1 Introduction

Different kinds of writing involve variations in form, structure and grammar. Less attention has been given to punctuation, which is the focus of this article. Punctuation is an integral part of written English, as it is in many written languages. The topic has been discussed at length by distinguished linguists (e.g. Crystal, 2016) and by professional writers (e.g. Truss, 2003; Waterhouse, 1994). Yet, relatively little work has been done on children’s use of punctuation, despite its educational significance (Hall, 1999; Ravid & Tolchinsky, 2002). Even less work has been done on how children use punctuation in playful ways, the specific focus of the present article. The article is framed within an amalgamation of the long-established fields of educational linguistics (Crystal, 1993; Spolsky, 1978) and studies of rhetoric (Kinneavy, 1971; Kinneavy et al., 1976; Nelson & Kinneavy, 2003). This amalgamation allows the study to go beyond the parameters of what is generally known as ‘genre theory’, to allow specific ‘transcriptional’ features of the text (Smith, 1982) to be considered within the context of the young writer’s communicative aims.

2 Language play

Children frequently encounter language play. Despite this, the playful function of language has been a relatively neglected subject in research and scholarly publications, regardless of the positive contribution that it can make to language learning, although it has recently received a re-appraisal (Beard & Burrell, 2021). A definition that has enduring utility is that of Nilsen and Nilsen (1978, p. 28): ‘any use of language that is creative and unusual: that has purpose beyond the mere communication of basic information’. In a seminal book, Crystal (1998) argues that the playful function of language is important for our appreciation of language as a whole and suggests the term ‘ludic linguistics’ for its academic study. The focus of the field has been broadened through studies of specifically humorous word play (Blake, 2007) and of the use of clipped or ‘pet’ forms of familiar words (e.g. ‘barbie’ for barbecue, ‘uni’ for university, ‘choccie bickie’ for chocolate biscuit), what are linguistically known as hypocoristics (Kidd et al., 2011).

Responding to Crystal’s (1998) argument that a ‘ludic gap’ exists between the linguistic worlds of young children, and the lack of playful uses of language within educational settings, Beard and Burrell, (2021) undertook a wide-ranging review of the research on language play. This entailed examining research on language play in early childhood in both informal and more formal settings. Language play was found not only to be a core part of advertising, but also a common feature of everyday life. Playful aspects of grammar and punctuation were considered in relation to their relatively untapped potential for inclusion within the curriculum. Playful language found in literature for children was also examined, such as Roald Dahl’s invented words, the distinctive rhyme and rhythm of Julia Donaldson’s books and the captivating poetry of Charles Causley and Benjamin Zephaniah. The review also drew upon the authors’ funded research into the writing development of over a hundred 9–10-year olds in both narrative (Beard & Burrell, 2010) and persuasive (Beard et al., 2016) writing, where extensive use of unprompted language play was found. This included features such as humour, alliteration and rhyme, hyperbole, imagery, irony, onomatopoeia, puns and vivid vocabulary (Burrell & Beard, 2018a, b). (The latter research involves the same corpus of children’s writing as that reported upon in the present article).

Language play also featured in a review undertaken by Cremin and Maybin (2013) on language creativity (or the artful use of language). The authors drew upon multiple perspectives from several disciplines (anthropology, psychology, sociology and linguistics) that led to the identification of several themes or issues, including play and playfulness, narrative and collaboration, resistance and risk, as well as the language of possibility.

Features of language play can be found in many different types of text, including those which have been the focus of recent studies of writing development, imaginative narrative and persuasive description (Burrell & Beard, 2018a, b). These studies have revealed the insights afforded by considering the organisational modes of writing (such as narrative or description) within the context of its basic aims, such as to entertain or persuade (Kinneavy et al., 1976; Nelson & Kinneavy, 2003; see also Beard, 2000). The playful persuasive language of advertisements has long been evident, including their vivid vocabulary, short, catchy phrases and conversational grammar to achieve their persuasive aims (e.g. Cook, 1994, 2000). Narrative also provides rich source material for the addition of playful language, embellishing features of characters, actions, plots, tensions and resolutions (e.g. Crystal, 1998). Some writers have added to the entertainment value of literary narratives through the extravagant use of playful punctuation. Lukeman (2006) suggests there are limitless benefits of punctuation for the creative writer. For example, he argues that a writer can:

  • Add complexity through the use of brackets

  • Capture a certain dialogue through the use of dashes

  • Keep readers hooked through the use of section breaks.

The use of quotation marks affords writers the opportunity to include dialogue between fictional characters of all kinds in a wide variety of story types (adventure, action, mystery, romance, etc.). Character dialogue may include the use of additional punctuation besides quotation marks. For example, writers might incorporate:

  • Exclamation marks to indicate intensity in a range of emotions, sudden order, volume or emphasising a point

  • Italics or block capitals for emphasis

  • Ellipses to express hesitation in the character’s speech or create suspense

  • A dash to indicate a dramatic pause in a character’s speech

  • Question marks to sustain the dialogue and engage the reader.

