Author(s): Clyde Ancarno
Journal: Ibérica
ISSN 1139-7241
Volume: 9;
Start page: 103;
Date: 2005;
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Keywords: Electronic English for academic purposes (e-EAP) | computer-mediated communication (CMC) | corpus-based study | contrastive analysis | pragmatics
ABSTRACT
This paper presents the results of a corpus-based study which investigates the genre of academic email and more specifically its pragmatic dimension. Four conversational routines (thank yous, apologies, requests, offers) are analysed and compared in two channels: academic e-mails and conventional print letters. In addition, data from both native and non-native speakers of English is considered, which sheds light on some of the differences found in the academic e-mail writing of learners of English. The findings indicate that academic e-mail is a relatively formal type of correspondence which is still largely influenced, as is to be expected, by the genre of the academic letter, and that as a genre, academic e-mail is in the process of formation or semi-formation. Finally, native speakers of English are found to be more informal than non-native speakers of English in academic e-mails.
Journal: Ibérica
ISSN 1139-7241
Volume: 9;
Start page: 103;
Date: 2005;
VIEW PDF
DOWNLOAD PDF Original pageKeywords: Electronic English for academic purposes (e-EAP) | computer-mediated communication (CMC) | corpus-based study | contrastive analysis | pragmatics
ABSTRACT
This paper presents the results of a corpus-based study which investigates the genre of academic email and more specifically its pragmatic dimension. Four conversational routines (thank yous, apologies, requests, offers) are analysed and compared in two channels: academic e-mails and conventional print letters. In addition, data from both native and non-native speakers of English is considered, which sheds light on some of the differences found in the academic e-mail writing of learners of English. The findings indicate that academic e-mail is a relatively formal type of correspondence which is still largely influenced, as is to be expected, by the genre of the academic letter, and that as a genre, academic e-mail is in the process of formation or semi-formation. Finally, native speakers of English are found to be more informal than non-native speakers of English in academic e-mails.
