Communication purposes and strategies in email communication: A contrastive analysis between Iranian and American students

The development and the spread of communication technology especially with the invention of the internet have recently promoted the use of email epistolary as an interpersonal medium of communication. The use of email as a medium of communication has begun to receive a great deal of attention. As a matter of fact pen and paper letters are being replaced by electronic mails. However, this interest has not been matched by sufficient research and theory. Drawing on discourse analysis approaches this study investigated the application of email as a new medium of communication by Iranian and American TEFL students in academic settings. Two email sample corpora sent to their instructors by American and Iranian students were analyzed at two levels, namely at message purpose and communication strategy levels. Based on the purposes for which emails were written, the messages were classified into three major categories (course related, personal and relational, and other emails).Also, Communication strategies were classified into four categories (requests, providing history, making suggestion, and miscellaneous strategies). The results indicated some differences in American and Iranian studentsʹ email purposes and strategies, suggesting that American students demonstrate more cases of personal and social messages as well as applying more communication strategies in their emails. However, it was indicated that Iranian students use more greetings and closing protocols in their emails.