3 What punctuation does

Punctuation helps us establish meaning in text through the use of a set of conventional signs. It performs several functions in written text:

  • Segmenting (spacing text elements apart)

  • Syntactic (dividing and hierarchy of elements of the sentence)

  • Emotional intoning (suggesting intonation)

  • Direct speech introduction (indicating dialogue)

  • Comment (indicating author’s interventions or additional notes). (Treccani Institute, 2012)

Ravid and Tolchinsky argue that a primary function of punctuation is ‘signalling nuances of semantic significance which might otherwise not be conveyed at all’ (2002, p. 438). According to Caracciolo (2014), punctuation serves a similar function to non-verbal communicative cues that accompany spoken language (see also Ravid and Tolchinsky, 2002, p. 437). In spoken language, these include volume (loud/soft) and prosody (intonation, rhythm, etc.). However, writers are constrained by their inability to use such ‘paralanguage’. Instead, punctuation and typographical layout help writers to achieve more nuanced meanings and convey emotions.

3.1 Playful approaches to punctuation

Punctuation has also long been associated with a sense of playfulness, and this has sometimes been extended to the invention of new punctuation marks. Henry Denham, the sixteenth-century English printer, invented the rhetorical question mark (see Fig. 1) which takes the form of a mirrored question mark. More recently, Martin K. Speckter, an American advertising executive, proposed the interrobang (see Fig. 1) in 1962 as a punctuation mark used to convey disbelief. This mark combines the function of a question mark (interrogative point) and an exclamation mark (known by printers as a ‘bang’)—hence the name ‘interrobang’. The State Library of New South Wales, in Australia, features the interrobang in its logo.

Fig. 1
figure 1

Some ‘playful’ innovations in punctuation

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Several punctuation marks have a particularly nuanced function, providing writers the opportunity to use them in playful ways, and the examples discussed below have informed the study reported in the present article. The exclamation mark can be used to indicate intensity in a range of emotions in writing (such as excitement, surprise, astonishment) as well as indicating sudden order, volume or emphasising a point. Exciting effects are created by writers of comics who playfully use several exclamation marks in a row. Sometimes, a large exclamation mark is placed above a character’s head (to indicate surprise)—or similarly a question mark (to indicate confusion). Popular children’s authors also capitalise on the different effects that punctuation can achieve (see, for example, the work of Roald Dahl, Andy Griffiths (in collaboration with illustrator, Terry Denton), Dav Pilkey and Lauren Child). Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton created the internationally successful Treetop series which are a combination of text and cartoon-style illustrations and incorporate numerous examples of playful punctuation. A close look at this series of story books reveals recurrent use of the following:

  • Round brackets for humorous asides (that clarify, explain or illustrate)

  • Block capitals for emphasis (including onomatopoeic words and interjections) sometimes inside speech balloons (also known as bubbles) or signs

  • Dashes for unfinished speech, explanations or expansions

  • Emboldened text inside speech balloons to emphasize volume

  • Ellipses to indicate a pause, show the trailing off of a thought or to indicate hesitating speech

  • Exclamation marks to emphasize a point, attract the reader’s attention or to give a command that are sometimes inside speech balloons

  • Italics for emphasis on particular words or parts of words (e.g. ‘un-birthday’ and ‘Electri-what-ified’) or to tell a story within a story

  • Question marks to ask readers a direct question, as part of character dialogue including inside speech balloons or as an isolated mark above a character illustration

  • Single quotation marks to highlight individual words

  • Underlining of words for emphasis in signs and also inside speech balloons.

The series also includes some unconventional punctuation. Multiple exclamation marks are included inside speech balloons for additional emphasis (both double and triple). The 65-Storey Treehouse also includes an interesting approximation to an interrobang, to convey disbelief both in the main text and also inside a speech balloon where the order of the marks is reversed.

Playful punctuation is also evident in advertising. Jefkins (1992, p. 269) notes how punctuation is a writing tool ‘which can be used to make copywriting a literary form different from any other’. Playful punctuation in advertisements is most frequently used in conventional ways as illustrated by the majority of the examples in Table 1. However, it can also be employed in unconventional ways (for example, ‘The Best Burgers Yet!!’ (Wendy’s)) where multiple exclamation marks are used. A further example is provided by the first example in Table 1 where asterisks are used to denote a particular letter.

Table 1 Professional advertisements incorporating playful punctuation
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In the digital world, text messaging is characterised by its own distinctive graphology in which punctuation marks (together with numbers and letters) are repurposed to create informal graphic representations of emotions called emoticons (formed from the English words emotion and icon). There are a broad variety of textisms (Drum, 2015), some using punctuation in unconventional and playful ways (for example, several exclamation or questions marks being used together).

3.2 Some previous research on children’s use of punctuation

While several studies have made comparisons between children’s narrative and persuasive writing (Cameron and Besser, 2004; Green, 2001; Jones and Myhill, 2007; Wyatt-Smith, 1997), few have taken punctuation as their focus. An exception is Dávalos Esparza (2016) who conducted a study into primary children’s understanding of the uses and functions of punctuation. The research examined children’s ideas about different marks: syntactic (for example, commas, full stops and semicolons) and expressive ones (for example, exclamation marks, question marks and ellipses). The study involved 60 pairs of children—from 7 to 12 years of age who were in second, fourth and sixth grades (10 pairs of each grade) of primary school in Mexico. Half the sample were asked to independently introduce punctuation into a comic strip (Dávalos-Esparza, 2017a), inspired by Aesop’s fable The Lion and the Mouse, while the other half were asked to introduce punctuation into the headlines of a children’s magazine cover that formed part advertising (Dávalos Esparza, 2017b). The comic strip used for the narrative task maintained the graphic design of the original and also the text from the direct dialogue between the characters (speech balloons). However, in the area intended for the narrator (boxes), qualifying adjectives, verbs expressing speech and action verbs expressing modality were introduced so that this relationship could be explored. Dávalos Esparza notes that the original comic strip contained an ‘abundance of expressive signs thanks to the dialogues between the characters where expressive punctuation marks serve as a means of representation of written conversational orality’ (2016, p. 35). The children’s magazine cover was designed with six headline boxes, a header containing the magazine’s name and type of edition, in addition to a bar code that included the price.

