Many of the best nonfiction writers violate punctuation rules frequently enough to indicate that the rules neither tell very well what to do nor inform very accurately about what is done. An examination of 18 prominent authors' use of the entire hierarchy of punctuation marks shows disagreement and inconsistency among the writers concerning…

Intended for use by students at any level above grade 4, this practice book sharpens students' knowledge of basic grammar skills. The book emphasizes combining and expanding sentences as well as checking written sentences for correct use of various parts of speech. The book includes a section on capitalization and punctuation. The book is…

Intended for use by students at any level above grade 5, this practice book helps students master fundamental grammar concepts and avoid grammar errors commonly made in speaking and writing. The book emphasizes correct sentence structure and clarity of expression. The book includes editing and proofreading exercises and a section on capitalization…

Assuming that the ability to interpret punctuation is basic to reading comprehension, a study was conducted to assess the junior high school reader's ability to interpret internal punctuation in a written passage. From an examination of texts, reference and research materials used at the junior high school level, six uses of three punctuation…

The "Write a Sentence Test" was developed for use in the evaluation of student writing abilities in association with a project in Memphis, Tennessee. This paper discusses ways of administering and scoring the test, decisions concerning modification of the test, and experiences when the test was administered to sample subjects. All forms…

The three papers included in this report address typography for graphic communication, typographic access structures for educational texts, and typography as macropunctuation. The first paper considers the consequences of an aesthetic bias in the literature of typography, and identifies two misleading assumptions about textbooks; i.e., that print…

The chief aim of this style manual is to promote clarity and consistency in writing for publication. The chapters are intended to help writers understand the publication process that begins with a need to communicate with a particular audience and ends with the distribution of the finished product. The first chapter on planning and producing a…

One of six related documents, making up a U.S. Air Force correspondence course, this publication deals with effective writing and emphasizes the sentence as the basic unit of written communication. Part one focuses on internal sentence punctuation and covers the use of the comma, semicolon, colon, period, capital, abbreviations, and numbers. Part…

A study was conducted to ascertain if the teaching of sentence building by means of specific sentence patterns would result in an increased use of these sentence patterns in the written compositions of second grade children. Writing samples were obtained from a group of second grade children both before and after the treatment and were analyzed…

Writing samples of 97 students in remedial writing classes were analyzed to determine error patterns in writing mechanics and the predominance of specific errors. Students were grouped according to individual student profiles and error patterns which indicated additional similarities and differences among individuals. Analysis indicated that most…

One in a series of ten mini-manuals on office communication proofreading, this booklet for business and office students provides instruction in the use of commas, dashes, and parentheses. Included are terminal and specific objectives, punctuation rules and related information, and tasks for practice. A test over the information presented concludes…

This paper discusses error analysis, which is based upon the premise that all language, even "incorrect" language, is governed by rules, and the application of such analysis to the comma splice and the fused sentence. Many students formulate erroneous theories of punctuation based on spoken-language experience or on misleading definitions; in…

One example of the vast potential of audiovisual techniques as teaching aids may be seen in the successful use of a television tape and a slide-cassette version of a lesson on the comma splice error with community college daytime and evening classes in freshman composition. Results of the posttests administered after presentation of the television…

To minimize inconsistencies in hyphenation practices, written English should accurately transcribe spoken English by indicating every open- or plus-juncture with a hyphen ("Plus-juncture" is the special transition the speaker makes between two compound nouns.). Even young native speakers of English can readily perceive semantic and phonological…

Teachers of the Newark, Delaware, school district developed Project C.A.R.E. (Content Area Reading Enrichment) to make reading a part of math, science, social studies, English and survival instruction. Project C.A.R.E. English activities are designed to make certain that reading is truly a part of all language arts by reinforcing five reading…