Resumo

BARBOZA, Yazmir. The teaching of punctuation in  Stage i and ii of elementary education. Investigación y Postgrado [online]. 2008, vol.23, n.1, pp.317-343. ISSN 2244-7474.

The fact that in various occasions the scarce attention that the teaching of punctuation has received within the language system and furthermore that this problem is pointed out as one of the most frequent inadequacies observed in the writing records of the students of all levels seems to indicate a improper use of didactic strategies. Thus this study was set to establish the methodological orientation given to this issue in written language of the I and II Stage of Venezuelan Elementary Education.  To this end it was considered convenient to carry out the study from two methodological standpoints: it started with a documentary research and then it continued with an exploratory-descriptive type research, based on an exposfacto field design, like a survey. The analysis of this data allowed to draw information on the use given to this resource by students at the level under study and to know the strategies underlying its management in the classroom. Moreover, the paper offers some recommendations that could help teachers to successfully convey the teaching of this aspect which is so important for the comprehension and production of the written text.

Palavras-chave : written language; comprehension and production of texts; didactics; language teaching.