Working in pairs alongside a researcher, children of the same year group were then asked to discuss and justify their decisions for the punctuation that they had used to complete the task. Findings suggest an evolution in the children’s conceptualization of punctuation that progresses from punctuating by using graphic criteria to punctuating using textual criteria. Analysis of the data led to the identification of certain evolutionary indicators of the development of punctuation. Initial indicators include punctuation at the edges, graphic criteria focussing on order or visual highlight. In contrast, later indicators of development include combining the use of basic punctuation with expressive forms (question marks and exclamation marks) in almost all areas of the text; choosing one mark—among several—to create an effect on the reader or to change a word’s meaning. The findings from her study also suggest that primary school children employ clues from some categories of words which guide their decisions about the choice of punctuation marks to use that best reflects the semantic and/or discursive function in the text.

4 The present study

The present study extends recent work on language play in children’s writing where extensive unprompted use of language play was found in children’s narrative (Burrell & Beard, 2018a) and persuasive writing (Burrell & Beard, 2018b). On further reflection, it became apparent that this playful use of language was often enhanced through the children’s use of punctuation. The present study seeks to examine the contribution the children’s use of punctuation makes to their writing. Similarly, Rudd (2012) has argued that the children’s author Roald Dahl frequently employed typographical innovation through the use of different fonts (including italics), capitalisation and reordering of layout to make it more memorable. Rudd draws parallels between Dahl’s writing and the qualities of advertising where particular consideration is given to language’s more oral features that he argues are frequently neglected in literature. Assonance, alliteration, puns and volume are examples of phonological elements cited by Rudd, with the latter being fulfilled orthographically in Dahl’s use of punctuation. Burrell and Beard, (2022b p. 6) include a list of Dahl’s recurrent use of particular punctuation to achieve certain effects. The present study seeks to examine how punctuation is used by young writers in standard ways but serves important roles in more playful communication. As children’s punctuation use has not been extensively studied, the analysis undertaken in the present study included the children’s use of a broad range of punctuation marks including unconventional use through combining marks. However, it omitted the use of basic punctuation (in the form of full stops and commas) as these are not granted the value of ‘expressive’ (Dávalos Esparza, 2016) and are likely to be included in studies examining more general aspects of writing development. Throughout this article, we collectively refer to such punctuation as ‘playful punctuation’.

The data are from a parent study, a larger investigation into the development of the narrative and persuasive writing of 112 9–10-year olds (Year 5) from five English schools in the UK from a range of socio-economic catchments, using a repeat design. The schools all followed the statutory national curriculum over a 12-month period. In line with the standardised tasks used, the original investigation took account of five constituents of writing: purpose and organisation; grammar, vocabulary and style; punctuation; spelling; and handwriting. Although aggregate attainment scores were used in selecting the pupil sub-sample (see below), the present article addresses in particular the children’s use of playful punctuation in relation to the purpose and organisational features of the writing and aspects of grammar, vocabulary and style.

4.1 Method

The standardised assessment used to investigate the writing of both the imaginative narrative and the persuasive description was Literacy Impact Test B (Twist and Brill, 2000). It involves writing:

  1. 1.

    An imaginative narrative (entitled ‘Breakfast Surprise’) about a surprise reward in the form of a gift, from collecting cereal tokens. The task is supported with a teacher introduction that is set out in the Test Guide. The story prompt for the task briefly introduces a character, ‘Alex’, who receives an unexpected cereal packet gift, which ‘wasn’t what was expected’. Children are then invited to use this idea as the basis for a short story.

  2. 2.

    A persuasive description (entitled ‘The Toffee Tower’) for a new dessert called the Toffee Tower. The context of the writing is a café menu, where the description will accompany a picture of the dessert. Children are told in the prompt, read aloud by the teacher, that the purpose of the description is to (i) inform the reader about the contents of the dessert and (ii) persuade the reader to try it.

4.2 Participants

The aggregate attainment scores were used to identify a 33% sub-sample (n = 38) from the parent study (16 boys; 22 girls). The sample comprised the scripts from the pupils whose writing had the highest and lowest aggregate scores and the highest gains over the 12 months. This sample size helped data manageability, given the micro-analytical focus of the investigation, in which each and every item of punctuation was considered. The variations in the use of playful punctuation between the three attainment groups have been reported elsewhere (Burrell & Beard, 2022a, b).

4.3 Procedure

In line with the assessment guide, the children were given 30 min to complete the narrative writing task and 10 min to complete the persuasive writing task. The prompts make no mention of the use of playful language or punctuation. The tasks were administered twice, first in year 5 (when the classes were 9–10-year olds) and then again a year later, when the children were in year 6.

4.4 Analysis

The test guide provides a numeric scheme focused on the five constituents of writing outlined earlier and applied to the persuasive and the narrative tasks (Twist and Brill, 2000, p. v). The scheme and its administration have also been discussed in a previous publication (Beard et al., 2016).

In order to refer unambiguously to the textual structure of the narrative scripts, two frameworks were used, according to a best fit approach: either the five-part framework of narrative as outlined by Graham (1997) comprising ‘opening, inciting moment, development, denouement and ending’ or, for less elaborate texts, Martin and Rothery’s (1980) three-part framework, comprising ‘orientation, disruption (sequence of events) and resolution’.

