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Grammar, Punctuation, and Error All-In-One Elyse Kuntz Many people in the world would agree that grammar and punctuation is something that is, in many ways, a very significant part of the English language. I, on the contrary, believe that grammar and punctuation cannot only cause confusion but also cramp a writer s style. There are many scenarios that can be given to prove this to be untrue but lets take a look at it from a point of view that can be understood by all ages. This sentence is written in perfect punctuation, right? As young as the age of six, around first grade, we are thrown into a class called English . This is a classroom where you learn all about spelling, grammar, punctuation and a bunch of other information that you will remember for your entire life. Now, that is simply not true. Most high school students when asked to punctuate a sentence properly- don t. And then there are some students who know the English grammar and punctuation perfectly yet still fail to communicate with others. Take an English as a Second Language student (ESL). Communication between ESL students and other students happen more frequently than expected, even though these students know all there is to learn about English. Slang, which is defined by dictionary.com as, very informal usage in vocabulary and idiom that is characteristically more metaphorically, playful, elliptical, vivid, and ephemeral than ordinary language, such as hit the road , is a common miscommunication between ESL s and other children. Working from the example that dictionary.com brings up, hit the road ; ESL students may take that as a statement and very literally ago start hitting the road that they stand on. So English is not only about being free of grammatical error, but things such as slang needs to be taught in English class. Along with miscommunication, grammar and punctuation can interrupt flow that comes naturally to most writers. It.Needs.To.Sound.Choppy -- See! Writing is all about you and your reader communicating and having a conversation, so when it comes to punctuation it does not need to go by the typical handbook guidelines. You need for what you are saying to be read as how you are saying it. If that means making a comma splice or putting a period where is doesn t belong then so be it. For me as a creative writer I need for the emphasis I have on the subject to show through my writing which means my punctuation is not always correct. I have poetry where I have used the phonetic spelling of daughter, which is: [daw-ter], instead of writing the word because not only does

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it make the piece unique to me, but it tells you how I want the word pronounced. There are specific ways I punctuate and I know that John Dawkins would agree with me based on his writing, Teaching Punctuation as a Rhetorical Tool. There are many scenarios of grammar and punctuation that the typical handbook does not even discuss. So when it comes down to it, how do you know what to do? And the simple solution is: do whatever you, the author, wants to do. For example John Dawkins states, And when we produce a sequence of three or more independent clauses, punctuation questions often cross sentence (or independent clause) boundaries, and hand books do not offer help for such interdependent problems (Wardle and Downs, 2011, p. 141). So really all you can do is what you think sounds right. Let others read it out loud to hear if they keep the rhythm that you wanted, if so, then there is no grammatical error. It got your point across and was comprehended by the reader. There is also many times where you want to emphasize or play down the importance of what is being said. That is something creative writers and persuasive writers need to know how to do, and they do it through punctuation. Dawkins also discusses this topic, which he calls Raising and Lowering (Wardle and Downs, 2011, p. 144). He believes there is a hierarchy of punctuation and depending on the amount of emphasis you want depends on the punctuation you choose to use. This is something that is clearly up to you, and it does not matter if it is error free. So, clearly punctuation is something that is very individual and depends on how you write. A very common argument is text messaging and text talk as my parents call it. Omg! I no rite? Well gtg luv u hmu l8r <3 An on going debate between teachers and students is getting rid of text talk in papers, and how students using social medias are ruining the way they write. But, students are not the only people who do not spell out every word and have punctuation perfect 100% of the time. I have taken some pretty interesting screen shots of teachers Facebook statuses when they think no one is looking.
Formatted: Highlight

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The first one is my cousin who is a teacher at a school district in Clayton, Ohio. I also found a status from one of my very own teachers from high school where not only does he use text talk, but he also has incorrect usage of punctuation. Now I am not pulling out these screen shots to rag on teachers or call them on not practicing what they preach, but I am sure that all of you readers were able to read those with no problem, and complete comprehension of what was being said. Text talk is in no way ruining how students write; it is just making it unique to the individual. I have received a text message where someone says k. and I know immediately that the person who sent that is angry. Along with all those weird phrases and emoticons, they express what the person is feeling. It is not wrong it is just a new way of communicating that professors and high school teachers are not use to. Many people would agree that even when the person they are texting uses text talk and they use perfect punctuation and grammar there is usually no miscommunication unless autocorrect steps in. I am an Integrated Language Arts Major and the boy that I have been madly in love with for the past six months talks in text talk and it has never phased me once, and miscommunication is rare. Punctuation and grammar are not the main focus of the English language, and they often do more bad than they do good. It can create confusion and it limits creativity, and we should be focusing on encouraging students to write period not making their papers bleed by correcting errors. I want to be an English teacher, and I am sitting here saying that punctuation and grammar means very little when it comes to good writing.

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Full Reference

Slang. (2011). In Dictionary online. Retrieved from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/slang

Wardle, E. & Downs, D. (2011). Writing about writing: A college reader. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin s

Tiffany Minton. (2012). In Facebook [profile]. Retrieved January 18, 2012 from https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=678885935

Nathan Tengowski (2011). In Facebook [profile]. Retrieved January 18, 2012 from https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1325457775