2 Audience, Purpose, and Writing a Professional Email
The previous chapter was all about valuing all types of language and using language creatively. This chapter focuses on a writing situation that often calls for more conventional language use: writing a professional email. An email is often a form of communication that we use to make requests in academic and professional settings, and an email is often the way we make a first impression on our professors and supervisors. We live in a world where some people may judge you negatively if you send a professional email that is filled with grammar, punctuation, or spelling that is confusing or unfamiliar. Therefore, in this chapter, we focus on using so-called “Standard English.”
Chapter contents:
“English in the World: A Very Brief History of a Global Language”
“What Does ‘Proper English’ Mean” by Elizabeth Little
“How to Email Your Professor” by Laura Portwood-Stacer
“English the World: A Very Brief History of a Global Language”
Before we focus on learning a particular variety of English, namely “Standard American English,” it is good to have some background knowledge about the roots of the language and how it has changed over time as it has been used in different areas of the world.
“What Does ‘Proper English’ Mean” by Elizabeth Little
Before you practice writing in Standard English, it is useful to consider what “Standard English” means and where this variety of English originated. The essay, “What Does ‘Proper English’ Mean?” by Elizabeth Little, printed below, gives some insight into these questions.
“What Does ‘Proper English’ Mean?” by Elizabeth Little
The following article was adapted from the original, longer article using ChatGPT. Listen to a podcast recording of the complete original essay here.
What Is “Proper English”?
When we talk about “Proper English,” what do we really mean? Are we talking about the English you’d use with your family, the one that impresses your boss, or the one everyone can understand?
Usually, we mean all these things. We want to improve our writing to sound more polished and clear. But instead of saying “Proper English,” it might be better to use the term “Standard English.” This is the form of English that most people agree on and use, though it wasn’t always this way.
The History of English
A long time ago, English wasn’t standardized. In the 9th century, King Alfred the Great wanted important books translated into Anglo-Saxon (an early form of English) because Latin, the language of scholars, was becoming less common.
But when William the Conqueror came to England in 1066, Latin and French took over for many years. English was mostly used by ordinary people and in monasteries. Eventually, English started being used more in official settings, especially after England moved away from French influence.
By the time of Henry V, English had replaced French as the language of government. It continued to spread and be used in more important contexts, so it was important to have a version everyone could understand.
How English Became Standardized
In the past, the rules of English were set by royal clerks and later by the printing press, which helped standardize spelling. Dictionaries and grammar books started setting the rules for what Standard English should look like.
Early dictionaries and grammar guides, like Samuel Johnson’s dictionary, used examples from respected writers to decide which words and rules to follow. Some rules were based on logic, like avoiding double negatives, while others were more subjective, like preferring Latin-based words.
The Role of Dictionaries and Grammar Guides
As English became more widely used, the need for clear rules grew. Dictionaries and grammar books tried to guide people, but sometimes their advice was more about personal opinions than actual rules. Some people thought English should be simpler or more like ancient languages, while others believed that avoiding certain grammar rules made English more refined.
The Impact of Language Standards
Over time, the idea of Standard English became tied to social status and education. People who spoke non-standard forms of English, like certain regional dialects, were often judged harshly. This judgment was not always fair or accurate.
Today, every form of English is regular and expressive in its own way. There is no single “best” way to speak or write English. Learning Standard English is important because it is widely used, but it is also important to respect all forms of English.
Conclusion
Instead of thinking of Standard English as the only “proper” way to use English, it’s better to recognize it as one version of English among many. All forms of English have their own rules and are valuable in their own right.
Little, Elizabeth. “What does ‘proper English’ mean?” Quick and Dirty Tips, Episode #317, 12 April, 2012, www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/what-does-%E2%80%9Cproper-english%E2%80%9D-mean (included on the basis of fair use)
After reading “What Does ‘Proper English’ Mean?” by Elizabeth Little, discuss or journal about the following questions:
- In her original article, Little wrote that “Standard English” could also be called “The English That a Very Few People Agreed Upon About 600 Years Ago and That We’re Now Mostly Stuck With.” What does she mean by this?