Similarly, in the persuasive writing, scripts were scrutinised for their use of a three-part overall framework (introduction, main description and concluding appeal), outlined by Martin (1989) and Cope and Kalantzis (1993), as well for the use of an opening statement or ‘headline’, followed by such features as arguments and evidence and re-statements of a point of view.

The principal research questions were:

  • What features of playful punctuation are evident in children’s narrative and persuasive writing?

  • How does the use of this punctuation vary between the narrative and persuasive writing?

  • How is this punctuation used to achieve different effects in the two kinds of writing?

In answering the first research question, ‘What features of playful punctuation are evident in children’s narrative and persuasive writing?’, all the anonymised scripts were re-read and all forms of playful punctuation were categorised and tabulated. Only punctuation that was used by the children themselves was included in the analysis (with any missing punctuation being overlooked).

As brackets and (single and double) quotation marks only occur in pairs, each pairing was recorded as one occurrence, for example, brackets—All day he played on it (except for tea and dinner)—and quotation marks (single)—scrumptious ‘toffee balls’ and (double) “Mum, I’m going to the post-box.”. Children’s use of capital letters (to express emphasis) was recorded as one occurrence where all the letters in an abbreviation (e.g. T.V.) or a single word or consecutive words appeared in block capitals (i.e. a TOFFEE TOWER). When capitals were not used in this way, they were not included in the analysis (for example, It’s The Toffee Tower). Where children used multiple exclamation marks together, each mark was recorded as an individual occurrence. One child used compound punctuation in the form of a dash after a colon (i.e.:–). In this instance, the dash was not counted in the analysis.

In order to answer the second research question, concerning how the use of playful punctuation varies between the two kinds of writing, stacked bar charts were compiled from the aggregates of playful punctuation occurrences from the two administrations of each writing tasks and these are shown in Fig. 2. According to authoritative sources, stacked bar charts are a visualization method that is particularly useful for presenting the sums of data attributes while allowing users to see how the values of these attributes contribute to the totals (Indratmo et al., 2018; Streit and Gehlenborg, 2014).

Fig. 2
figure 2

Frequency and distribution of children’s playful punctuation

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In order to answer the third research question, concerning how playful punctuation is used to achieve different effects in a specific kind of writing, further use was made of the earlier categorisations and tabulations that were undertaken to address the first research question.

4.5 Results

Figure 2 summarises the frequency and distribution of the children’s use of punctuation marks in the two writing tasks. More punctuation was used by the children in their imaginative narratives (n = 727) than in their persuasive descriptions (n = 156). Word counts were higher in the narrative writing, as the children had longer to complete the task, hence the use of more punctuation in this writing.

Figure 2 comprises a 100% stacked bar chart (Indratmo et al., 2018). This is similar to the classical stacked bar chart except that the length of each bar is identical. In this chart, a bar represents 100%, rather than indicating an actual value, and the bar segments represent the percentages of the whole (Brinton, 1939). This chart can be considered equivalent to multiple pie charts. A 100% stacked bar chart enables users to perform quick relative comparisons of individual attributes. Consider a dataset containing different kinds of languages spoken in a country and the numbers of people who speak these languages over the years. If we are interested in relative comparisons between these languages or finding trends in their use relative to the whole population, then using a 100% stacked bar chart to plot the dataset can help users see such patterns. For example, the graph may reveal that the percentages of English speakers in the country have increased rapidly in the last ten years. The 100% stacked bar charts, however, are not suitable for overall-attribute comparisons because every bar has the same length and consequently does not indicate which item is better.

Some punctuation marks were particularly evident in the narrative texts, most notably the use of quotation marks, exclamation marks and question marks. In contrast, exclamation marks, block capitals and brackets were particularly evident in the children’s persuasive writing.

There were few instances of brackets, asterisks, underlining and the interrobang being used in the children’s narratives, with the commercial @ sign and slash not featuring. The commercial @ sign, slash, ellipsis, asterisk, underlining and the dash were used infrequently in the children’s persuasive writing, with the interrobang not featuring.

4.5.1 Narrative writing and playful punctuation

Examples of playful punctuation use by the children are discussed below, ranked according to their frequency. Percentages are used to allow direct comparisons to be made on the frequency of use of particular punctuation marks in the narrative and persuasive texts. It is interesting to note that the examples include the writing of children from all three attainment groups.

Quotation marks

Quotation marks accounted for 61% of the children’s playful punctuation use in their imaginative narratives. Dialogue was used frequently and served several purposes. For instance, Rhona used dialogue to advance her story’s plot (‘“Mum, I’m going to the post-box.” He shouted.’) where Alex rushes to the postbox with his envelope containing the required number of tokens for his free gift. In contrast, Theo used dialogue to elaborate on one of the characters: ‘“Who are you?” Alex asked the boy. “I’m Edward VIII, I’m the son of chalses I,” answered Edward’.’ Different again was Helen, who used dialogue to add drama (‘“Oh my goodness!” Alex heard her mother shriek’). Single quotation marks were sometimes used for other purposes, including to highlight the name of a film or to draw attention to a particular word or phrase. (All the children’s names in the present article are pseudonyms.)

