E-mail in English Language Classrooms and lts Benefits

INTAN SAFINAS MOHD ARIFFALBAKRI"

Abstract:

Electronic mail or e-mail is an example of a communication tool that is experiencing remarkable growth around the world. This is due to its ability to promote communication among its users while encouraging its users to use computer in a realistic environment so that they can develop their communicative as well as writing skill. The incorporation of this new mode of language teaching instruction has been recently applied in ESL/EFL classrooms. This is due to the awareness of the benefits that e-mail presents to its users. Thus, this article highlights the usage of e-mail in enhancing second language learners'ability in using the language. The content ofthe article also reflects the benefits of using e-mail in ESL and EFL classrooms.
Second

Keywords: E-mail (Electronic Mail), ESL (English as a

Language), EFL (English as a Foreign Language)

INTRODUCTION
l(rashen (1981) states that there is a distinction betwccn lcarninlg itntl rrcquiring a second language. He claims that learning occtrl's lls il t:ttttst:iotts llrocess where learners study thc fbrmal proptrrticrs ol'tJrtr lrrrrgttitgc itt rt tt

organized manner following a progr:ImInccl ttr syllirllrrs. As it rcstt lL, students know the rules goverrring t,ho ustr o1't,ltc lrtttgtritgc rttttl t,ltcy nrc rrble to produce accurately thcsc lirrttt:t l llrolrct'l,itrs s.ysl,ctttittically.

AcquisitiOn on the other hand (xt(:ttt's sttlrrrottsr:itttrsl.y its i.r r<lsult of

^- Lecturer, Engtish Language

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participating in a natural communication where the fbcus is on meaning. It is very similar to the way one learns one's native language. The student tends to pick up the language used around him, thus gradually acquiring the language to be used in order to communicate with people. Krashen further claims that "fluency in the second language performance is due to what we have acquired, not what we have learned" (1981: 99). Therefore, learners should try to acquire the language as much as possible to achieve communicative fluency; otherwise they will focus too much on rule learning and are too conscious of the forms of language. To achieve communicative fluency, learners should get an optimum exposure to the language in an environment that is rich in the language to be learnt. This process will result in learners gradually being able to use the language fluently and appropriately. Ellis (198b) states that both learning and acquisition are important in a second language classroom environment as they support the conscious learning of selected language items with exposure to a lot of other items in real life situations in ord.er for acquisition to take place. Acquisition can be promoted, for instance, through implementation of communicative activities that provide opportunities to use the language such as project work, role-playing, and journal writing, and so on. one of the techniques that have been proven to be effective in promoting communicative ability among ESL learners is using computer-mediated communication. Belisle (1996) mentions that computer-mediated communication is viewed as an innovative way to increase language use in the classroom. He further states that by using computers, students become better communicators. They get the opportunity to use e-mail and the Internet to develop their reading and writing abilities. Apart from that, they are able to collaborate and work together with their peers and
teachers.

ELECTRONIC MAIL
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of the most prominent aspects of computer-mediated communication ltt4g, that is progressing dramatically is the use of e-mail. E-mail is a {{ rr,,w med.ium of communication that has gained remarkable attention, rrrrrl its users have increased rapidly. E-mail is said to be the most popular rvrry to communicate on the Internet because e-mai1 messages can be sent I xrrrlly and globally across various networks (Kroonenberg, 1995). Belisle

reports that nearly every major university in the United States lrrovides Internet e-mail for its staff and students. This situation shows I lrrr rapid growth of e-mail over the Internet. According to Goodwin, Hamrick and Stewart (1993), e-mail was ,,r.iginally used as a channel for communication among military units. I lowever, today this computer technology has far exceeded its original use ls lr mean of communication between military agencies. It has now spread promote more effective I , r individual use as well as to the educational use to e-mail is now considered as a speedy, ,.,,rnmunication than before. Thus rrrcxpensive and secure communication method among members of the cademic and business communities.
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THE BENEFITS OF USING E.MAIL IN ESL CLASSROOMS

