Online communication and students’ pragmatic choices in English
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Zohreh R. Eslami
Zohreh R. Eslami is an Associate Professor in the Department of Teaching, Learning, and Culture in the College of Education at Texas A&M University in College Station–Texas. Her research interests include intercultural and instructional pragmatics, EAP, EFL, and ESL teacher education, and strategies based instruction of reading. Her publications appear in journals such as
Intercultural Pragmatics Journal ,Modern Language Journal ,ELT Journal ,Language, Culture, and Curriculum ,Journal of Asian Pacific Communication , andInternational Journal of Bilingualism .
Abstract
This study examined the opening and closing sequences of requestive e–mails written by 66 native English speaking (NES) students and 34 Iranian (NNES) students sent to a faculty member in an American university. Three hundred requestive e–mails from NES students and NNES students sent to a professor were collected over six semesters and were analyzed for the cultural and social variation that exists in e–mail communication. Students’ choices of opening and closing strategies were examined with respect to different interpersonal styles of politeness (solidarity vs. deference). Quantitative and qualitative findings revealed that solidarity and deference towards the professor were expressed differently in the e–mails of NES students and NNES students.
About the author
Zohreh R. Eslami is an Associate Professor in the Department of Teaching, Learning, and Culture in the College of Education at Texas A&M University in College Station–Texas. Her research interests include intercultural and instructional pragmatics, EAP, EFL, and ESL teacher education, and strategies based instruction of reading. Her publications appear in journals such as Intercultural Pragmatics Journal, Modern Language Journal, ELT Journal, Language, Culture, and Curriculum, Journal of Asian Pacific Communication, and International Journal of Bilingualism.
©[2013] by De Gruyter Mouton Berlin
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- Masthead
- Editorial
- Analyzing jokes with the Intersecting Circles Model of humorous communication
- Clause chaining in Toposa: A pragmatic approach
- Where next for comrade? On the use of ideology-based address forms in post-Communist societies (with reference to modern-day Serbia)
- Online communication and students’ pragmatic choices in English
- Conflict talk and argumentative strategies in highly adversarial talk shows: The case of Al-Jazeera’s The Opposite Direction
- Indexing in fairy tales: Evidence for the role fairy tales play in children’s concept formation
- Review of Pragmatism. An Introduction by Michael Bacon
Articles in the same Issue
- Masthead
- Editorial
- Analyzing jokes with the Intersecting Circles Model of humorous communication
- Clause chaining in Toposa: A pragmatic approach
- Where next for comrade? On the use of ideology-based address forms in post-Communist societies (with reference to modern-day Serbia)
- Online communication and students’ pragmatic choices in English
- Conflict talk and argumentative strategies in highly adversarial talk shows: The case of Al-Jazeera’s The Opposite Direction
- Indexing in fairy tales: Evidence for the role fairy tales play in children’s concept formation
- Review of Pragmatism. An Introduction by Michael Bacon
