ESOL Ws/E3.3a Use punctuation to aid clarity in relation to beginnings and ends of sentences

ESOL > Writing > Sentence Level > Punctuation and Grammar > Punctuation > Ws/E3.3 Use punctuation correctly, e.g. capital letters, full stops, question marks, exclamation marks > Ws/E3.3a > Use punctuation to aid clarity in relation to beginnings and ends of sentences
i) Use full stops and capital letters to mark sentence boundaries, and commas within sentences, for various purposes
(ii) Recognise that English punctuation may be different from punctuation conventions in learners' other languages, e.g. in Farsi a comma is inverted before the beginning of a question, in addition to the question mark used after it
(iii)Understand how exclamation marks and question marks can affect meaning, and act as the equivalent of intonation in spoken language, e.g. I got home at midnight! - the use of the exclamation mark implies that this is late or unusual
(iv) Understand how punctuation varies with formality, e.g. use of exclamation marks in more informal texts, fewer requirements for accuracy in punctuation in email than in letters
(v) Understand that capital letters, full stops, question marks, exclamation marks are the complete family of sentence boundary markers used in continuous text written in complete sentences

Example of application and level

• Write a letter to a friend and to an employment agency, explaining the kind of job you are looking for, using different registers and punctuation conventions as appropriate.

Sample activities

• Learners take short dictations with pauses to indicate sentence breaks.
• In pairs, learners look at example sentences with exclamation marks and question marks and discuss the meaning.
• Learners correct or add missing exclamation marks and question marks to incorrect versions of text, both paper-based and on screen.
• Learners look at some formal and informal texts and list the differences in punctuation.