figure 2. Punctuation from Sebastin (2nd) in Group I for the balloon in the fourth
panel.
12 D.-A. Dvalos-Esparza
Sebastians prior knowledge about mice discredited the fiction of a mouse able
to save the life of a lion. The exclamation point marked this discreditation, the
punctuation from the reaction of the child reader in the face of the texts content.
This type of criterion was not limited to exclamation points. If a fragment of
the text raised doubts for the child reader, he/she introduced question marks
pairs or individuals into its periphery (Figure I, Supplemental Material).
This originality showed the difficulty that some children had, at times, in distin-
guishing the actual reality of the fictitious world built by the story. From a normative
viewpoint, these responses might evoke the idea of a limited understanding of the
text. However, we preferred to assume that this punctuation was the result of the
rejection of the fictional pact in certain passages. According to Eco (1994), the
fictional pact means that the reader suspends his judgment in the face of the facts
narrated to him; in other words, he does not question the truth of what is narrated. This
was important because it clarified that this readers punctuation did not explain all the
punctuation that these children used. The children from this group understood what
they read and chose the mark appropriate to the readers reaction and/or the modality
(interrogative or exclamatory) that they wished to indicate.
Group II
The justifications from the children in this group were characterized by the search
for an anchor in the text that would help justify the choice of the punctuation mark
used (still exclusive and on the edges of the text). The anchor was preferably
provided in words whose semantics could be placed in relation to the punctuation
mark chosen. This meant that the children adjusted the marks function to the
anchor-word. There was no range effect control for the mark, which is why there
was still punctuation at the balloons edges.
We analysed the dialogue between Alessandro and Reina (second) as they
justified the use of the exclamation marks that they both used at the edges of the
balloon in the fifth panel, when the lion scoffs at the mouse (Figure 3).
Figure 3. Punctuation from Alessandro and Reina (2nd) in Group II for the balloon in
the fifth panel.
Childrens reflections on punctuation / Reflexiones infantiles sobre puntuacin 13
The exclamation points were placed in the balloon, but were justified from a
word in the box. For Alessandro the anchor-word was SCOFFED, whereas for Reina
it was LAUGHTER, both words related to the mood or modulation of the enunciation
from the character. Once the children found a word referring to an emotional
quality that could be linked to a mark, they established a close relationship
between the mark and the word. This was only for expressive marks and was
the first evidence of the use of punctuation linked to text elements. However, this
was a centration bound to a set of modality markers such as adjectives (e.g.,
DEAFENING, AFFLICTED), verbs (e.g., CLAIMED) and nouns (e.g., ANGER, LAUGHTER).
The words used as anchors appeared in the boxes, but the punctuation was placed
in the balloons. That was of great importance. At this stage, children rarely used a full
stop in the boxes and reserved EP for the balloons. Thus, the first discriminative uses
of punctuation appeared in the graphic spaces of the cartoon strip.
This criterion, which we have called semantic given that the words that enabled
those advances were quite exact, was the studys first evidence concerning textual
space. It was a criterion that, at the same time, helped move towards the decentration
of the reader who punctuated their reactions and accepted the fictional text as such.
We will see that this new approach enabled new observable content in the text.
Group III
The previous relationship between EP and lexical modality markers represented a
quite satisfactory solution for introducing and justifying the punctuation. It led the
children to decentring themselves from the merely graphic aspects. This involved
a conceptual breakthrough with evolutionary consequences. In this group, taking
the semantic aspects (referential meaning of the words) into account also helped
children identify the actions of the characters described in the narration. In the
cartoon strip, the storys narration involved a dynamic event in which the events
and actions in them occurred chronologically and causally. The children then used
the presence of the action verbs (WAKE UP, CATCH, RUN) as the anchor for introducing
BP in the boxes. This meant that the BPs function was reformulated. It went from
separating what was crowded together to separating the actions performed by the
characters. The separation of these actions generated the first uses of internal BP
in the space intended for the narrative (the boxes).
But there was a crisis in this relationship when the children found one or more
words indicating interrogative modality and others that expressed exclamatory
modality in the same text. This happened to Isabel (second) when faced with the
words HOW and ANGRY (Figure 4). Which modality should be marked? There were
two possible solutions in the face of this conflict.
One of them was to choose only one of the words and punctuate the text according
to the modality that it expressed. This was the solution that kept the child following
certain Group II criteria for the longest time. We could say that the child was aware of
problematic information but decided to ignore it. Isabel illustrated this solution.