Exclamation marks

Exclamation marks accounted for 15% of the children’s playful punctuation use in their imaginative narratives. Rhona’s use of an interjection in the opening sentence of her story was made more impactful through the use of the exclamation mark that has been placed directly after it (‘“Yes!” Alex shouted, he’d finally collected enough tokens to send off for his free gift.’). These were typically part of character dialogue, although Max ended his story with an exclamation mark to create humour: ‘for the rest of his life he ate Bread!’ Elizabeth C chose to end her year 5 story with two consecutive exclamation marks (‘At this rate, he could own the world!!’) whereas Susan used several (‘The end!!!!!!’).

Question marks

Question marks accounted for 9% of the children’s playful punctuation use in their imaginative narratives. Direct questions were mostly used as part of the dialogue between the main characters, as illustrated in the opening of Tony’s story: ‘“When will it be here?” Alex moaned to his mum.’ Direct questions were also included as part of the narration where they were used to sustain tension and provoke thought: Lata wrote ‘As he ripped open the package, he felt something furry on his knuckles, what was it?’; Luke used a question mark at the end of his story to create uncertainty: ‘However the ruby ended up in a museum in Manchester and it is still there to this day. I think?’.

Block capitals

Block capitals accounted for 5% of the children’s playful punctuation use in their imaginative narratives. Ethan used block capitals for emphasis at the end of his story: ‘NO ONE EVER SAW HIM AGAIN.’ Other examples included to indicate volume in a character’s voice (‘“YES” shouted Alex.’ (Octavia) and ‘“NO not in there”’ (Helen). Additional emphasis was created by Rhona by combining block capitals with underlining and an exclamation mark: ‘“WHAT!” she suddenly sat bolt upright’.

Ellipsis

Ellipses accounted for 4% of the children’s playful punctuation use in their imaginative narratives. Natalie used an elongated ellipsis in the opening of her story to create a pause for effect: ‘He opened the parcel and to his surprise, it was ………… a game!’. Ellipses were also used to indicate hesitating speech: ‘“I… I … I drowned, didn’t I?”’ (Georgina) and ‘“Look Alex if you were expecting something big then ….. then”’ (Tony). The ellipsis was also employed to show a trail off into silence, such as in Bryony’s story about a magic pen: ‘Alex agreed and then in class he used it – as he wrote with it on the paper, something extrordinary happened…..’ Sometimes an ellipsis was used to create a cliff hanger type ending: ‘The driver turned his head towards Alex and…….’ (Bryony); ‘But he dosen’t know that properly does he ………….’ (Susan); ‘find out in Part two ….’ (Jack).

Dashes

Dashes accounted for 2% of the children’s playful punctuation use in their imaginative narratives. Mary used a dash to indicate unfinished speech in her story: ‘I can do anything you want me to, but–” Began Robo Docter.’ Helen used a dash to indicate an expansion and partial explanation when Alex rushes upstairs and opens a parcel containing her gift: ‘When she had it undone she gave a cry of amazement – for sitting inside was a little.. well……. what was it?’.

A year later, Helen uses a dash to convey the moment of realisation when Alex thinks she has an idea to resolve the problem created from using vanishing powder (‘Then – ahah!’). Bryony frequently included dashes in her year 6 story. These served a variety of purposes, including to insert a break in a sentence to replace a colon which is offering more information about something mentioned previously in the sentence (‘Alex and Hayley were already awake and off to school – walking with their friends.’). Dashes were also used by Bryony as an alternative to brackets and commas to set off a strong interruption (‘When they all climbed on board the bus, they were all very excited – like a hungry dog getting it’s food – to busy deciding what to do.’).

Brackets

Brackets accounted for 1% of the children’s playful punctuation use in their imaginative narratives. Round brackets served to enclose additional information in the form of an extra comment, a clarification or an explanation. For example, Rhona used brackets to add extra comment about Alex’s mother in the opening of her story: ‘His mum, Carla, picked one off her desktop, which was covered in important papers (she was an accountant), and gave it to Alex.’ Brackets were also used for clarification (‘All day he played on it (except for tea and dinner) and didn’t go outside, as he didn’t feel like sharing it.’ (Lee).

Asterisk

Asterisks accounted for 1% of the children’s playful punctuation use in their imaginative narratives. Rhona used the asterisk in both her stories. In year 5, the asterisk was used to refer to a footnote at the bottom of the same page: ‘He kept on wishing things,* but then he said, “I wish I could go to Mitharj, so I could,… what?!”’ ‘* but they never worked’. In year 6, an asterisk mark was used to refer to an explanatory note that was given at the bottom of the same page: ‘The post was here! Suddenly, Barker * barked, as the morning post was slipped through the door.’ Georgina used a line of asterisks on three occasions in her year 6 story to indicate that a period of time has passed (similar to the function of an asterism (⁂)).

Underlining

Underlining accounted for 1% of the children’s playful punctuation use in their imaginative narratives. Max used double underlining to emphasise (‘collect 5 tokens’) the irony contained in the resolution of his story. Rhona combined underlining (‘“WHAT!” she suddenly sat bolt upright’) with both block capitals and an exclamation mark to indicate volume and add drama in the final dialogue exchange in her story.

Interrobang

The interrobang accounted for 1% of the children’s playful punctuation use in their imaginative narratives. The interrobang was generally used to express disbelief in the form of a question. For instance, Carol included one in the opening paragraph of her story after Alex’s mother heard a bang from the living room: ‘“What is going on?!” screamed mum.’

4.5.2 Persuasive writing and playful punctuation

The three-part overall framework (introduction, main description and concluding appeal) that often characterises advertisement writing (Twist and Brill, 2000) was regularly employed by the children. Within this organisational framework, a variety of playful punctuation was used by the children. Examples of playful punctuation use by the children, ranked according to their frequency, included the following.