'l'he implementation of computer-mediated communication (CMC) activities

Networking electronically promotes intere.ction and helps students to develop ideas more efficiently. Through this increased electronic access to the world around them, students develop social awareness and selfconfidence. Besides that, networking gives them the freedom to communicate with people around the world; thus enabling them to learn about the culture and language of others. when students use e-mails, writing becomes a more challenging and exciting activity. Apart from that, when students send e-maii messages to one another, they are able to develop their full potential in writing and presenting ideas. This happens when they collaborate as a team to accomplish their writing tasks
effectively.

and EFL language classrooms is growing rapidly due to the r.ollization of its benefits to second language teaching and learning. The rrrOst hyped about aspect of CMC at the moment is the implementation of ,-rnail-related activities in trSUEFL classrooms. Due to its special features' I e use of e-mail has grown so rapidly especially in educational setti ngs. Several benefits of using e-mail in languagc classrooms htrve been (1995) stntes that IlSl,/ lrosed by a number of researchers. Kroonenbcrg l,llfl: teachers today have become trloro ilwilrc oi'thc irdvantilges of irrtroducing the Internet and cM(l in t,hcir langttlge clt.rssrooms. she lirrther reports that e-mail is onc of'thc wiclcly uscd mediums of instructions irr language teaching classrooms. Act:orcling to her, there is evidence that lven the technologically phobic teirchcrs are able to encourage students to rrsc e-mail in developing their ltrnguage skills and even the most timid
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lrrnguage students also can come alive and create meaningful

,'ornmunication via e-mail. 'l,hrough e-mail, students are able to communicate with native speakers ol'English or other English learners around the world. Besides that, he

lle states that e-mail can promote real and natural communication.

warshauer (1995, cited in Lee 1998) presents three benefits of e-mail.

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mcntions that e-mail also provides opportunities for independent learnin6; which is importantinL2 writing. He adds that the utilization of e-mail stimulates students' interest in communicating as they feel that they have an authentic audience that will respond to their writing. In shori,

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rlrllr l,lrcir friends and teachers. Belisle (1996) also states that another l,irge of using e-mail for teachers is that it saves class time particularly
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information.

e-mail promotes opportunities for communication, collaboration and

stewart (1996) carried out an experimental study on e-mail dialogue journal with his students at Miyazaki International college, Japan. He asked his students to write journals to their secret assigned partners. His findings show that the students enjoyed the activity and their journal entries reveal that they had improved in terms of writing fluency. He also mentions that as the students continue exchanging e-maii messages, they tend to write longer as mistakes are tolerated, and they had more ideas to share with their partners. Another researcher, Belisle (1996) also mentions several benefits of using e-mail in ESL classrooms. one of the benefits is that the usage of e-mail enables a teacher toThteract with a student or a group of students on any assignments given without having to meet one another face-toface. Besides that, the teacher through e-mail can do supervising as the feedback and responses between a teacher and a student or a group of students is not limited to the confines of a classroom. Belisle (1gg6) also reports that, it is known that students sometimes find it difficult to meet the teacher for consultation because ofshyness or lack oftime. Therefore, the teacher can give the students his or her e-mail address and inform them they can write to her if they have any questions or comments. This way, the students will find it easier to express their thoughts and communicate with the teacher. Apart from that, he states that a teacher will be abre to monitor students' progress in a writing assignment from the brainstorming phase to the final draft. The monitoring is done via electronic mail whereby
the teacher types comments or feedback and sends them to the students. The feedback and comments are to help the students with their writing and to promote development of their writing skills such as presentation