Another option was to cater to different modality markings and punctuate the
edges of the text with the combination of expressive marks. This was an
14 D.-A. Dvalos-Esparza
Figure 4. Punctuation from Isabel (2nd) in Group III for the balloon in the second panel.
adjustment to the previous solution that did not involve a conceptual mobilization.
The child considered the new information, but only modified a part of the strategy.
(Figure II, Supplemental Material).
Group IV
The crisis described in the previous group seemed to have led to the children from
this group working more on the textual space. They discovered other types of
words that helped to introduce BP. The BP that appeared in the boxes tended to be
placed and justified around discursive markers such as IF, WHILE, THEN, BUT.
In the balloons, the analysis of the anchor-words helped children infer the
characters intentions. These inferences not only had an impact on the choice of
the punctuation mark, but also on the placement of that mark. The children sought
to distinguish the intentions of each enunciation, which led to the first combined
uses of BP and EP within the text. The choice of marks could be correct, but its
placement incorrect. That is what happened to Andrea in the balloon from the
fourth panel (Figure 5).
Andrea identified a vocative declaration [KING LION HAVE YOU THOUGHT] followed
by a declaration that as she interpreted and justified it had components of a
question, suggestion and order, and which she demarcated with a comma. The
comma was not placed where convention would indicate, after LION, because of
the influence of the lexical mark THAT (QUE)6. This word was used as an indicator
of the questions initial limit. Andrea interpreted it as a discursive mark that
announced a question (interrogative modality). The reasoning seemed to be: if
there is a question and THAT is a word used to form questions, then the question
starts where it appears. The act of asking, however, was not anchored to the THAT
Childrens reflections on punctuation / Reflexiones infantiles sobre puntuacin 15
Figure 5. Punctuation from Andrea (4th) in Group IV for the balloon in the second
panel.
but to the verb of saying [I PROPOSE] that appeared in the box. That verb was the
real trigger for the use of question marks. The identification of a call to attention
(appellative modality) and of a question (interrogative modality) generated inter-
nal punctuation and gave rise to the coexistence of BP and EP.
The childrens progress at this stage was evidenced in the panels where they
inferred more than one enunciative intention7. In the spaces where there was only
one anchor-word, they maintained the relationship between punctuation and
previously referred to modality markers.
Group V
The most significant changes in this group consisted of the children succeeding in
making two or three internal demarcations with punctuation in several boxes and
balloons. The highest point of evolution in this group were the advances they made
about the meaning of the text depending on the type of mark used and the possible
interpretations of other readers. For example, Giancarlo (sixth) ruled out the use of
exclamation points in the balloon from the sixth panel and justified when faced
with questioning from his partner, Elizabeth the use of the ellipsis (Figure 6).
Figure 6. Punctuation from Giancarlo (6th) in Group V for the balloon in the sixth panel.
16 D.-A. Dvalos-Esparza
The justifications from the children in this group were along the lines of: If I
use this mark, the interpretation of this word/enunciation will be this. On the other
hand, if I use this other mark, the interpretation of this word/enunciation will be
something else. This was a decentring that involved the childs ability to position
him/herself as the reviewer of another persons text and to understand that the
punctuation could affect the way in which the text is received.
Before drawing this section to a close, we will remark upon a relevant point
concerning children in the group that used little or no punctuation. From a
normative perspective, it seemed that the children in this group had some sort
of difficulty punctuating. However, in their justifications they expressed in their
own way that the repertoire of punctuation marks was insufficient for representing
all the nuances of orality such as a low or distraught voice (Figure III,
Supplemental Material) or actions involving an absence of voice or sound
(anchored to verbs such as THINK, SLEEP). The absence of punctuation was also
justified by speech acts that did not involve a raised voice (thank, ask, beg) in the
context of the story.
Thanks to the analysis of the obtained data, at the level of graphic production
as well as justifications, we could identify certain evolutionary indicators of the
development of punctuation in each one of the resulting groups. These indicators
are shown in Table 6.
As Ferreiro has already pointed out (Ferreiro et al., 1996), the development
of punctuation cannot be directly explained by factors such as age, socio-
economic level or education. The data in Table 6 show conceptual progres-
sions that are consistent with an increase in schooling, but the justifications
show us that several factors intervene in the childrens approaches to the
problem of punctuation (the ability to distance oneself from the text and to
search for enunciators, to name a few). These factors differ from those
proposed by the school.
We confirm our hypotheses on the role played by the relationship between the
way of saying and of what is said in the childrens reflections over the uses and
functions of punctuation. In addition, we obtained information about how this
relationship enables the passage of a punctuation guided by centration on graphic
criteria to one oriented by textual criteria.
