Punctuation Essay

It is unnecessary for the University to be more permissive; we should maintain the standard formal academic writing that is currently recommended. This form of English requires proper punctuation and grammar, which helps students to understand and express ideas easily and clearly. This usage also contributes to students’ future prospects, but to be an expert in English it is also important to be able to spontaneously switch between academic English and the language that is used within social media. The language of social media does not conform to the formal academic language and in comparison to formal English the language of social media could be excessively confusing for students, for whom it is essential for students to use a correct and …show more content…
One may argue that punctuation is excessively confusing, but in fact a piece of text without punctuation would be even more confusing. Rebecca Hillary, in her book: Write good: punctuation, claims that lack of punctuation and syntax leaves meaning very unclear and makes general hard reading for the reader (12). It is extremely important in the University to write in a certain format that is understandable by the reader - in other words, the marker - for which well-placed punctuation marks and correct grammar is necessary. As an essential feature of the English language, punctuation is what alters the meaning and creates grammatical sense in a piece of writing. For example, ‘A woman: without her, man is nothing’ and ‘A woman without her man is nothing’, looking at the sentence above, we are able to see by removing all the punctuation mark the same sentence possess exactly opposite meanings (The Importance of Punctuation). Therefore, to portray and grasp ideas effectively correct grammar and accurate use of punctuation are essential so the University should insist to retain the standard format for academic writing rather than to relax the variety of English that it