Exclamation marks

Exclamation marks accounted for 48% of the children’s playful punctuation use in their persuasive descriptions. Rhona’s use of the exclamation mark expresses enthusiasm to meet consumer demand for the product (‘the more people buy, the more we’ll be able to make!’). Luke used one to attract attention: ‘and where do you get all this at Treats café for just £1.55!’ Susan used repeated exclamation marks in her title for additional emphasis along with the use of capital letters for the dessert’s name to attract attention: ‘TOFFEE TOWER!!!!!!’ In contrast, Nathaniel used several to show strong feeling: ‘you scream! I scream! we all scream for ice-cream!!!’ whereas Ben used several at the end of a command: ‘by it now before its gone!!!!’ The exclamation mark was often combined with other punctuation especially block capitals. Susan used them in this way to give a command: ‘Get them before their gone! NOW!’.

Block capitals

Block capitals accounted for 19% of the children’s playful punctuation use in their persuasive descriptions. Block capitals were used for impact. Jack used them to create an eye-catching title (‘TOFFEE TOWER’) whereas Denise used them to emphasize the dessert’s value for money (‘for only £2.50 FOR 2.’). Mary used block capitals to give a command in her concluding appeal to the reader: ‘Get yours NOW!’. Carol’s final concluding appeal was centre-set on the page. Written in capital letters, the hyperbolic sentence included an exclamation mark for drama: ‘THE TOFFEE TOWER IT’S THE GREATEST!’.

Brackets

Brackets accounted for 9% of the children’s playful punctuation use in their persuasive descriptions. Round brackets served to enclose additional information. Luke used brackets to add extra comment: ‘your choice of ice cream (chocolate, bannana or vanila)’. Tony incorporated brackets into his description to add information and to illustrate via an example: ‘At the top of the ice-cream there is oozing melted toffe (that tastes delicious with vinilla ice-cream, just a tip).’ He ended his main description with another set of parentheses, but this time to clarify after he had used an asterisk: ‘also, a waffer is on the * top (unfortunatly not toffe flavour)’.

Quotation marks

Quotation marks accounted for 7% of the children’s playful punctuation use in their persuasive descriptions. They were used around the name of the dessert (as an alternative to underlining): ‘Why not try our new delicious dessert called ‘Toffee Tower’ it has toffee flavoured ice-cream, with two chocolate flakes in it.’ (Natalie); ‘and also for the adults a recipe sheet of how to make a ‘Toffee Tower’’ and ‘so get down today, dont forget its called ‘The Toffee Tower.’’ (both Daisy); ‘this new ice cream called ‘Toffee Tower’’ (Octavia); ‘Try the knew ‘Toffee Tower’’ (Luke).

Question marks

Question marks accounted for 6% of the children’s playful punctuation use in their persuasive descriptions. Lata began her writing with a question to attract the reader: ‘Do you crave for large toffee filled deserts?’ Helen also began her writing with a direct question: ‘Why not try our delicious new toffee tower?’. Carol used a question at the beginning of her main description to sustain the reader’s interest: ‘Whats in the toffee tower your asking?’.

Dashes

Dashes accounted for 3% of the children’s playful punctuation use in their persuasive descriptions. Noah used a dash to represent ‘out of’ rather than the more frequently used diagonal: ‘10 – 10 people loved it’. Ruby included an invented telephone number which included a dash: ‘call 555 – 2983 to make a resavation’.

Underlining

Underlining accounted for 3% of the children’s playful punctuation use in their persuasive descriptions. This was used to emphasize certain words. Charlie used underlining as an alternative to quotation marks (‘the toffee tower’ centre-set on the page) to emphasize the name of the dessert. Helen’s text included some underlining for emphasis within her expanded descriptive detail: ‘& two scrumpcious, fudge-centred chocolate covered flakes’. Rhona used underlining together with the inclusion of an exclamation mark for drama: ‘You must hurry, though!’ Elizabeth B used multiple underlining (‘Biyit!’ centre set on the page) combined with an exclamation mark for persuasive appeal.

Asterisk

Asterisks accounted for 2% of the children’s playful punctuation use in their persuasive descriptions. Tony ended his main description with an asterisk and a set of parentheses to clarify: ‘also, a waffer is on the * top (unfortunatly not toffe flavour)’. Luke’s final and engaging appeal to the reader was supported by some small print and the use of an asterisk and an exclamation mark: ‘try this knew ‘Toffe Tower’* befor they all sell out and they have none left!’ to slip in an aside from the author: ‘* I’me off to get one’.’ [written as a footnote, near the bottom of the page].

At sign

The commercial @ sign accounted for 1% of the children’s playful punctuation use in their persuasive descriptions. Max used this symbol to stand for a word: ‘only sold @ treats café’.

Ellipsis

Ellipses accounted for 1% of the children’s playful punctuation use in their persuasive descriptions. Imran included an ellipsis which he used in his final appeal to the reader: ‘Come to the toffee tower and feel like your at home… Yes!’.

Slash

The slash accounted for 1% of the children’s playful punctuation use in their persuasive descriptions. Bryony used a (forward) slash to separate alternatives: ‘when you lick it/put it in your mouth, it starts dissolving.’

