Negotiating personal relationship through email terms of address

Abstract

This study investigated whether and how English L2 students use terms of address to negotiate personal relationship when writing email to an English-speaking addressee and how instruction affected email writing in an English as a lingua franca (ELF) setting. The email data were collected naturally in two classroom settings where the second author was the instructor of an ESP class in scientific writing and recipient of the letters. The data, comprising various speech acts, were analyzed and interpreted qualitatively within the framework of interactive sociolinguistics and ethnography. Email writing is not a monolithic genre but varies from informal texting style to formal letters depending on the purpose of the communication. The results suggest that the desire to negotiate relationships by the use of terms of address in email writing can play a role in enhancing second-language acquisition, whereas the perceived lack of need to negotiate personal relationship might impede acquisition. Modeling of appropriate email communication was insufficient, in part due to the asymmetrical relationship between students and teachers, but specific instruction in principles of email writing was beneficial in helping students acquire the necessary skills.