Understanding style, language and etiquette in email communication in higher education: a survey

Lewin-Jones, Jenny; Mason, Victoria

doi:10.1080/13596748.2014.872934

Cited by 30 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…However, there is mounting tension in colleges as the amount of email increases. Unprofessional emails from students have become a social issue [ 6 ], which was proven by researchers who demonstrated faculty discontent about students’ email communications lacking formality [ 7 , 8 ]. Literature about the evaluation of actual emails based on published email etiquette guidelines suggests that students do need to improve their email communication [ 8 , 9 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Etiquette for medical students’ email communication with faculty members: a single-institution study

et al. 2016

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BackgroundEmail is widely used as a means of communication between faculty members and students in medical education because of its practical and educational advantages. However, because of the distinctive nature of medical education, students’ inappropriate email etiquette may adversely affect their learning as well as faculty members’ perception of them. Little data on medical students’ competency in professional email writing is available; therefore, this study explored the strengths and weaknesses of medical students’ email etiquette and factors that contribute to professional email writing.MethodsA total of 210 emails from four faculty members at Seoul National University College of Medicine were collected. An evaluation criteria and a scoring rubric were developed based on the various email-writing guidelines. The rubric comprised 10 items, including nine items for evaluation related to the email components and one item for the assessment of global impression of politeness. Three evaluators independently assessed all emails according to the criteria.ResultsStudents were identified as being 61.0 % male and 52.8 % were in the undergraduate-entry program. The sum of each component score was 62.21 out of 100 and the mean value for global impression was 2.6 out of 4. The results demonstrated that students’ email etiquettes remained low-to-mediocre for most criteria, except for readability and honorifics. Three criteria, salutation (r=0.668), closing (r=0.653), and sign-off (r=0.646), showed a strong positive correlation with the global impression of politeness. Whether a student entered a graduate-entry program or an undergraduate-entry program significantly contributed to professional email writing after other variables were controlled.ConclusionsAlthough students in the graduate-entry program demonstrated a relatively superior level of email etiquette, the majority of medical students did not write emails professionally. Educating all medical students in email etiquette may well contribute to the improvement of student–faculty relationships as well as their email writing.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Etiquette for medical students’ email communication with faculty members: a single-institution study

et al. 2016

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“…Poorly constructed or uncivil email communications, including those that leave out relevant information (eg, subject line or name) [ 14 ], disregard spelling and grammar errors, insert inappropriate abbreviations and slang, or use informal and impolite tones [ 13 , 74 ], can damage the credibility of the sender and cause the reader to underestimate the sender’s competency [ 13 ]. While working to understand the unfavorability of selected characteristics in professional emails, researchers identified nonwhite background color, hard to read fonts, and lack of a subheading as the top three unfavorable characteristics that make recipients less likely to reply [ 37 ].…”

Section: Recommendationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Email Use Reconsidered in Health Professions Education: Viewpoint

et al. 2020

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Email has become a popular means of communication in the past 40 years, with more than 200 billion emails sent each day worldwide. When used appropriately, email can be an effective and useful form of correspondence, although improper practices, such as email incivility, can present challenges. Email is ubiquitous in education and health care, where it is used for student-to-teacher, provider-to-provider, and patient-to-provider communications, but not all students, faculty members, and health professionals are skilled in its use. This paper examines the challenges and opportunities posed by email communication in health professions education and reveals important deficiencies in training, as well as steps that can be taken by health professions educators to address them. Recommendations are offered to help health professions educators develop approaches for teaching email professionalism.

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“…While email norms are still evolving and change between groups and teams ( Cheshin et al, 2013 ; Glikson and Erez, 2013 ), research suggests that formal and conservative use of accurate punctuation, spelling, and grammar is the expected etiquette ( Pankoke-Babatz and Jeffrey, 2002 ; Lewin-Jones and Mason, 2014 ). Politeness (e.g., correct grammar) increases positive views of the message and of the sender ( Jessmer and Anderson, 2001 ), while etiquette violations negatively shape readers’ perceptions of email writers ( Vignovic and Thompson, 2010 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do You Get What I Mean?!? The Undesirable Outcomes of (Ab)Using Paralinguistic Cues in Computer-Mediated Communication

2021

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The shift to working from home, which has intensified due to Covid-19, increased our reliance on communication technology and the need to communicate effectively via computer-mediated communication and especially via text. Paralinguistic cues, such as repeated punctuation, are used to compensate for the lack of non-verbal cues in text-based formats. However, it is unclear whether these cues indeed bridge the potential gap between the writer’s intentions and the reader’s interpretations. A pilot study and two experiments investigated the effect of using repeated punctuation on behavioral intention to assist an email writer in a work-related situation. Findings demonstrate that while the intentions behind using repeated punctuation relate to signaling situational importance or affective state, behavioral intentions are driven by dispositional rather than situational attributions. Specifically, the use of repeated punctuation reduces perceived competence of the message writer and consequently decreases positive behavioral intentions. Overall, the study challenges the simplified view of paralinguistic cues as communication facilitators, highlighting their potential harmful effects on impression formation and behavioral intentions in the digital age.

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Understanding style, language and etiquette in email communication in higher education: a survey

Cited by 30 publications

References 14 publications

Etiquette for medical students’ email communication with faculty members: a single-institution study

Etiquette for medical students’ email communication with faculty members: a single-institution study

Email Use Reconsidered in Health Professions Education: Viewpoint

Do You Get What I Mean?!? The Undesirable Outcomes of (Ab)Using Paralinguistic Cues in Computer-Mediated Communication

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