How to use email submitted by:

Hakema Adwilah

submitted to :

Prof. Dr. Sabrikoc

Outline

The benefits of email

Basic email skills

Using email with learners out of class

Using email with learners during class

Keypal projects

The benefits of email

Emil is one of the most used and useful information and communication technology (ICT) tools around today,

Email allows us to keep in touch with other teachers around the world. It also allows us to communicate with our learners outside the classroom,

for example setting, receiving, marking and returning homework and other written assignments.

Typically, email will be used outside class time. for example, learners will email work to their teacher or to other learners from their home or from an internet cafe.

In the case of keypal project -email projects set up between learners in different classes or countries - and when learner access to computers outside the teaching institution is very limited , a school computer or computers may be used in class time very successfully.

Reading and writing emails either in or outside class time gives a learner more exposure to the target language , and interaction is 'real' in the sense that learners are writing to real people using a real meduim.

If learners are writing to learners in other countries , as in a keypal project , this allows them to make contact and ineract with people with different first languages and from other cultures.

One of the biggest advantages of using email with learners from the teacher's point of view is that the technology is relatively simple to use and most of our learners will already be familiar with it.

If our learners are not familiar with email, it is not difficult to teach them to use it, and the technology is both ubiquitous and free.

Communication skills

Technical skills

Basic email skills

Communication skills

• It is a good idea to remind learners that, as in traditional writing , there are

levels of formality in email writing .An email written to enquie about a job

vacancy will have a different level of formality to an email sent to a close

friend may include abbrevaitions, emotions, misspellings or lower-case

characters such as i these are intirely inoppropriate for a more formal

email. If you are using email with your learners -for example to receive

homework- you will want to negotiate with them the level of formality you

feel is acceptable. probably you will apply the same criteria you would

apply to a piece of written work on paper.

• It is also a good idea to teach your learners some of the basic of netiquette.

These are rules for effective online communication .Well-known netiquitte

rules include:

not using only capital letters, which is perceived as 'shouting' online .

being sure to respect others' opinions.

avioding flamming _ongoing arguments which become increasingly

personalised and possibly public.

making sure that files sent as email attachments are not too large , as the

person receiving the email may not be able to dwonload them.

• Once learners have their email accounts, they need to be able to send and receive email, and to attach and open documents in

email . It is also useful for learners to have basic ICT skills, such as knowledge about viruses sent by email, and spam or

unsolicited junk email _what these are , and how to protect themselves from them.

• Depending on your teaching context, you may want to first give your learners a questionnaire to assess the overall email skills

of the class, and then to review basic email skills based on the results of that survey, either with the whole class, with individual

learners or by pairing up an experienced email user with a novice and asking the experienced user to teach the novice basic

email skills outside class time. If the language level of the class is low,

there is a case for providing this basic technical

skills training in the learners' first language if

you teach in a monolingual context.

Technical skills

This is an example of questionnaire that you can adapt for use with your own learners to gauge their level of skills in using email:

Using email with learners out of class

These are some ideas for using email outside the classroom .The ideas require leaeners

to have their own email accounts, and access to a computer outside class time,

either at home or work, in a self-access centre, or in an internet cafe.

learners can submit classwork as attachments by email ,which can be marked by

the teacher, and returned by email. learners can also share classwork/ assignments

by email.

The teacher can email learners a summary of classwork, plus homework or extra

material, or updates on classes , after each class or on a regular (g.e. weekly) basis.

The teacher can email learners regular newsletters about the class and themselves.

This is especially useful for keeping in touch with learners during holidays.

The emails could include dairy or journal type information about what the teacher has been doing in

their spare time, and be sent to learners weekly, fortnightly or monthly. learners can be encouraged to

send each other emails of this type , too, either to the whole class, or to a partner.

learners can use email to prepare before class. for example, the teacher can ask pairs to prepare

information on a topic, which they can do via email.

learners can use email to send queries about a topic, or a grammar area, to the teacher before a class.

This can help the teacher prepare a class that focuses on and addresses specific learner issues.

A class mailing list can be set up for general discussions out of class time.

Email can be used as a collaborative writing tool. for example, in groups, learners

are asked to produce a story based on a painting,, with learner 1 starting the story,

which is then forward to learner 2, who adds to the story, then forwards it to learner

3, who adds to it, and so on.

• Using email with learners during class

• Using email during class time is worth doing if more complex projects are being set up and if your learners have limited access to computers outside the classroom.

• A data collection project requires learners to send emails to real companies, individuals, organisations or websites to solicit information. This information is then collated for comparison, and a presentation or written report is prepared on the topic. Given that chances of unsolicited emails not being answered is high, it's important to ensure that you choose a topic that requires your learners to send emails that stand a good chance of receiving a response.

• Here is an example data collection project for learners with an intermediate or higher level of English:

Keypal projects

Keypal is the term for pen pals who use email to communicate, There isdescription of

a project between two groups of keypals who are learning English in different

countries. Email provides a simple and effective way of putting learners in touch

with other learners of the same age and level in other parts of the world. Learners

can talk about their experiences of learning English, and ,of course, email is the

perfect medium for cross-cultural communication. Keypal projects should be

started in class but thereafter could combine a mixture of in-class and out-of-class

work

Keypal projects issues

Here is a checklist of things to bear in mind when planning a keypal project. Some points have already been mentioned.

Ensure that you agree on clear deadlines and time frames with your partner teacher for emails to arrive, and stick to these. There is nothing more demotivating for learners than to put in the effort of writing emails, and to then get no response.

Negotiate groupings with your partner teacher, and decide whether emails will be written by individuals in one class to individuals in the other class, in pairs or in groups, or even as a whole class.

Decide which languages will be used in emails, depending on who the learners involved are . Ensure that all learners have the basic emailing skills and knowledge of email netiquette. Keep the keypal project short and focused. As the previous keypal project outlined runs over

five class. Ensure that your learners know how long the project is to last, and when it will be finished

by_don't let things drag on. Focus is provided by having clear tasks for each email.

Discuss with your partner teacher to what extent there will be teacher involvement. Will the teacher vet and

approve each email, and to what extent will accuracy and correct language be an issue? This also needs to

be made clear to learners,especially if their emails are to be used in any of assessment procedures.

Discuss with your learners the issue of possible misunderstandings across cultures. For example, do emails

come across as too direct or blunt? Do they sound rude? If so, what might cause this , and what writing

conventions do we need to use in English to aviod this? Responding to email using the teacher's first name ,

for example, and signing off in a friendly fashion, is important.

In terms of general email etiquette in email projects, it is worth reminding learners that it is always a good

idea to remain polite, and to not respond to aggressive or insulting emails-although this is unlikely to be a

problem if a keypal project is set up well, and monitored.

Thankyou