4.5.3 Playful punctuation used to achieve different effects

Playful punctuation was used by the children to create different effects in their writing. In narrative, it was used to confirm and embellish the narrative structure where the principal aim is to entertain (Kinneavy, 1971), using time sequences and elements such as settings, character(s) and some form of plot (see Table 2). Within this structure, this playful punctuation contributed to the creation of an engaging plot that captured the reader’s attention by helping to build suspense, signal shock and surprise, express disbelief, add drama, advance the story’s plot, indicate character’s thinking, suggest intonation, express emphasis, give a command, show an unfinished thought, etc.

Table 2 Some examples of playful punctuation use for effect (in narrative)
Full size table

In the children’s persuasive writing, playful punctuation was used to confirm and embellish the persuasive structure where the principal aim is to persuade (Kinneavy, 1971), using elements such as a ‘hook’, key information and a slogan (see Table 3). Within this structure, this playful punctuation contributed to the creation of a convincing persuasive description by helping to draw the reader’s attention to particular words, directly address the reader, emphasize key features of the dessert, add persuasive points and create a memorable slogan.

Table 3 Some examples of playful punctuation use for effect (in persuasive)
Full size table

5 Discussion

In answering the first research question, ‘What features of playful punctuation are evident in children’s narrative and persuasive writing?’, it was evident that playful forms of punctuation were incorporated into both text types. In narrative, this punctuation included those frequently found in published fiction for children (such as quotation, exclamation and question marks) to those less commonly used (such as the interrobang, underlining, asterisk and brackets). In persuasive writing, this punctuation included features frequently found in professional advertisements (such as exclamation marks and block capitals) to those less commonly used (such as the asterisk and @ sign). Although the ellipsis is often used in advertising (Todd, 1995, p. 71), it was only used on one occasion in the children’s persuasive descriptions.

In relation to the second research question, ‘How does the use of this punctuation vary between the narrative and persuasive writing?’, there were clear differences in how children used specific punctuation marks. In narrative, quotation marks were predominately used by the children to enclose quotations of direct speech. However, in the persuasive descriptions, they were used by the children to draw attention to words giving them special status similar in the way that italics can pick out key words. This reflected awareness that a single mark can have more than one function and its use can achieve different effects. In the narratives, both exclamation marks and question marks featured predominately within character dialogue.

In tackling an advertisement, the children seemed to sense that conventional uses of language might be sometimes modified to create a certain effect, for example, the use of multiple exclamation marks to add even more emphasis. Multiple exclamation marks were far more in evidence in the persuasive task than in the narrative. In contrast, the interrobang featured in the children’s narrative writing on four occasions but not at all in the persuasive writing. The children’s use of unconventional punctuation when completing a standardised task might be considered risk taking (Cremin and Maybin, 2013). Multiple consecutive exclamation marks, although typographically effective, are often considered inappropriate (although they are frequently used in informal contexts such as social media). However, they added strong emphasis to Helen’s year 6 imaginative narrative enabling her to express despair and astonishment. Elizabeth C chose to end her year 5 story with two consecutive exclamation marks (‘At this rate, he could own the world!!’) whereas Susan used several (‘The end!!!!!!’ (year 5)) reflecting the individual’s stylistic judgement about how many to use at any one time. They also added to the effectiveness of the children’s persuasive descriptions. For example, Susan used them in her title for additional emphasis along with capital letters for the dessert’s name to attract attention: ‘TOFFEE TOWER!!!!!!’ Nathaniel, in contrast, used several to show strong feeling (‘you scream! I scream! we all scream for ice-cream!!!’) whereas Ben used them at the end of a command (‘by it now before its gone!!!!’).

In relation to the third research question, ‘How is this punctuation used to achieve different effects in the two kinds of writing?’, a number of different elements were evident. In the children’s stories, these elements reflected some of the defining characteristics of imaginative narrative, such as the following:

  • Engage the reader: ‘“What is going on?!” screamed mum.’ (Carol); ‘Alex stared, disappointed, at the tiny packet of powder on her bed. “Vanishing powder!” she scoffed “as if it’ll really work!”.’ (Helen).

  • Establish the setting: ‘You and all your friends can go to Ghostland Themepark – if you dare!’ (Bryony); ‘“Oh my god I’m in world war two,” said Alex, “I want to go home.”’ (Carol).

  • Add drama: ‘“WHAT!” she suddenly sat bolt upright’ (Rhona); ‘As he ripped open the package, he felt something furry on his knuckles, what was it?’ (Lata); ‘“SURPRISE!” shouted his mum.’ (Theo).

  • Build tension: ‘“so what, I talk! No biggy.”’ and ‘Alex was REALLY excited.’ (both Elizabeth C); ‘“The baby’s gone!”’ (Helen).

  • Resolve conflict: ‘However the ruby ended up in a museum in Manchester and it is still there to this day. I think?’ (Luke); ‘From that day on he new not to collect tokens at all!’ (Jessica).

In the children’s advertisements, where there was a need to persuade the reader to try the new dessert, the use of playful punctuation reflected some of the functions that successful advertisements have to fulfil (Jefkins, 1992):

  • Attract attention: ‘Try the knew ‘Toffee Tower’ the knew tasty desert that will get your tastebuds tingling.’ (Luke); ‘Why not try our new delicious dessert called ‘Toffee Tower’’ (Natalie).

  • Stimulate interest: ‘The Toffee Tower is a delicious new dessert full of scrumptious ‘toffee balls’.’ (Rhona); ‘Whats in the toffee tower your asking?’ (Carol).

  • Create desire: ‘Do you crave for large toffee filled deserts?’ (Lata); ‘(Do you feel like eating this yet?)’ (Bryony).

  • Inspire confidence: ‘10 – 10 people loved it’ (Noah); ‘will definately be the most delightful thing you have ever tasted!’ (Helen).