The anchor with modality markers allows children to infer the enunciative
intentions of the enunciators. These inferences have an impact on the choice of the
mark, on how the child constructs their notion of the reader, and on the anticipa-
tion of the effect that the chosen punctuation mark will have on him/her. To arrive
at this point the children must move along another trajectory, that of their own
position as readers.
We were able to show that children think of punctuation not as a normative
item, but as a reflective matter. They rationalize the act of punctuating. We
now know the logic of certain errors that are instead ideas that appear as
erroneous due to being overgeneralized at times, ideas that need to be coordi-
nated or ideas that enter into conflict. These conflicts are of primary impor-
tance in evolution.
Our study is qualitative. From the experimental point of view, it has the
limitation of not providing empirical information. However, we believe that our
data on the conceptual evolution of punctuation permit the consideration of a
series of new hypotheses that could serve as the basis for new experimental
research.
Punctuation is school curriculum content and so the data on the evolution
of the thoughts of children impose the question: what are its didactic implica-
tions? Our results provide an important contribution to the field of educational
research. This research is centred around answering the questions: how does
the advancement of knowledge occur in the scholastic context? How are
educational projects organized for generating those advancements? As Lerner
noted (1996, p. 111), to intervene knowing the childrens processes increases
the possibilities that they learn something quite similar to what we are trying
to teach them.
For teachers and other researchers, these are data that may help change how
they view the children, since those children are not only subjects who receive
normative information over punctuation, but are true protagonists in the construc-
tion of their knowledge.
Notes
1. In Mexico it appears as curriculum content in the first grade of primary school,
which corresponds to children six years of age.
2. The age range of children in these school grades is 57 years.
3. The object to learn.
4. The children belong to a medium-low socioeconomic level. Economic status is not a
variable for analysis in this study.
5. Consulted in April of 2012 through: http://www.bnm.me.gov.ar/giga1/documentos/
EL003240.pdf
Childrens reflections on punctuation / Reflexiones infantiles sobre puntuacin 19
6. In Spanish, the word that (QUE) is spelled the same as the word what (QU). This
explains why Andrea reads the word that as a question indicator. This problem of
significance does not occur in the English language because there is a clear differ-
ence between the writing of what (question) and that (relative).
7. The speech act theory constitutes a frame of reference for analysing a speakers
intentions and the form in which these intentions can be deduced on the part of the
listeners. The reader may wish to consult Searle (1969).
20 D.-A. Dvalos-Esparza
parmetro. El lmite de esta perspectiva consiste en que solo aporta datos sobre lo
que pueden y no pueden hacer los aprendices en distintos niveles de escolaridad
y a partir de ello determinan la relacin que puede haber entre los usos de
puntuacin y el rendimiento escolar pero no ofrece elementos que ayuden a
comprender cmo se aprende a puntuar y a saber por qu se cometen determina-
das faltas de puntuacin y no otras.
De manera independiente, estos estudios tambin pusieron de manifiesto un
uso precoz de puntuacin de final de lnea grfica. A pesar de las diferencias
escolsticas de los pases donde realizaron los estudios, los autores coinciden en
buscar en la enseanza la razn de esta puntuacin de final de lnea grfica,
hipotetizan que podra ser el resultado de la prctica de puntuar oraciones simples
con mayscula inicial y punto final en los libros didcticos. Edelsky (1983),
Lematre (1999), y Wilde (1987) adems hacen referencias a puntuacin interna
que aparece junto a ciertas palabras que tienden a ser conjunciones (y, tambin),
artculos definidos (el/la) o marcadores temporales (despus). No obstante, nin-
guno de estos autores da cuenta de los procesos psicolgicos subyacentes a los
usos de puntuacin de los nios.
Desde otra orientacin terica, la psicolingstica con perspectiva
psicogentica, Ferreiro et al. (1996), Ferreiro y Zucchermaglio (1996), y
Ferreiro (1999) propuso que, adems de los aspectos normativos, existen aspectos
constructivos que tambin pueden ser objeto de anlisis ya que permiten dar
cuenta de la evolucin de las ideas y concepciones alrededor de la puntuacin.