- In her original article, Little wrote, “As long as we’ve had language varieties, we’ve also had stereotypes about the people who speak those varieties.” What stereotypes have you encountered about people who speak various varieties of languages, including English? Have you ever experienced negative stereotyping because of the variety of language you were using?
- Given the evidence that Little presents for all varieties of English being equally expressive and rule governed, do you think it is still important to learn the rules of Standard English? Why or why not?
Genre: Knowing Your Audience
As we think about when and how to use Standard English, it is useful to think about genre. Genre is a word we use to describe different types of communication for different audiences and purposes. For example, a professional email to your boss at work would be considered one genre of writing, while a text message to your friend would be considered another genre of writing.
Just as we use different types of spoken English for different audiences and purposes, like different varieties of language for home and school, we also use different types of written English for different audiences and purposes. Most likely, when you are writing a professional email to your boss at work, you will want to use Standard English, while when you are texting with a friend, you may not care so much about using capitalization, spelling, or punctuation that is consistent with Standard English. In fact, if you obsess too much about capitalization and punctuation in your text messages, some people may even perceive this as overly formal or even cold.
As Elizabeth Little shared in her essay, it is not the case that one variety of English is superior to any other, but it is true that certain varieties are perceived as more appropriate for different genres, intended for different audiences and purposes. Just as you most likely would not wear a swimsuit to a formal event like a wedding, you also would not likely use non-Standard English in a professional context like an email to a boss or an academic publication.
Of course, there is room for creativity and pushing the boundaries in most genres. Maybe after you get to know your boss well, for example, you find out that she really likes to communicate with emojis. Even though emojis are not considered part of Standard English, you may start to use emojis in your emails with your boss because you know that your intended audience appreciates them. Similarly, there are certain academic journals and professional organizations that encourage the use of code-switching or translanguaging.
The most important thing when deciding what language variety to use is to consider your audience and purpose to decide which variety will most effectively communicate your message. You may also find that as you progress in your career and become more familiar with the genres that you use regularly, you will have more confidence to bend those genres and use them creatively in new ways. Just like language, no genre is ever set in stone; rather, genres are always changing based on the communicative practices of the communities they are used in. There will be times when you seek to conform to conventions of genres, to avoid being negatively stereotyped, and there may be times when you feel comfortable pushing the edges of a genre by doing something more experimental with your language.
To learn more about genre, read “On Genre” by Clint Johnson, a chapter in Open English @ SLCC.
“How to Email Your Professor” by Laura Portwood-Stacer
Laura Portwood-Stacer is a published author and scholar who now works as a developmental editor and publishing consultant, helping other scholars go through the process of turning their ideas in to published books. She wrote the following essay to help college students understand the genre of email to a professor. Many professors complain when students write emails that they perceive as impolite or sloppy. Portwood-Stacer wants students to understand the typical requirements of this genre of writing before they fall victim to the negative judgement of professors who expect students to be familiar with this type of email writing.
But now, clueless students have no excuse, because they can read this post. Profs, share it with your students. Students, share it with your friends. Or don’t, and be the one person in the class your prof enjoys receiving email from.
10 Elements of an Effective, Non-Annoying Email
Here’s a template you can follow in constructing your email to a professor. Each element is explained further below.
Favorite Student
Element #1: Salutation
Right off the bat, here’s where you can establish that you view your relationship with your professor as a professional one. Use “Dear,” or if that feels horrifically formal to you, you can use “Hello” or “Hi.” (“Hi” is pushing it. See note about exceptions below.)
