Experts and novices: Examining academic email requests to faculty and developmental change during study abroad

Halenko, Nicola orcid iconORCID: 0000-0002-9906-6418 and Winder, Lisa (2021) Experts and novices: Examining academic email requests to faculty and developmental change during study abroad. In: Email Pragmatics and Second Language Learners. Pragmatics and Beyond New Series . John Benjamins Publishing, pp. 101-128. ISBN 9789027210012

[thumbnail of Author Accepted Manuscript]
Preview
PDF (Author Accepted Manuscript) - Accepted Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives.

384kB

Official URL: https://benjamins.com/catalog/pbns.328

Abstract

This longitudinal study seeks to contribute to a shortage of email investigations examining expert (L1) and novice (L2) English practices and tracking L2 developmental change during a UK study abroad period. Using a corpus of 315 authentic request emails, distinct features of Chinese ESL and British students’ email practices were examined, in addition to changes in Chinese ESL practices between the beginning and end of the ten-month period abroad. Findings firstly indicated that choice of request strategies, internal modification, and request perspective showed much variation between the two groups due to different approaches to projecting politeness. Secondly, exposure to the L2 and engagement in email writing had minimal impact on pragmatic performance over the academic year.


Repository Staff Only: item control page