Como explica Ferreiro (1999, p. 85), Para un investigador en psicologa gentica
la pregunta central y persistente es: cmo se pasa de tal estado de conocimiento a
tal otro estado de conocimiento?; qu es lo que, en el estado anterior Y hizo
posible que luego apareciera aquello que observamos en el estado posterior Z?;
qu es lo que exista en un nivel an anterior X que hizo posible el nivel
Y? Se trata de una perspectiva que hace de la transformacin del conocimiento su
objeto de estudio sin que la reduzca a una secuencia cronolgica del tipo de
concepciones que poseen los nios en determinados momentos (como la
psicologa evolutiva). Ferreiro (1999) aclara:
Hiptesis de investigacin
Formulamos dos hiptesis:
Mtodo
Participantes
Entrevistamos a 60 nios4 de entre siete y 12 aos que cursaban
segundo, cuarto y sexto grados de escolaridad primaria (Tabla 1). Todos eran
estudiantes de cuatro escuelas pblicas mexicanas. La eleccin de las institu-
ciones se debi a las facilidades otorgadas para la investigacin, mientras que
la eleccin de los participantes qued a cargo de cada docente titular del grupo
al que pertenecan.
Congruentes con la orientacin psicogentica y con el enfoque cualitativo de
sus investigaciones, recurrimos la entrevista crtico-clnica inspirada en el mtodo
elaborado por Piaget. Recurrir a este mtodo fue una apuesta a la capacidad de los
nios para hablar sobre puntuacin ms all de repetir el discurso escolar norma-
tivo. La esencia del mtodo clnico piagetiano est en las participaciones contra-
argumentativas o preguntas que hace el experimentador al nio para tratar de
entender el razonamiento que subyace a sus respuestas. El mtodo ofrece otra
ventaja, el discurso de los nios le permite identificar al investigador el tipo de
centraciones (la fijacin en un aspecto) que experimentan los nios en distintos
momentos del desarrollo, as como los factores que permiten superarlas
(descentracin).
La versin clsica del interrogatorio clnico se realiza entre el investigador
y el nio. No obstante, las investigaciones psicolingsticas de corte
psicogentico realizadas por Ferreiro y Kriscautzky (2003) y Baez (2009) en
temas de formateo de textos mostraron las ventajas de realizar la entrevista en
parejas de nios de la misma edad o grado escolar. Cuando los miembros de
una pareja resuelven de manera distinta una misma tarea, surgen contra-
argumentos espontneos. El investigador entonces pone de manifiesto las
discrepancias y promueve que los nios se expliquen entre s los criterios
que siguieron para llegar a sus respuestas. La ventaja radica en que el dilogo
se da entre pares iguales y no entre el nio y el adulto que ante los ojos del
primero es el que posee y domina el saber.
El investigador abandona su forma adulta de pensar (deja sus prejuicios) para
tratar de comprender la forma de pensar del nio (Ferreiro, 1997). Evita calificar
las respuestas de los nios en relacin a las regulaciones normativas para el uso de
la puntuacin o a las funciones ms convencionales de los signos que la compo-
nen. Al contrario, est abierto y dispuesto a encontrarse con nuevas funciones para
Childrens reflections on punctuation / Reflexiones infantiles sobre puntuacin 25
los signos o entre signos. Evita llevar al nio en una direccin determinada a
travs de sugerencias. Por ejemplo, en este estudio una restriccin para el inves-
tigador-entrevistador es no usar el nombre convencional de los signos de
puntuacin y dar lugar a que los nios muestren cmo los denominan (puntitos,
rayitas, signos de enojo, signos de pregunta, etc.). Durante la entrevista, el
investigador-entrevistador utilizar las denominaciones de los nios no para
corregir sino para dar lugar a discusiones.
Reconociendo estas ventajas, organizamos a los nios en parejas (10 parejas
del mismo grado escolar). Nuestro inters estuvo en las justificaciones indivi-
duales, potenciadas por los intercambios verbales entre los miembros de las
parejas a propsito de sus respuestas, y no en el tipo de interaccin entre ellos.
Materiales
Diseamos una historieta inspirada en la fbula de Esopo El len y el ratn
que tomamos de la pgina web del Ministerio de Educacin de Buenos Aires,
Argentina5 (Figura 1). Conservamos el diseo grfico y los textos del dilogo
directo entre los personajes (globos) pero en la parte destinada al narrador
(recuadros) introdujimos adjetivos calificativos, verbos de decir y verbos de
accin que expresan modalidad con la finalidad de indagar la relacin antes
dicha. Todas las grafas que usamos son maysculas para evitar la asociacin
entre punto y mayscula. Eliminamos toda la puntuacin.
