30
Mar

New exclamation mark rules

Primary school pupils will only get credit for using exclamation marks in sentences beginning with ‘what’ or ‘how’, under strict new UK Government rules.

Ministers have been accused of “taking writing back to the 19th century” after issuing the restrictive new guidance over what counts as an “exclamation”.

“For the purposes of the English grammar, punctuation and spelling test, an exclamation is required to start with What or How,” the guidance for Key Stage 1 and 2 national curriculum tests states.

Children are expected to be able to recognise and write examples of exclamation sentences, and will not get any credit for using exclamation marks in other ways, examiners have been told.

The guidance suggests “What a lovely day!” or “How exciting!” as acceptable examples.

“A sentence that ends in an exclamation mark, but which does not have one of the grammatical patterns shown above, is not considered to be creditworthy as an exclamation (e.g. exclamatory statements, exclamatory imperatives, exclamatory interrogatives or interjections),” it says.

A source at the Department for Education denied the move was intended to curb the proliferation of the exclamation mark in text messages and social media.

The curriculum also acknowledges that an exclamation mark can be used in other ways such as to give emphasis to a statement or command. A source said: “We’re not telling pupils to not use exclamation marks. The guidance is on what marks can and can’t be awarded in these tests.”

John Sutherland, emeritus Lord Northcliffe professor of modern English literature at University College London, told the Sunday Times that the guidance was “ridiculous”.

“It is nonsense of the highest degree. I am not surprised teachers wearily sigh when these instructions come down from Whitehall,” he said.

Writing on SchoolsWeek, Ben Fuller, a lead moderator, said the Standards and Testing Agency had told moderators they would “need to see evidence of seven-year-old children using a very specific definition of ‘exclamation sentences’ in their writing to be judged to be working at the expected standard” and said the changes “take writing back to the 19th century”.

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “A high-quality education in English – and the ability to communicate effectively – is an important part of the government’s commitment to extend opportunity to all.

“The national curriculum programme of study for English writing at KS2 states that pupils should learn how to use sentences with different forms, for example, as a statement, question, exclamation and command. A sentence that takes the form of an exclamation starts with ‘What’ or ‘How’ and uses the syntax of an exclamation.”

Source: The Guardian