Transcript Developing Critical Language Awareness in

Developing Critical
Language Awareness
in Email Use:
Student-to-Professor
Communication via Email
陳其芬
高雄第一科技大學
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Outline of the Presentation:

Why critical language awareness in email
communication?

Why student-to-professor communication via email?

Purpose of the study

Data collection

Data analysis: a) message structure and length,
b) address terms, c) request acts, d) legitimacy of
reasons, e) use of negative politeness strategies,
f) use of positive politeness strategies.

Conclusion
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Why “critical” language awareness
in email use?

Email communication is a “new” discourse practice as
well as a “new” social practice.

Email discourse is created from a mixture of established
written and oral language.

English serves as a lingua franca for on-line
communication, which promotes the “hybridization” and
“destandardization” of English use (Graddol, 2001) .

On-line cross-cultural contact does not guarantee
success in on-line intercultural communication.
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Why “critical” language awareness
in email use?

“Critical” language awareness - Language use is deemed as
a socioculturally shaping and shaped discourse practice. It
constructs and reflects simultaneously language users’ identity,
power, and ideology.

The difference between language awareness and critical
language awareness is that the former “has not given sufficient
focus to language-related issues of power which ought to be
highlighted in language education given the nature of the
contemporary sociolinguistic order” (Fairclough, 1995).

Language learners need to learner how to use language
effectively to negotiate their power positions, establish their
communicative identities, and reflect appropriate
sociocultural ideologies.
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Why student-to-professor
communication via email?

Student-to-professor communication is a type of
asymmetrical communication involving an imbalance of
institutional power relations.

Student-to-professor communication styles or “rules” may
differ from culture to culture.

Effective student-to-professor communication via email
requires awareness of the appropriateness to both
medium and culture, which is an issue that did not receive
considerable attention in SLA literature.
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Purpose of the Study

This study aims to identify what pragmatic problems
Taiwanese students have in their email
communication with professors, and thus to help
them develop critical language awareness in their
email use in relation to power, identity, and ideology.
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Data Collection

Data Source #1
60 student-to-professor email requests written by 30
Taiwanese graduate students who were studying at a U.S.
university during their first semester in Fall 1999.

Data Source #2
136 student-to-professor email requests written by two
Taiwanese graduate student studying in the U.S. from
August 1999 through December 2001.

Data Source #3
46 student-to-professor email requests written by Taiwanese
undergraduate and graduate student studying in Taiwan
from September 2003 through May 2004.
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Data Analysis
1.
Message structure and length
2.
Address terms
3.
Request acts
4.
Legitimacy of reasons
5.
Use of negative politeness strategies
6.
Use of positive politeness strategies
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1) Message Structure & Length

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Many of Taiwanese students tended to use an inductive
(reason+ request) or story-telling discourse structure,
delaying an introduction of their purpose and giving
contextual details and explanations beforehand.
Their requesting purpose often occurred at the end of the
message.
Literature has evidenced that Chinese speakers tend to
use this discourse style to show their “indirectness” in
both spoken and written discourse.
When a message is long, such an inductive structure can
impact the effectiveness of communication, particularly
since people may read emails quickly and impatiently.
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Example 1 – Message structure & Length
Dear Professor H,
This is K.C. from Taiwan, a new international graduate student in the department of xxx.
I am sorry to bother you, but I really got some questions and hope to get help from you.
When I was in Taiwan, I thought a lot about what to major in for my master's degree. I
hesitated between education and linguistics for a long while.... Finally, I choose education as
my further study because I was not challenging enough that time. After I really got here and
started studying in educational program, I took some classes in TESOL program. But after a
few weeks, I found that the most interesting part in the classes I take is the theoretical part
about linguistics, sometimes related to language and social concerns. Therefore, I started to
think thoroughly what's the subject I really feel interested in, then I recalled how much fun I
had gotten in the linguistic classes I took when I was still a undergraduate student in
Taiwan.... then I decided to do something for myself. After all, the reason I came to the
United States for studying is not only "being an independent thinker", but I hope I can really
learn something I feel interested in and do more research about it. Consequently, I wrote this
e-mail to ask you some information about transferring to the linguistic anthropology
program.
I know it's not that easy to get the permission to study in your program. But once I know
certainly what's the thing I want to pursue, then I will just go for it. Sorry for bothering you,
and waiting for your reply.
Sincerely, K.C.
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1) Message Structure & Length
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As Crystal (2001) cautious us, “an email writer should
assume that information located at the end of the
message might never be seen, if the reader decided not
to scroll down any further” (p. 109).