Procedimiento
Primero pedimos a los nios de cada pareja que, individualmente, puntuaran su propia
copia. La puntuacin individual garantiz que un miembro de la pareja no influyera
en las respuestas del otro. Cuando finalizaban, los invitamos a comparar y justificar
sus respuestas. Utilizamos la consigna: Ahora que terminaron, por favor mustrense
entre ustedes sus respuestas. Comprenlas y explquenle a su compaero por qu
creen que la puntuacin es necesaria ah o por qu no. Mientras los nios inter-
cambiaban sus argumentos, nos abstuvimos de dar informacin y de calificar como
correcta o errnea cualquier respuesta. Sostuvimos nuestro inters en comprender el
razonamiento de los nios al respecto. Las entrevistas fueron audio grabadas y
transcritas para su anlisis posterior. Seguimos los criterios de transcripcin de la
oralidad sugeridos por Blanche-Benveniste (1998, p. 63) y la adopcin de las
convenciones que son propias de los estudios psicogenticos (Zamudio, 2004). Nos
abstenemos de poner puntos y comas en las transcripciones de las interacciones entre
y con los nios. Utilizamos el siguiente cdigo: la barra diagonal representa una pausa
(/), la doble barra (//) pausa larga; el signo de cierre de interrogacin (?) seala la
presencia de una pregunta; las palabras en versalitas son aquellas que aparecen en el
texto dado y que son mencionadas por los nios; los parntesis encierran las anota-
ciones de la entrevistadora cuya abreviatura es Ent.
Resultados
La historieta tiene dos espacios textuales claramente delimitados en cada vieta:
recuadros con narrativa en tercera persona y globos con dilogos en primera
persona. Al analizar los textos puntuados individualmente, pusimos especial
atencin en la distribucin de puntos y comas (puntuacin bsica) y de signos
de interrogacin y exclamacin (puntuacin expresiva), o bien si hay ausencia de
marcas (0) en dichos espacios. Este primer anlisis ayuda a saber, desde las
respuestas grficas, si los nios seleccionan un tipo de puntuacin para los
recuadros y otro para los globos (uso discriminativo de puntuacin).
Determinamos las 16 combinaciones posibles del uso de puntuacin bsica (PB) y
expresiva (PE). En la prctica, las 16 combinaciones posibles se reducen a 15, porque
la ausencia de puntuacin en ambos espacios queda excluida por la consigna (puntuar
el texto). Para codificarlas, en la Tabla 2 anotamos el tipo de puntuacin usada en
recuadros del lado izquierdo de la doble diagonal y la puntuacin usada en globos del
lado derecho. Esa misma Tabla muestra las combinaciones que fueron efectivamente
realizadas por grado escolar y aquellas que no se realizaron.
El 73% del total de nios (suma de casos sobre la doble lnea superior, que
corresponde a las combinaciones PB//PB-PE; PB//PE y 0//PE) realiza una
distribucin discriminatoria de la puntuacin cercana a la convencional. Esto
quiere decir que la tendencia (en su mayora de nios de cuarto y sexto grados)
es usar PB en recuadros y PE en globos. Apenas tres casos discriminan estos
espacios puntuando nicamente los recuadros con PB (combinacin PB//0).
En el extremo opuesto, debajo de la doble lnea inferior, la ausencia de casos
en las cinco combinaciones que incluyen PE en recuadros (lejanas a la
Childrens reflections on punctuation / Reflexiones infantiles sobre puntuacin 27
La cantidad de casos por grado escolar en cada grupo tambin sugiere una
lnea evolutiva. La mayor parte de los nios de segundo grado se concentra en el
Grupo I, los nios de cuarto grado lo hacen en el Grupo III y los nios de sexto se
distribuyen en los Grupos IV y V. No emitimos juicios sobre la pertinencia del
signo empleado ni su ubicacin. En su lugar, analizamos las justificaciones del
nio-productor de marcas obtenidas en las entrevistas clnico-crticas para
tratar de comprender los razonamientos que lo llevaron a producir tal o cual
puntuacin.
En lo que sigue, mostraremos los aspectos evolutivos esenciales que hemos
identificado en la conceptualizacin infantil de la puntuacin en cada uno de los
grupos. Presentaremos uno o dos ejemplos por grupo.
Grupo I
La puntuacin en este grupo se caracteriza por un uso excluyente de puntuacin
(usan solo PB o solo PE) en la periferia de los recuadros y globos (en bordes de
texto o bordes de lnea grfica). Estos datos coinciden con los estudios antece-
dentes realizados en diversas lenguas y tradiciones educativas. Los datos de la
entrevista clnica-crtica, sin embargo, nos permiten aadir que la PB usada al
final de lnea est orientada por criterios grficos guiados por la necesidad de dar
una apariencia ordenada al texto. En palabras literales de los nios estos signos
sirven: para que no se vea tan junto [el texto]; para que no se vea amontonado
[el texto]; para separar y acomodar lo que est en los cuadritos. Cuando usan PE,
lo hacen para dar destaque visual al contenido. Ellos dicen: [sirven] para que se
vea todo lo que pasa en la historia [sic] o bien para que vean lo que dicen [sic]
los personajes. En ambos casos (uso de PB o PE), la funcin de la puntuacin se
generaliza a todos los espacios del texto.