teacher needs to make announcements, give assignments or remind lt'nts about certain class matters. The teacher does not have to call for ir ,'l:rss meeting; he or she can easily e-mail the message to the students rr lrir:h save valuable class time and energy for both parties, teacher and nl rrrkrnts. Another significant advantage of using e-mail in teaching is it ,,rrirlrlcs the teacher to see whether each of the students has read the nr{,ssale or not. Doing so is useful in monitoring students'progress and ,,rr,rrrring that messages sent to the students are received and read lrl llrcm. Another note-worthy study on the usage of e-mail in the virtual ESL irrrr I llFL classroom was done by Pieter S. Nagel (1999). His purpose was l, rlrow the effectiveness of using e-mail compared to using classroom n,r'rl,ing by investigating how e-mail functions as an instructional and l,';rrning tool. Based on his study he was able to conclude that e-mail r,rr:hange is a media that strongly motivates participation in classroom rrl ivities. He highlights that the usage of e-mail promotes cooperative lr ,r rning among students whereby they learn by sharing their knowledge llrlough the e-mail exchange. He supports his findings with several other irlrrrlies on the same subject matter by other researchers. Pilleme (1997, lrlt'cl in Nagel 1999) states that e-mail definitely excites, motivates and r,ncourages writing. Besides that, Yates and Orlikcowski (1993, cited in Nrrgel 1999) investigated the linguistic and textual patterns ofelectronic lornmunication and discovered that the syntax and word choice often evoke
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lorrversational informality, emphasis, rhythm and even vocalizations. But rrl l,he same time e-mails also show evidence of formal wording and careful ,',,rrrposing and editing, and textual formatting. In addition, Lund (1998, rrl,cd in Nagel 1999) conducted research on the differences between lr':rtlitional academic writing and e-mail exchange and points out some

rrrsightful findings. He notes that the students' writing style differed

rL,lrending on whether the writing was sent to their peers or their teacher. llrrsed on the study, he concludes that when students write to their teachers llrtr product is impersonal, voiceless and expressionless. However, when llrcy write to their peers the product is full of expression and they tend to
lrr, more personal. Nevertheless,
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progress.

e-mail software that allows groupings of assignments by students'name, by the title or by the project name in order to easily monitor students,

and development of ideas. Moreover, the teacher is abre to organize the assignments sent by each student accordingly by using modern

impersonal, voiceless, expressionless wliting is also an important type of writing students should learn for
rdemic and workplace success. Gonzalez-Bueno (1998) conducted a study on e-mail dialogue journals rvlibten by her Spanish students. Her findings reveal that e-mail dialogue l,,trrnals can serve as a tool for the students to practice English Language
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other than that, Belisle (1996) says that the teacher can also retrieve the students'assignments for assessment purposes or future analyses. As for the students, using e-mail enables them to sort their writings according to topic or date or the sender's name. This ability will keep them organized and enhance their commitment to the task of interacting and collaborating

;rrrd communicate without the I r,'1;assg mistakes are tolerated

fear of making mistakes. This lack of fear in e-mails and the emphasis is more on thc

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cor)tent and development of ideas. She also reports that the students' journal entries show an improvement in the quality of the target language produced compared to the ones on paper-and-pencil. The students also enjoyed the activity as they received positive feedbacks for each entry they sent, and they showed more confidence in presenting ideas as their entries
were not graded.

Mello (1998) states that e-mail promotes cross-cultural learning. This statement is based on her findings from a pen-pal project conducted among students from various countries. She found out that students were able to learn about each other's culture and discover the similarities and differences in relation to their culture through pen-pal project. It is important that students learn ofeach others culture as it can enable them to understand materials return regarding others culture in English better. Mello (1998) further states that the use of e-mail in ESL classes promotes cooperative and collaborative learning. When students write to each other, they share and exchange their knowledg:E-and ideas with one another. Besides that, they cooperate with one another by giving positive responses and feedback to each other. Mello (1998) also reports that the use of e-mail in ESL classes promotes enhancement in reading skills. Her pen-pal project research shows students' improvement in terms of reading skills after being exposed to this medium of electronic communication. Chao-Chih Liao (1999) supports Mello's research. She states that her research demonstrates that e-mail allows intercultural communication as students will be able to write to other English speakers whose mother-tongue is not English. This is because there are an increasing number of ESL and EFL speakers in the world using the net thus enabling them to find net friends easily. Caroline Mei Lin Ho (2000) conducted a study on e-mail exchange activity between primary level pupils from two schools, one in Singapore and one in Birmingham. The pupils were asked to exchange information to develop cultural awareness and understanding. The study yielded several
positive results. Among them, students became more motivated and showed