Element #2: Honorific
This is where a lot of students unwittingly poke right at their professor’s sensitive ego and sense of justice in the world. You didn’t think this little word was a super big deal, but it actually is to them. An honorific is a title used to communicate respect for a person’s position. Whether or not you, as a student, actually respect your professor’s authority or position, it’s a good idea to act like you do. The simplest way to do this is to address them as “Professor.” If they have a PhD, you can technically call them “Dr.” but you’re safer with “Professor.” Not all instructors have PhDs (and many won’t even have the word professor in their official job title), but if they are teaching a college class they are inhabiting the role of Professor and can be addressed as such. The bonus of “Professor” and “Dr.” is that they don’t require you to know anything about your professor’s gender identity or marital status. If you call your prof “Mrs.” or “Miss,” lord help you.
Element #3: Name
You might be surprised at how frequently students get their professor’s name wrong. This is not difficult information to look up, people. It’s on your syllabus, it’s on the department website, it’s probably Google-able too. Use their last name. Spell out the whole thing. Spell it correctly. If there’s a hyphen in it, use both names and the hyphen (this really falls under spelling out the whole thing and spelling it correctly, but I get it, it’s a special case and it causes a lot of confusion for some reason even though it is 2016).
Exceptions to #1–3 (do not attempt until you have leveled up to pro emailer status)
You may use a less formal salutation, and address your professor by something other than Professor Last-Name in your email, if, and only if, you have received an email from them where they use an informal salutation and sign it with something other than Professor Last-Name. For example, when I was a college professor, I would often sign off on my emails “Prof. P-S” because I knew my last name was long and confusing for people. I then rather liked it when people sent me emails addressed to “Prof. P-S.” But don’t deviate from what they call themselves. NEVER try to use a first name unless you have been given explicit permission to do so. If the prof cryptically signs their emails with only initials, best to stick to Professor Last-Name. Do not under any circumstances begin an email with “Hey” because some people get real huffy about that.
Element #4: Meaningless Nicety
It never hurts to say something like “I hope you’re enjoying the beautiful weather today,” or “I hope you had a relaxing weekend,” to start off. It shows that you see your professor as a person who has some kind of life. Professors like it when you see them as people who have lives outside of their classroom (however remotely this may resemble the truth). It doesn’t really matter what you say here, it’s more the ritual of polite interest that counts. If you can make it come off like you genuinely mean it, bonus points for you.
Element #5: Reminder of how they know you
This one is key, especially if it’s the first time you are contacting your professor. You can’t count on them to remember your name from their rosters or to be able to put your face with your name. If there’s something distinctive about you that would jog their memory and make them look upon you fondly, include that. For instance, “I stayed after class to ask you about the reading that one time,” or “I sit in the front row and have blue hair,” whatever. If you haven’t met them yet, explain your desired relationship to them, such as “I am interested in enrolling in your class next semester.” If you’re fairly certain they will know you by name, you can leave this out. But some profs are very bad at remembering names, so you might as well throw them a bone here. (If you are lucky, those profs will be self-aware and empathetic enough not to make you memorize any names for exams in their classes.)
Element #6: The real reason for your email
This is the whole reason you’re sending the email, so make it good. The important thing here is to get in and get out, while remaining courteous. Concisely state what it is you need from the professor without offering a bunch of excuses or going into excessive detail or sounding like you are making demands. If you can’t explain why you’re emailing in a sentence or two, consider making an appointment to meet with the professor in person, in which case your line here will be “I was hoping we could meet to talk about X. What would be a good time for that?” If they can’t meet and just want to discuss it over email, they’ll let you know.
Elements #7 and 8: This is where you prove you’re a wonderful person
There is a t-shirt for sale on the internet that says, “It’s in the syllabus.” Think for a second about why there is a market for this product. A vast number of emails sent to professors by students are seeking information that has already been communicated by the professor. Before even sending the email, you should actually check the syllabus and your notes (and the class website if there is one) to see if your question has indeed been answered there. It doesn’t hurt to ask someone else from the class too — this is why you should try to get a least one classmate’s phone number or email address during the first week. If you’ve actually done all these things and you still have a question, then your contacting the professor will actually provide helpful information to them that they might not have been clear about something.