Podra pensarse que los nios no atienden al contenido del texto. Sin embargo,
justifican el uso de signos expresivos en algunos recuadros y globos desde sus
reacciones como lectores frente al contenido de ciertos pasajes del texto. Por
ejemplo, Sebastin (2) us un signo de interrogacin al cierre del globo de la
cuarta vieta que narra cmo el ratn le propone al len que lo libere. Cuando le
pedimos que hablara sobre su puntuacin, Sebastin reley el texto y cambi el
signo (que indicaba la pregunta del ratn) por uno de exclamacin que marcara lo
poco creble que le result que un ratn propusiera salvar la vida de un len. La
Figura 2 muestra la puntuacin de este nio para el globo de la cuarta vieta y el
fragmento de entrevista que le corresponde.
El conocimiento previo de Sebastin sobre ratones desacredita la ficcin de un
ratn capaz de salvar la vida de un len. El signo de exclamacin marca su
desacreditacin, es la puntuacin de la reaccin del nio lector ante el contenido
del texto.
Este tipo de criterio no se limita a los signos de exclamacin. Si un fragmento
del texto genera dudas al nio lector, ste introduce los signos de interrogacin
pares o individuales en su periferia (Figura I, Material Suplementario). Esta
originalidad muestra la dificultad que algunos nios tienen, por momentos, para
30 D.-A. Dvalos-Esparza
Figura 2. Puntuacin de Sebastin (2) del Grupo I para el globo de la cuarta vieta.
distinguir la realidad efectiva del mundo ficticio construido por el relato. Desde un
punto de vista normativo, estas respuestas podran evocar la idea de una
comprensin limitada del texto. Sin embargo, preferimos asumir que esta
puntuacin resulta del rechazo al pacto ficcional en ciertos pasajes. En trminos
de Eco (1994), el pacto ficcional supone que el lector suspende sus juicios frente a
los hechos que se le narran, es decir, no cuestiona si lo que se narra es cierto. Este
punto es importante porque aclara que esta puntuacin del lector nunca explica
toda la puntuacin que utilizan estos nios. Los nios de este grupo comprenden
lo que leen y eligen el signo pertinente a la reaccin del lector y/o la modalidad
(interrogativa o exclamativa) que desean marcar.
Grupo II
Las justificaciones de los nios de este grupo nos muestran un momento que est
caracterizado por la bsqueda de un anclaje en el texto que ayude a justificar la
eleccin del signo empleado (todava excluyente y en los bordes del texto). El
anclaje se hace preferentemente en palabras cuya semntica se puede poner en
relacin con el signo elegido. Esto quiere decir que ahora los nios ajustan la
funcin del signo a la palabra-ancla. No hay control del rango de efecto del signo,
por eso todava hay puntuacin en bordes de globo.
Analicemos el dilogo entre Alessandro y Reina (2) cuando justifican el uso
de signos de exclamacin que ambos han usado en los bordes del globo de la
quinta vieta, cuando el len se burla del ratn (Figura 3).
Los signos de exclamacin se ponen en el globo, pero se justifican a partir de una
palabra en el recuadro. Para Alessandro la palabra-ancla es BURLABA, mientras que para
Reina es CARCAJADAS, ambas palabras relacionadas al estado de nimo o modulacin de
la enunciacin del personaje. Una vez que los nios encuentran una palabra que haga
referencia a una cualidad emotiva que se pueda vincular con un signo, establecen una
relacin estrecha entre el signo y la palabra. Esto concierne solo a los signos
expresivos y es la primera evidencia del uso de puntuacin vinculada a elementos
del texto. Sin embargo, sta es una centracin acotada a un conjunto de marcas de
Childrens reflections on punctuation / Reflexiones infantiles sobre puntuacin 31
Grupo III
La relacin previa entre PE y marcadores lxicos de modalidad constituye una
solucin muy satisfactoria para introducir y justificar la puntuacin. Ha llevado a
los nios a descentrarse de los aspectos meramente grficos. Esto supone un
avance conceptual con consecuencias evolutivas. En este grupo, la toma en
consideracin de los aspectos semnticos (significado referencial de las palabras)
tambin ayuda a los nios a identificar las acciones de los personajes descritas en
la narracin. En la Historieta, la narracin del relato supone un acto dinmico en
el que los acontecimientos y las acciones que los componen se suceden
cronolgica y causalmente. Los nios entonces usan la presencia de los verbos
32 D.-A. Dvalos-Esparza
Figura 4. Puntuacin de Isabel (2) del Grupo III para el globo de la segunda vieta.
