Blurb:

This chapter provides a brief introduction to the use of e-mail in university contexts and introduces related issues that complicate student-teacher e-mail communication. Additionally, by reviewing previous research on student e-mail, this chapter highlights the fact that faculty often criticize how students use e-mail in terms of both form (e.g., abbreviations, spelling, perceived lack of politeness, etc.) and content (request strategies, absence excuse patterns, etc.). This chapter also explores characteristics of student e-mail that reveal its spoken-written hybrid nature as a form of discourse. Finally, this chapter also points to several issues specifically relevant to students’ choice of language when e-mailing foreign/second language teachers.