March/April 2004
Research and Training

Punctuate your emails, says research

Bad punctuation caused by the increasing use of emails can slow down your reading speed, according to research carried out at the University.

Researchers tested more than 40 people to see how different punctuation styles ranging from full to none might affect reading speed.

And the findings revealed that if a writer forgets the full stop, this is certain to mean the reader will take longer to get through their email.

Supervised by Dr Charlotte Hazel and Dr David Keeble, the research will hopefully lead to a more detailed study which would include a look at what form and size of text is needed for people with low vision.

The study was sparked by an identified trend in emails where writers leave out key parts of punctuation, such as the full-stop or the capital letter at the start of a sentence.

David said: "We spend a lot of time reading and writing emails but if they are hard to read or understand, then this could be an enormous waste of time."

Seven different styles were used in the study and in all cases even the removal of only subtle punctuation affected the reading times. Some 42 people with both fast and natural reading speeds were studied.

Omitting punctuation in writing is not new. Dr Keeble explained that the 2001 Booker prize-winning novel The True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey "is written entirely with defective punctuation" and the final chapter of James Joyce's Ulysses has no punctuation at all.

The study was funded by the College of Optometrists and conducted by third-year Optometry student Sarah Farrell.

16 April 2004

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