How do children use punctuation marks during writing? Diverse comments made bythe same 2nd and 4th grade pupils.
Submitted by:
Eduardo Calil
Abstract:
In recent research, the examination of collaborative textual production in the classroom has shed light on metalinguistic activities manifested through spontaneous comments by children during their own manuscript writing processes. These studies indicate that comments primarily revolve around linguistic knowledge acquisition and instructional content. For instance, children between the ages of 6 and 9 demonstrate a greater tendency to recognize and address spelling and punctuation issues, leading to an increased number of comments related to these areas (Barbeiro et al., 2022).
Our study aims to explore spontaneous comments specifically concerning punctuation marks. Through a cognitive and linguistic-enunciative approach with a qualitative emphasis, we examine how the recognition of punctuation marks is expressed, how they relate to the linearization process, and the characteristics of comments made by the same students during two different academic years.
Data collection involved two pairs of students, aged 7/8 (2nd year) and 9/10 (4th year). Using the Ramos System (Calil, 2020), we recorded six writing tasks consisting of invented stories written by Dyad 3 (D3) and Dyad 5 (D5) for each academic year.
The results reveal distinct types of comments on recognized punctuation marks:
1. Interpersonal comments: subjective comments including personal or interactional arguments.
2. Graphic comments: associated with the graphic-spatial representation of what was or was not registered.
3. Linguistic comments: linked to the children's linguistic knowledge.
4. Metalinguistic comments: indicating an understanding of the relationships between punctuation marks and semantic and/or syntactic aspects.
The first two types of comments are non-linguistic as they do not consider the relationship between punctuation marks and the text's linearization. The latter two types of comments encompass both declarative and procedural knowledge (Fontich, 2016).
Differences are observed between the two dyads: the comments expressed by Pair 3 demonstrate a harmonious integration of these two types of knowledge, resulting in more accurate and appropriate use of punctuation marks to construct meaning in their fictional narratives.
Keywords: learning, collaborative writing, metalinguistic knowledge, punctuation.
Barbeiro, L. F., Álvares Pereira, L., Calil E., y Cardoso, I. (2022). Termos metalinguísticos e operações de natureza gramatical na escrita colaborativa dos alunos do ensino básico. Tejuelo, 35(2), 45-76. https://doi.org/10.17398/1988-8430.35.2.45
Calil, E. (2020) Ramos System: method for multimodal capture of collaborative writing processes in pairs in real time and space in the classroom. ALFA, v. 64,e11705, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1590/1981-5794-e11705.
Fontich, X. (2016). L1 grammar instruction and writing: Metalinguistic activity as a teaching and research focus. Language and Linguistics Compass, 10(5), 238–254.https://doi.org/10.1111/lnc3.12273.