Functional Understanding of Comma in Designing ESP Course

Functional Understanding of Comma in Designing ESP Course

To date, there has been a renewed and steady interest in designing language syllabuses based on functional grounds, moving away from structural understanding of a language. This trend has been particularly strong in the development of ESP (English for Specific Purpose) since ESP focuses on developing authentic and contextualized English skills in a specific discipline. Based on theoretical understanding of functional discourse grammar and pedagogical focus of ESP, the main purpose of this paper is to examine the functional way of teaching English punctuation, especially a comma usage, instead of focusing on the linguistic location specified by its rules. In order to accomplish this goal, this paper explores diverse incidents of commas used in journalistic writing, a U.S. college newspaper (The Daily Collegian). Particularly, it not only gives attention to the relation with certain grammatical features that necessitate the presence of a comma, but also it delves into the use of commas, which is beyond the basic rules. Based on the result, this study suggests several pedagogical implications for functional approaches of ‘language in use’ in designing ESP grammar courses beyond the traditional rule-oriented instruction.