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The exclamation mark in children's writing.

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Title: The exclamation mark in children's writing.
Authors: Burrell, Andrew1 (AUTHOR), Beard, Roger1 (AUTHOR) r.beard@ucl.ac.uk
Source: Language & Education: An International Journal. Jul2026, Vol. 40 Issue 4, p773-795. 23p.
Subject Terms: *Children's writings, *Learning, *Literacy education, *Rhetoric, Punctuation, Linguistics, Literary form
Abstract: Within English punctuation, the exclamation mark attracts more controversy than any other, with some professional writers nearly proscribing its use. Yet it holds a special status within communication, sometimes conveying a specific alert simply through its appearance. However, its role in education remains under researched. Framed within educational linguistics and rhetoric, a study was undertaken of children's use of exclamation marks, using data derived from a parent study. The parent study comprised a repeat design investigation of 112 9–11-year-old children tackling two genres, an imaginative narrative and a persuasive description, using a standardised writing task. The scripts comprised the NFER Literacy Impact Writing Test B, completed near the end of the children's second terms in Year 5 and Year 6. The aggregate attainment scores from the two administrations of the test were used to identify a 33% sub-sample (n = 38) comprising three attainment-based subgroups whose scripts were subjected to further analysis. Exclamation mark usage was coded by contextual function, enabling comparisons across attainment groups and genres. Findings underline the importance of genre and contextual function when judging appropriateness. Further research can inform how children's use of this element of punctuation may indicate general literacy development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Language & Education: An International Journal is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Education Research Complete
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  Availability: 0
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DbLabel: Education Research Complete
An: 194165753
AccessLevel: 6
PubType: Academic Journal
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  Data: The exclamation mark in children's writing.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Burrell%2C+Andrew%22">Burrell, Andrew</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Beard%2C+Roger%22">Beard, Roger</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> r.beard@ucl.ac.uk</i>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Language+%26+Education%3A+An+International+Journal%22">Language & Education: An International Journal</searchLink>. Jul2026, Vol. 40 Issue 4, p773-795. 23p.
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  Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Children's+writings%22">Children's writings</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Learning%22">Learning</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Literacy+education%22">Literacy education</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Rhetoric%22">Rhetoric</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Punctuation%22">Punctuation</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Linguistics%22">Linguistics</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Literary+form%22">Literary form</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
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  Data: Within English punctuation, the exclamation mark attracts more controversy than any other, with some professional writers nearly proscribing its use. Yet it holds a special status within communication, sometimes conveying a specific alert simply through its appearance. However, its role in education remains under researched. Framed within educational linguistics and rhetoric, a study was undertaken of children's use of exclamation marks, using data derived from a parent study. The parent study comprised a repeat design investigation of 112 9–11-year-old children tackling two genres, an imaginative narrative and a persuasive description, using a standardised writing task. The scripts comprised the NFER Literacy Impact Writing Test B, completed near the end of the children's second terms in Year 5 and Year 6. The aggregate attainment scores from the two administrations of the test were used to identify a 33% sub-sample (n = 38) comprising three attainment-based subgroups whose scripts were subjected to further analysis. Exclamation mark usage was coded by contextual function, enabling comparisons across attainment groups and genres. Findings underline the importance of genre and contextual function when judging appropriateness. Further research can inform how children's use of this element of punctuation may indicate general literacy development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
  Label:
  Group: Ab
  Data: <i>Copyright of Language & Education: An International Journal is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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        Value: 10.1080/09500782.2026.2642690
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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        PageCount: 23
        StartPage: 773
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      – SubjectFull: Children's writings
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Learning
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Literacy education
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Rhetoric
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Punctuation
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      – SubjectFull: Linguistics
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      – SubjectFull: Literary form
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              M: 07
              Text: Jul2026
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              Y: 2026
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