Many email style books recommend email writers to use
a “descending” information arrangement to structure their
messages: to give the most important information at the
beginning. The reader’s need and time should be
respected and valued in on-line communication.
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2) Address Terms
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The problems of using address terms in student-toprofessor email communication existed mostly in
undergraduate students’ emails.
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Examples of inappropriate use of address terms:
- “Mrs. Chen”, “Miss Chen”, “Mrs. Emily”, “Miss Emily”
- “Teacher”, “Teacher Emily”, “Beautiful teacher”
- “Sir”, “Pro. Chen”
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3) Request Acts

Though most of the students used “Query Preparatory”
(e.g., Can/could you…) to make requests to professors, a
number of emails contained “Want Statements” as
request acts.
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Example of Want Statements:
- I want to know/ask…
- I want you to tell me…
- I need your suggestion to help me…
- I really hope you can help me.
- Because you are my advisor, I need you to help me.
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3) Request Acts
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Problems of using “Want Statements”:
- Power evaluation: It showed that the students stated requests
as their own wants/needs, not acknowledging imposition on the
faculty members. Thus, this language use reflected an
overestimation on the part of the student of the faculty
member’s level of obligation to comply.
- Identity construction: It showed that the students constructed
a needy, unconfident, student-oriented student identity,
particularly when Want Statements were used along with the
word “help”.
- Western vs. Chinese cultural ideologies differ in terms of the
academic roles.
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4) Legitimacy of Reasons
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Some students did not use “effective” reasons to
persuade their professors to comply with their requests.
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Examples (see email #2):
- the reason was not strong enough, thus creating a
negative student image.
- the reason was self-centered/student-oriented, thus it
may be interpreted as an expression of resistance to the
teachers’ authority.
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Example 2 – Giving reasons
Dear Professor H,
This is L.W. from Taiwan, I am a new international graduate student
in xxx, I am right in xxx program, but I really want to transfer my major
into xxx program. I need your help to tell me if this is possible and what
I can do for this plan.
The reason why I didn’t apply to xxx program when I was in Taiwan
is because my TOEFL score was not high enough to get into xxx
program, so I applied to xxx instead. I hope you can give me a chance to
get into your program. I promise I will try my best to reach all the
required standards of your program. Thanks a lot for your help.
Sincerely,
L. W.
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5) Use of Negative Politeness
Strategies
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Definition of Negative Politeness and Positive Politeness
strategies (Brown & Levinson, 1987):
•
•
Negative Politeness strategies are “avoidance-based”,
aiming not to impede the addressee’s freedom of action and
to minimize the imposition on him/her.
For example: apologizing, giving options, asking about
availability, indicating reluctance to impose, self-humbling.
Positive politeness strategies are “approach-based”, aiming
to satisfy the addressee’s wants and to enhance his/her
self-image.
For example: Attending to H’s intersects/wants/needs,
complimenting, using in-group markers, seeking
agreements, joking, and promising.
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5) Use of Negative Politeness
Strategies
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A problematic strategy – self-humbling
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Example 3:
Dear Professor A,
I need to ask you a favor. [explanation of her interest in studying in
another Ph.D. program…]. I know I’m not an outstanding student,
and probably my assistance toward your research project is limited;
but if possible, could you please write a recommendation letter for me?
Thousands of thanks if you can help.
Sincerely,
C. H.
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5) Use of Negative Politeness
Strategies
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Another problematic strategy: apologizing
Example 4:
Dear Professor,
We know that you must be confused to receive this mail; it’s really rude to
bother you, but please do believe our sincerity.
First, let us introduce ourselves. We are English majors of xxx, and because of
the need of our course xxx, we expect for your assistance to conduct our
English listening test (GEPT) on your students, English majors, in your class.
Our research topic is xxx. And our participants should be English majors.
Whether the request is allowed or not, thank you for taking your time to read
this mail. However, your kindness and assistance will be highly appreciated.
We are looking forward to your reply.
Sincerely,
S.C.
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6) Use of Positive Politeness
Strategies
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A problematic strategy: informality and ineffective use of
small talk or compliments
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Example 5:
dear dr.
from the past three-week's engagement, you convince me that you are
helpful and take open-minded attitude to discuss with your students.
so, i dare to ask 'would you mind putting me on your fail-student list
and deprive me the responsibility?' i spent much time in reading the
text material. i learn a lot, and i lost something, too. if you agree, i'd
like to be a listener, not a participant from now on. if the letter causes
you any discomfort or inconvenience, it will be the last thing i’d like
to see it happen.
best regards, p.
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Conclusion
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Developing critical language awareness – “noticing” and
“explicitly” learning pragmatic features in order to have
“input” become “intake”.
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Appropriating “appropriateness” of language use –
analyzing power relations and understanding that
appropriateness is ideologically situated in different
sociocultural contexts and determined by those who have
more power.
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Making agentive choices for identity construction –
requiring the ability to express oneself effectively using a
variety of language forms and strategies as well as to know
when it is appropriate to use these different forms.
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Contact Information

陳其芬 Chi-Fen Emily Chen
國立高雄第一科技大學應用英語系
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Email: [email protected]
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Phone: 07-601-1000 ext 5118
“If knowledge is worth having, it is worth sharing.”
~ Deborah Cameron
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