A study on symbolic competence and face in ELF email communication

Abstract

Unlike much of the previous research on email, which has examined how students wrote emails to make requests of faculty, this study investigated how an editor demonstrated her symbolic competence and negotiated face with contributors through email communication in a context where English was used as a lingua franca. The major data were collected from the editor’s email during the 2-year editorial process. An interview was also conducted to elicit her understanding of her relationship with the contributors, changes of relationship, and particular events during the editorial process. The data were analyzed based on symbolic competence and face constituting theory. The findings revealed that, in terms of symbolic competence, the editor showed subjectivity by positioning herself in different roles, historicity by referring to her past experience, performativity to create a reality, and reframing by reestablishing the situation. In terms of face, the findings showed that face was not only realized as co-constituted interactional processes but also realized as individual wants.