Mcloni ct al. (2001) reports that e-mail provides an opportrrrril,.y l,,r' rrtrthentic interaction as it are used in promoting real-worl<l ,',,rrr nlunication. It benefits the students as they can experiment with thc lrrrrgtrage. Research done by Intan Safinas et. al (2003) supports Meloni's lirrrlings. The researcher conducted a study on lJniversiti Kebangsaan l\{rr laysia students. The findings show that the students who participated rrr Llre e-mail exchange activity improved in terms of writing ability. All of I 'rn managed to develop ideas better, produce better sentence structures rr rrtI present fewer grammatical and usage mistakes. The previously presented benefits of using e-mail in a writing class rrlrow its potential in facilitating teachers and students in completing their lrrsks. Writing, editing and monitoring become easier due to the special lr':rtures of e-mail. Thus, teachers should consider implementing the use ,rl c-mail in their writing class.
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SAMPLE E-MAIL ASSIGNMENTS AND ACTIVITIES

l,l-rnail can be used in class to conduct numerous activities. The activities ,';rn help promote interest among second language learners in learning

ilrc language. The following are some examples of activities ,, rnail that teachers can conduct in their language classes.

utilizing

l) Journal l)iuloging is one of the most popular e'mail activities that have been i rn plemented in the writing class. It is perceived as an activity that promotes irrt,eractionbetween teacher and student and among students themselves. Some of the dialoging types that have been implemented in trSL writing cl:rsses are journal writing, asking and answering questions, progress lt,ports and updates, announcements, :rssignmcnts and class mailing list. tl) Chain Stories 'l'he chain story activity acts as llirsir: grammar reinforcement for lilnmmatical structures such as tcnscs. prcrpositional phrases, and so on. l,irr this activity, the teacher will st,nrl ir p:rrtial sentence to each student. 'l'lre student continues the sentenc:c irnrl rnails it to an assigned partner. 'l'hen the story will be passed arcxrrrrl t,hcr class and everyone will have to rrrld a sentence to the story. Finally, t.hc cnd product is a certain number 'rl sentences written by a certain nrrnrlrer of students in the class. ;i) A Strange Meeting 'l'his is another version of chain story, br-lt it is a more elaborate version. llure, the students are to come up with a phrase-by-phrase short story

more positive attitudes towards writing because of the positive and encouraging feedback they received from their partners. They showed maturity in thinking and presenting ideas. Apart from that, the activity developed and enhanced the students'writing and communication skills as they cooperated with one another whcn they exchanged ideas, thoughts
and beliefs.

Another researcher, Fedderholdt (2001) states that she conducted an experimental study on the usaf{() o1'c- milil among non-native speakers of English from Japan and Donnrark.'l'he findings of the studv show that the activity enriched all responclcnbs'knowledge about each others'culture, and it also promoted thcil inlorost in using the English language.

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this exercise, each person in the class writes a phrase and later passes it to the next person and so on. The forwarding of the phrases stops at the eighth person who combines all eight phrases and -akes it into a coherent paragraph ofeight complete sentences. Throughout the activity the students also send a copy of their messages to the teacher who is monitoring the activity.

phrases) about the meeting between two people (male and female). For

Studcnts also become autonomous learners when using e-mail. 'l'lrc opportunity to take control of their own learning. 'l'lrcy do not have to wait for instructions from the teacher. They can mistakes are tolerated. '',,mmunicate freely and with the knowledge that
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Cloze Exercise

students are given cloze exercises whereby several words are omitted. The cloze exercise could be an exercise on grammar like noun, verb, tenses and so on. The students need to complete the exercise and send it back to the teacher. After the teacher has checked the exercise, she or he will send it back to the student for further revision. This activity is suitable for reinforcing the use of grammar items like adjectives, tenses, articres, etc.