  • Provoke action: ‘Get them before their gone! NOW!’ (Susan); ‘so get them while you can!.’ (Samuel).

These findings suggest that different kinds of writing may be distinguished not only by form, structure and grammar, as outlined at the beginning of the present article, but also by the opportunities that they afford children in their use of playful punctuation. The range of playful punctuation used is in part a reflection of children’s literacy skills and the extent to which children have imbibed features from their reading and the stylistic features of ‘real-world’ texts; however, this range is also significantly affected by the linguistic elements and rhetorical functions that help fulfil children’s communicative aims in undertaking different kinds of writing.

Differences were found to exist between the three attainment groups that comprised the sample (see Burrell & Beard, 2022a, b for further details). In the persuasive task, children in the highest attaining group successfully incorporated playful punctuation within the three-part framework whilst also demonstrating a lively, animated and confident style. For example, punctuation was chosen for strong persuasive effect by Lata who wrote: ‘Do you crave for large toffee filled desserts? Does it make your mouth water for large ice-creams filled with all your favourite things?’ The writing of children in this group was characterised by an awareness of the effect the children needed to achieve on the reader. For example, Rhona combined the use of underlining and an exclamation mark for persuasive impact: ‘You must hurry, though!’ Children in the high gains subgroup also used punctuation appropriately for persuasive effect. In contrast, children in the lowest attaining group were less successful in using punctuation for playful purposes. None of the children in this subgroup included quotation marks and question marks that featured in the writing of the highest attaining children (along with the less frequent use of the asterisk, ellipsis and the slash). However, one child did include the commercial @ sign which was not evident in the writing of the other subgroups.

There were also noticeable differences between the three subgroups in the children’s imaginative narrative writing. There were far more instances of punctuation use among the highest attaining children. This was particularly the case for quotation marks—where children’s writing was characterised by more lively character dialogue that created playful communication between Alex and other fictional characters. Children in the highest attaining group also included a broader range of punctuation marks that included asterisks, dashes and the interrobang which were not found in any of the narratives of the lowest attaining group. Children in the lowest attainment group were less successful in using punctuation for playful purposes and demonstrated a less secure knowledge of punctuation in general. This was reflected in the children’s scores for punctuation in the Literacy Impact test (Beard & Burrell, 2010). Hall (1999) remarks how graphic punctuation can persist even among older children. This was the case for Ethan where graphic punctuation was evident twice in his year 5 narrative through the use of end-of-page punctuation. The lowest attaining children were least likely to include playful forms of punctuation. In contrast, the punctuation of those children judged most developed in their writing (i.e. those in the other two groups) was more playful and included later indicators of development (Dávalos-Esparza, 2017a, b) such as the ability to select punctuation to create an effect on the reader.

As there has been little linguistic research into children’s use of punctuation, the present article provides a timely reminder of how children can use punctuation in playful ways, even when not prompted to do so. The key influence appears to be engagement in tasks that are motivating and that have ecological validity, in line with the ingenuity found in advertisements and children’s literature. The findings may be used to raise awareness in education of how punctuation may be used creatively. The findings may also be used to link to the wider literature on language play, as recently discussed by Beard and Burrell (2021), and how different kinds of writing may be distinguished by opportunities for language play in general.

One final point of interest is that, in the past, a distinction has sometimes been made between composition and transcription, with punctuation being considered part of the latter (e.g. Smith, 1982). However, the study reported in the present article illustrates how playful punctuation can also contribute to the composition of a text and how young writers can use it to contribute to the meaning, purpose and appropriateness of the text for its intended audience.

6 Conclusion

It is important to note that this was an exploratory study that had some limitations. These include the relatively small sample, the arbitrary and limited nature of the task and the lack of choice in the tasks the children were asked to complete. It is highly likely that an alternative task (or even the one reported above) would have resulted in an even more playful use of punctuation if it were to be completed under normal classroom conditions. Context was a limiting factor as there were some punctuation and typographical features that the children were not able to use (e.g. italic is sometimes employed in narrative as a means of emphasis in printed text, whereas in the present study, children used block capitals or underlining). If children had completed the writing using a computer, it is likely that they would have included other typographical features.

Despite these limitations, the findings are instead a testament to children’s ingenuity in using punctuation in creative and imaginative ways to embellish their writing. Findings from this study indicate that 9–11-year-old children find both narrative and persuasive writing to offer a range of opportunities for creative and playful uses of punctuation, even though they were not prompted to consider using this. The intuitive recognition of these opportunities led to children demonstrating how they could make numerous stylistic choices. These choices enhanced the children’s imaginative writing, helping them to support the writer’s intention in a similar way that paralanguage does in speech using tone of voice, hesitation noises and body language to convey a message. More nuanced meanings and emotions were conveyed using a broad range of punctuation.

Playful punctuation is an under-researched aspect of children’s writing development. Future work needs to identify the writing tasks that enable the use of playful punctuation to flourish. Playing with language can help children to appreciate language as a whole and is not solely confined to writing and reading. Children encounter language play all around them and delight in engaging in it—whether this involves the telling of jokes, the subversion of a familiar rhyme or attempting to repeat tongue twisters (Ackerley, 2002; Chukovsky, 1963; Grugeon, 2014; Opie and Opie, 1959). These wider oral encounters provide rich evidence of children’s language creativity something which educators can build upon within the classroom setting leading in turn to more sophisticated language use and increased awareness of the way language varies according to differing contexts and purposes.