If you can try to answer your own question, and you turn out to be right, that saves them a little bit of time in their response. For instance, if you are writing to set up a meeting, you could say, “It says on the syllabus that your office hours are Tuesdays at 3pm. Could I come this Tuesday at 3:15?” This also shows that you thought about the whole thing for more than two seconds before deciding to take up their email-reading time.
Element #9: Super polite restatement of your request
If you’re asking a question you need an answer to, you can say something like “If you could let me know at your earliest convenience, I’d really appreciate it.” If you need them to fill out a form, or contact someone on your behalf, or do something that requires more action than just answering your email, state that very clearly here. This helps them put it on their to-do list and get it done.
Element #10: Sign-off
If you’re not sure how to sign off an email, “Thank you” is nearly always appropriate. You can do “Best,” or “All the best,” or “Sincerely,” or whatever, but some form of thanks here does double duty as both sign-off and expression of gratitude.
The hidden Element #11: The follow-up
If your professor hasn’t responded to your email, and social cues tell you they probably meant to by now, you can send a gentle follow-up. You can format the follow-up using all the elements here, but you can add in “Just following up on my previous email,” right before you get to Element #6. You don’t have to rub it in that they forgot to email you back, they will get the point (and if they genuinely forgot, they might feel bad). If they were not emailing you back on purpose, you probably already annoyed them the first time around, and you might as well be as polite as possible with the follow-up. When is it safe to send a follow-up reminder? You have to gauge this based on how quickly they usually respond to things and how dire your need for a response truly is. If it can wait a week, let it wait a week (or until you see them in person).
Why any of this matters
Learning how to craft professional emails is a skill you can take with you into the so-called real world. A courteous and thoughtfully constructed request is much more likely to receive the kind of response you want. And, let’s face it, professors are humans with feelings who just want to be treated as such.
You might think professors who are annoyed by student emails are over-sensitive and lazy (it’s their job to handle this shit, right?). And you might be right. But consider that while you only have a few professors at any one time, they might have hundreds of students. They are possibly getting the same question from ten different people. They might be an adjunct professor who is actually only paid for the hours they spend in the classroom (and they’re not paid very much for that even). They might have experienced a pattern of receiving less respect from people based on their gender or race. Make your email the one they don’t gripe to their friends about. Now you know how.
*This was corroborated for me when I interviewed a bunch of my former students about how they figured out how to navigate electronic communication in their college careers. The ones who felt confident and effective were ones who’d had a lot of experience interacting electronically with adults outside their family before they ever got to college. We don’t have to go into the sociological dimensions of who’s most likely to have had such opportunities, but you can probably fill in the blanks.
Portwood-Stacer, Laura. “How to email your professor (without being annoying AF).” Medium, 26 April, 2016, www.medium.com/@lportwoodstacer/how-to-email-your-professor-without-being-annoying-af-cf64ae0e4087 (included on the basis of fair use)
After reading “How to Email Your Professor” by Laura Portwood-Stacer, discuss or journal about the following questions:
- Which of the guidelines that Portwood-Stacer described for emailing your professor were new or surprising to you?
- Do you think professors are justified at getting annoyed when students don’t follow these guidelines in their emails?
Genre Analysis Activity
In order to better understand the genre of student emails to a professor, we will analyze some example emails, which are based on real emails from students. Read the emails below, and then answer the genre analysis questions about each email.
Example Emails:
Example 1:
Dear Ms. Smith,
I wish to apologize for not making it in to class to day. I have been bedridden since Friday afternoon I should be in by Thursday. If u have any questions please contact me at my cell (555) 555-5555 or my school email student@school.edu.
sincerely,Mohammed
Example 2:
Example 3:
hi sarah
I am sick today what is the homework please
thanks
paul
Example 4:
Dear teacher,
I hope you are doing well. I’m sorry I couldn’t come to class. I was really sick. Could I please get your help before class on Wednesday? Is 6:15 okay?
