Punctuation and Letter Usage Errors in Tsanawiyah School Wall Magazine

Abstract

Mastery of spelling, including the use of punctuation and capital letters, is a crucial aspect of students' writing skills. This study aims to identify and analyze the types of errors in the use of punctuation and letters found in students' writings on wall magazines within the Madrasah Tsanawiyah environment. This phenomenon is significant because internal school media such as wall magazines reflect students' ability to apply linguistic rules, particularly spelling conventions involving the use of capital letters and punctuation. This research employs a descriptive qualitative approach with data collected through reading and note-taking techniques. The findings show that the most common errors include the misuse of commas, colons, quotation marks, capital letters, as well as other punctuation marks such as exclamation points and slashes. The main causes of these errors are students' limited understanding of spelling rules and the lack of consistent practice and guidance in writing activities. This study highlights the need for more contextual, practical, and intensive instructional strategies in teaching the Indonesian language at the elementary and secondary school levels. Furthermore, the findings contribute to applied linguistics in the field of language error analysis and can serve as a reference for curriculum development and more effective language teaching methods.