On the need to teaching punctuation in a modern school

Abstract

Our essay is dedicated to the memory of Professor Henryk Kurczab, who in his scientific output and teaching activities devoted a lot of time to the language culture at school and issues concerning integrating the purposes and contents of education. We demand appreciation for the punctuation in school linguistic education. We draw attention to pupils’ poor knowledge of punctuation rules in written texts. It is proved by numerous mistakes in interpunction and related syntax errors. We point to civilization and culture as well as didactic factors, which influence the decrease of the punctuation skills levels of children and youth. On the grounds of survey research we are discussing the condition of Polish teachers’ methodological preparation to teach punctuation, among others their familiarity with dictionaries and punctuation guides, types of exercises and the application of the principle of integrating the punctuation with teaching syntax. The attachment to this essay includes the classification of punctuation errors, which is important to increase the teachers’ didactic awareness. It was prepared by professor Jerzy Podracki – a linguist and language didactician.