ERIC Number: EJ1327002
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2022-Mar
Pages: 25
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1362-1688
EISSN: N/A
Exploring the Role of Strategy Instruction on Learners' Ability to Write Authentic Email Requests to Faculty
Language Teaching Research, v26 n2 p213-237 Mar 2022
This study used a pre-test post-test research design to investigate the role of explicit strategy instruction on Spanish English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' ability to write authentic email requests to faculty. Drawing on Taguchi's (2018) classification of pragmatics learning strategies, the instructional intervention followed a strategy-based approach to help learners understand the form-function-context mapping of email requests in the academic context. A total of 110 naturally occurring email requests for action addressed to three faculty members were collected at two different times: as a pre-test (i.e. before engaging learners in the instructional period), and as a post-test (i.e. after learners' participation in the treatment sessions). Learners' email messages were analysed considering both their appropriateness of use as well the frequency of utilization of different structural (i.e. subject line, openings and closings) and content components (i.e. request strategies and internal request modifiers). Results showed that strategy instruction helped learners write more appropriate email requests after the instructional period. The findings suggest that arming learners with a variety of strategic tools may lead to pragmatic development in actual language use.
Descriptors: Teaching Methods, Learning Strategies, English (Second Language), Second Language Learning, Second Language Instruction, Pretests Posttests, Pragmatics, Classification, Grammar, College Faculty, Electronic Mail, Teacher Student Relationship, Writing Skills, Language Usage, Foreign Countries, Undergraduate Students, Metacognition, Form Classes (Languages), Spanish, Native Language
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Spain
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A