Tips for good E-mail style

1. Provide your reader with the right information and writing approach:

· Quote the email to which you are responding

· Avoid the use of them, they (use I, we and specific names)

2. Make your page easy to read. Use:

· Short paragraphs

· Lines under 25 words

· Email under twenty-five lines

3. Find different ways to express emotion, body language, and intonation. (Appendix III \ Appendix IV- pg. 130-131).

· Smileys

· Asterisks

· Capital letters

· Lower-case letters

· Creative punctuation

· Typed-out thoughts and reactions

· Whitespace

· Abbreviations

Email Layout

1. To:

2. Cc:

3. Subject line:

4. Appropriate greeting

5. Introduction

6. Email body (additional supporting information)

7. Final sentence

8. Concluding phrase

9. Signature file

Email samples

Informal

Formal

Guidelines

1. Why are you using email;

2. Key features:

Ø purpose in communicating

Ø who you are addressing

Ø situation in which the email occurs;

3. Proper use of email format:

Ø always give the message a subject

Ø distinguish between open and blind copies

Ø use a signature and a warning ( if appropriate);

4. In business emails – the reader must grasp the essentials quickly; no risk of misunderstanding;

5. Think about the effect your reply will have;

6. In replies avoid breaking the thread of a sequence of message;

7. Don’t automatically “ Reply to all”, unless it is expected or useful;

8. In replies only quote as much as necessary to place your message in its context ( often this is in the subject line);

9. Think before forwarding someone’s message;

10. Set up a proper system for filing emails;

11. Be aware of the context;

12. Avoid excessive use of capital letters and don’t use HTML formatting;

13. Be aware of the dangers of flaming;

14. Only use emoticons and initialisms in messages who are likely to appreciate them.

(Jon Seely, Oxford Guide to Effective Writing and Speaking, Oxford University Press, 2005)

Writing styles

7. Exercises - Paul Emmerson: email English, MacMillan, 2004 – contains practice activities which can be used for self study or with a teacher in class.

Task assignments

1. Write an Email to your English teacher: asking extra information about your lessons (for example, FCE courses). Don’t forget the style.

2. Image the following: (a) one is a student from another country (region, city); (b) student of TPU. Continue your emailing for 2-3 times. Subject can be what you prefer. Copy these emails and then analyse them in class.

3. A colleague asked you for help, and then almost immediately sent a follow-up informing that she \ he had solved the problem on her\ his own.

4. You received an email from an oil company (Shell, Baker Hughes, etc) which says that you should give further information about yourself. Give an answer, don’t forget the previous email.

5. Collect as many emails from friends and family (3-4), from organizations to individuals (3-) as you can (in Russian \ English).

· If these are in English, do they contain any of the features worked in this unit?

· If these are in your own language, analyse whether the language varies according to the action being requested. Is the language more formal and polite? What forms are used?

Date: 2015-12-17; view: 828