Sincerely,
Larissa
Example 5:
Hi Sarah,
I need an advice about my grade.
Thank you.
Sincerely
Sammy McDonald
Genre Analysis Questions:
Content:
- How does this email introduce the student? Find quotes or specific information from the email to support your answer.
- How does this email make a specific request? Find quotes or specific information from the email to support your answer.
- Did the writer leave out any of the above topics? If so, why do you think the writer chose to leave out those topics?
- Did the writer include any additional content beyond the above topics? If so, why do you think the writer chose to include additional content?
Structure:
- How does the writer begin or introduce the email?
- What kinds of transitions does the writer use to move between topics in the email?
- How does the writer end or conclude the email?
Style:
- What kinds of sentences does the writer mostly use (simple, compound, or complex)?
- How would you describe the language that the writer uses? Does it seem like formal or informal language? Does the language seem polite? How can you tell?
Evaluation:
- Do you think this email is an effective email to a professor? Why or why not?
- If you could give this writer some advice to make their email stronger, what advice would you give?
Critical Genre Analysis:
- Do you think that professors and supervisors in the workplace should judge the competence of students or employees based on how well they write an email? Why or why not?
- Can you think of any situations in which it might make sense to send a professional or academic email that deviates from the conventions of this genre?
Writing Project: Email to a Professor
Now that you have analyzed some examples and reflected on what makes a well-written email, you will write your own email to your professor.
Instructions: After completing the readings and analysis activities for this unit, you are ready to draft your email. Write an email to your professor introducing yourself. Your email should include:
- An address to your professor
- An opening greeting (“nicety”)
- An introduction to yourself—where you are from, how long you’ve lived in your current location, your academic goals, and any other relevant details
- A few sentences about how, specifically, you hope to develop your English writing skills in this course and how your professor might be able to help you with this
- A question or two for your professor about the course
- A closing signature
Write a draft of your email, but do not send your email yet. You will need to engage in the writing process and peer review to make sure your email is ready to send (see Appendix B).
Once you know the basics about the writing process and peer review, exchange emails with a classmate to try the peer review process.
Instructions for Peer Review of Emails
First reading: Read your peer’s email completely. The first time you read it, just try to understand the meaning. Do not focus on providing comments or correcting anything.
Second reading: Read your peer’s email again. This time read with these questions in mind:
- Are there any areas of the email that are confusing or unclear to you as the reader?
- Does your peer’s email include all of the components described in the assignment instructions?
- What needs to be developed with more explanation or detail?
- Does the email seem polite and professional in tone?
- What areas of the email could be improved to make the email stronger or more clear?
- Did you notice any patterns of grammar errors?
After reading: Discuss your peer review observations with your partner. Remember that your purpose is not to criticize your partner but to help them improve their writing to more clearly express its meaning for its intended audience and purpose. Avoid evaluative comments like, “This is bad” or “Everything is really good.” Instead, try to point to particular parts of the email that could be improved and explain how to improve them and point out particular parts of the email that are effective and explain why they work well for the intended audience and purpose.
Revision and Editing
Now that you have received peer feedback on your email draft, it is time to revise it and edit to make it the best you can before sending it. If you think about the word “revision,” there are two parts, “re-” and “vision.” “Re-” means “again,” and “vision” means “to see,” so “revision” means to see something again. When you revise your writing, try to look at it with new eyes. Think about whether any parts of the content or the way you organized it could be changed to more clearly express your meaning to your intended audience.
After you have made your larger-scale revisions, you are ready to edit. Editing is usually the last thing you do before submitting your writing. When editing, you want to look for sentence and word-level changes that could help you express your meaning more clearly for your intended audience. If you are trying to write in Standard English, you may consult grammar resources or a dictionary to make sure you are using words correctly and with the correct spelling.
Once you have revised your email and edited it to make it the best you can, you are ready to send it to your professor.
AI Assistance for Email Writing
