Where have all the full stops gone? The dangers of striving for University-level punctuation.

Abstract

This opinion piece makes connections between common strategies currently being outworked in primary schools, and a growing perception amongst lecturers that a significant minority of undergraduate students have difficulty with punctuation, a difficulty which can render their written submissions very hard to read. This piece offers possible explanation, citing the punctuation pyramid, and the long term effects of a primary education policy that encourages primary-aged children to up-level their writing, a practice which many students bring to their undergraduate studies.