Grupo IV
La crisis descrita en el grupo anterior parece haber llevado a los nios de este
grupo a trabajar ms sobre el espacio textual. Han descubierto otro tipo de
palabras que les sirven para introducir PB. La PB que aparece en los recuadros
Childrens reflections on punctuation / Reflexiones infantiles sobre puntuacin 33
Figura 5. Puntuacin de Andrea (4) del Grupo IV para el globo de la segunda vieta.
Grupo V
En este grupo los cambios ms significativos consisten en que los nios logran
hacer dos o tres delimitaciones internas con puntuacin en varios recuadros y
34 D.-A. Dvalos-Esparza
Figura 6. Puntuacin de Giancarlo (6) del Grupo V para el globo de la sexta vieta.
globos. El punto mximo de la evolucin en este grupo son las anticipaciones que
hacen del significado del texto en funcin del tipo de signo empleado y de las
posibles interpretaciones de otros lectores. Por ejemplo, Giancarlo (6) descarta el
uso de signos de exclamacin en el globo de la sexta vieta y justifica ante el
cuestionamiento de su compaera Elizabeth el uso de los puntos suspensivos
de la siguiente manera (Figura 6).
Las justificaciones de los nios de este grupo van en el sentido de: Si uso tal
signo, la interpretacin de esta palabra/enunciacin va a ser una. En cambio, si
uso este otro signo, la interpretacin de esta palabra/enunciacin ser otra. Este es
un descentramiento que implica su capacidad para posicionarse como revisores de
un texto ajeno y para comprender que la puntuacin puede afectar el modo de
recepcin del texto.
Antes de cerrar este apartado, comentaremos un punto relevante sobre los
nios del grupo de escasa o nula puntuacin. Desde una perspectiva normativa,
parecera que los nios de ese grupo tienen algn tipo de dificultad para puntuar.
Sin embargo, en sus justificaciones expresaron a su manera que el repertorio de
signos no alcanza para representar todos los matices de la oralidad como la voz
baja o afligida (Figura III, Material Suplementario) ni las acciones que implican
ausencia de voz o sonido (ancladas a verbos como PENSAR, DORMIR). La ausencia de
puntuacin tambin es justificada por actos de habla que no implican aumento de
voz (agradecer, pedir, suplicar) en el contexto de la historia.
Gracias al anlisis de los datos obtenidos, tanto al nivel de realizacin grfica
como de las justificaciones, pudimos identificar algunos indicadores evolutivos
del desarrollo de la puntuacin en cada uno de los grupos resultantes. La Tabla 6
muestra estos indicadores.
Como ya lo sealara Ferreiro et al. (1996), el desarrollo de la puntuacin no
puede ser explicado directamente por factores como la edad, el nivel
socioeconmico o la escolaridad. Los datos de la Tabla 6 muestran progresiones
conceptuales que son congruentes con el aumento de la escolaridad, pero las
justificaciones nos muestran que en las aproximaciones de los nios al problema
de puntuar intervienen diversos factores (la capacidad de distanciamiento frente al
Tabla 6. Indicadores evolutivos por grupo.
INDICADORES EVOLUTIVOS POR GRUPO
Grupo I Grupo II Grupo III Grupo IV Grupo V
Puntuacin en Puntuacin preferente en Algunos casos de Puntuacin interna (algunas Puntuacin interna
bordes bordes puntuacin interna dificultades para identificar lmites Uso combinado de PB y PE
Criterios Uso excluyente de puntuacin para separar acciones de unidades) en casi todos los espacios
grficos Criterios semnticos que en el mundo (real o Algunos usos combinados de PB y del texto
centrados en orientan el anclaje en narrativo) PE Eleccin de un signo, entre
orden o marcas lxicas para Uso alternado de PB y Criterios pragmticos orientados por varios, para lograr un
destaque justificar la eleccin del PE el reconocimiento de las efecto sobre el lector o
visual signo empleado Desestabilizacin de la intenciones comunicativas de los cambiar sentido de una
Uso Funcin contextualizada del relacin puntuacin- participantes enunciados en el palabra
excluyente signo marca lxica texto
de Posicin de lector
puntuacin mltiple
Funcin
generalizada
del signo
Puntuacin del
lector
Childrens reflections on punctuation / Reflexiones infantiles sobre puntuacin
35
36 D.-A. Dvalos-Esparza
texto, la bsqueda de enunciadores, por citar algunos) que son ajenos a lo que
propone la escuela.
Discusin y conclusiones
Desde una orientacin psicogentica, nuestro objetivo fue mostrar que los nios
no slo son sujetos de enseanza sino tambin sujetos cognoscentes que se
plantean problemas y soluciones intelectuales frente a la puntuacin.
Los antecedentes psicogenticos inmediatos daban pistas sobre el trabajo
cognitivo de los nios frente al acto de puntuar. Nuestro estudio puso de mani-
fiesto los factores que entran en juego en dicho trabajo cognitivo: la posicin del
lector, la construccin del lector como destinatario, la identificacin de los
marcadores lingsticos de modalidad, la inferencia de las intenciones.
Mostramos que la puntuacin de fin de lnea grfica precede a la puntuacin
interna. Es un dato coincidente con los estudios antecedentes. Se trata de un dato
que confirma un momento evolutivo? Consideramos que las respuestas grficas de
los nios del Grupo I junto con los datos de los antecedentes citados
contribuyen a esta confirmacin, al menos en lo que concierne a las escrituras
alfabticas.
Confirmamos nuestras hiptesis acerca del papel que juega la relacin entre el
modo de decir y el modo de lo dicho en las reflexiones infantiles sobre los usos y
funciones de la puntuacin. Adems, obtuvimos informacin acerca de cmo esta
relacin posibilita el pasaje de una puntuacin guiada por la centracin en criterios
grficos a una orientada por criterios textuales.
El anclaje con los marcadores de modalidad permite a los nios inferir las
intenciones enunciativas de los enunciadores. Estas inferencias tienen impacto en
la eleccin del signo, en la construccin del lector-destinatario y en la anticipacin
del efecto que ese signo seleccionado tendr en l. Para llegar a este punto los
nios deben recorrer otro trayecto, el de su propio posicionamiento como lectores.
Pudimos mostrar que los nios piensan en la puntuacin no como un objeto
normativo, sino como un tema reflexivo. Dan racionalidad al acto de puntuar.
Ahora conocemos la lgica de ciertos errores que ms bien son ideas que
aparecen como errneas porque en ciertos momentos se sobregeneralizan, ideas
que necesitan ser coordinadas o ideas que entran en conflictos. Esos conflictos
tiene rol de primera importancia en la evolucin.
Nuestra investigacin es cualitativa. Desde el punto de vista experimental,
tiene la limitante de no proveer informacin emprica. No obstante, consideramos
que nuestros datos sobre la evolucin conceptual de la puntuacin permiten
plantear una serie de nuevas hiptesis que podran servir de base para nuevas
investigaciones de corte experimental.
La puntuacin es un contenido escolar y los datos sobre la evolucin de las
reflexiones de los nios imponen la pregunta: cul su traduccin didctica?
Nuestros datos son un insumo importante para el campo de la investigacin
didctica. Esta otra instancia investigativa est centrada en responder cmo se
produce el avance de conocimiento en el contexto escolar? y cmo se organizan
Childrens reflections on punctuation / Reflexiones infantiles sobre puntuacin 37
los proyectos de enseanza para generar esos avances? Como lo seala Lerner
(1996, p. 111), intervenir conociendo los procesos de los nios aumenta las
posibilidades de lograr que ellos aprendan algo bastante semejante a lo que
pretendemos ensearles.
Para los docentes y otros investigadores, son datos que podran ayudar a
cambiar la mirada que tenan sobre los nios pues ya no solo son sujetos que
reciben informacin normativa sobre los signos de puntuacin, son verdaderos
protagonistas en la construccin de sus conocimientos.
Notas
1. En Mxico aparece como contenido curricular en el primer grado de primaria que
corresponde a nios de seis aos de edad.
2. El rango de edad de los nios en estos grados de escolaridad es de cinco a siete aos.
3. El objeto a aprender.
4. Los nios pertenecen a un estrato socioeconmico medio-bajo. En este estudio el
status econmico no es una variable para el anlisis.
5. Consultado en abril de 2012a travs de: http://www.bnm.me.gov.ar/giga1/documen
tos/EL003240.pdf
6. En espaol la escritura del pronombre interrogativo QUE y el pronombre relativo
QUE es la misma. Esto explica por qu Andrea lee la palabra QUE como indicador
de pregunta. Este problema de significacin no se presenta en el idioma ingls ya que
hay una clara diferencia entre la escritura de what (pregunta) y that (relativo).
7. La teora de los actos de habla constituye un marco de referencia para analizar las
intenciones del hablante y la forma en que estas intenciones pueden ser deducidas
por parte de los oyentes. El lector puede consultar Searle (1969).
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38 D.-A. Dvalos-Esparza