5) International Pen Pals. students can use e-maifto interact with students from other countries and cultures. This is a good way to increase global awareness among students. For instance, Mello (lggs) conducted a pen-pal project with twent! elementary-level students of English at a Science and ltechnitogy University in Korea. The students exchanged e-mail corresponden"" io. a month. The project was reported to be successful in improving the students,reading and writing skill.
PEDAGOG ICAL IM PLICATIONS
Nesamalar chitravelu, Saratha sithamparam and reh soo choon (2005) list several principles ofa practical approach for English language teaching. They mention that the teachers are responsible in helping sludlnts realize the value of learning English and motivating them io lea.n it. They also state that teachers should expose students to activities that give them opportunities to explore and analyze t]he language. Furthermore, there must be sufficient input or real-life language use to encourage English language acquisition. In addition to that, the environment for-acquiring

Ittsides that, engaging in e-mail activities also enhances students' r)owledge of others' culture. Through interaction with others, they also lr,rrrn to express themseives, share experiences and information as well as ,l.velop their thinking skills. They tend to think more critically and , r'catively. The usage of e-mail also motivates students to improve llrcir computer skills as well as ianguage skills. This is because of the use ,rl c-mail to communicate with people around the world and also due to the v:rst number of English speakers on the net. Intrinsic and extrinsic rrrotivation will promote students in updating the knowledge and enhancing t lr,,ir language ability. Looking at the tremendous development of the use of e-mail in ,'ornmunicating and enhancing language learning, the Ministry of l,llucation should consider providing schools especially in rural areas with lnternet connection. Students will be able to interact with other students rrs well as people around the world to expand their knowledge and communication skills. Apart from that, language teachers also should be given training so that all teachers will be able to integrate the use of r,-rnail in their teaching.

CONCLUSION
I lased on the insightful research findings, it can be concluded that the use ,,['e-mail poses a lot of benefits in an ESL context. Thus tcachers should ,,onsider using e-mail to vary their teaching mothods and providc a more nrotivating learning environment for the studcr.rts in <lrclcrr to cttcoltragcr st,udents'personal involvement ilt-rd iuvcstmcnt in their own learning. l,l'mails also promote their inLorcst in lcitrning anil trsing the English

lrrnguage.

experiment with the language. The use of e-mail aiutog.," journals motivates students to write as they receive positive u.r.l er-r.orraging feedback for each e-mail message sent. E-mails also give students the chance to use the ianguage authentically in a non-threatening environment.

can be used to provide students with the opportunity to practice and

the language should be encouraging and conducive. The findings on the use of e-mail in an ESL context reveal that e-mail

REFERENCES
lf

clisle, R., 1996. E-mail activitics in ttrc llSl, writing class. ?/ze fnternet TESL Journa/.2\12).ated15January2(X)l-> Availablefromhttp://www.aitech.ac.jp/

-iteslj/, llroline Mei Lin Ho., 2000. Developittg lnt,crcultural Awareness and Writing Skills through E-mail Exchatrgt,. 7'/tc -lttcrnet TESL Journal Vol(Ip No: 12.
ated 20 January 2005. Availablc frorn

htt@,

l'{

lftt,g/i.;/t Languagc Jourrml

Ohao-Chih Liao., 1999. E'mailing to improve EFL learner's reading and writing abilities: Taiwan experience. T/te fnturnet TESL Journal. Y(3), cited L

January 2005. Available from http://www.aitech.ac.jp/-iteslj/, Ellis, R., 1985. Understanding second language acquisition. New York: Oxford

University Press.
Fedderholdt, K., 2001. An e'mail exchange project between non-native speakers of English. ELT Journal. 55(3): 27 3-280. Gonzalez-Bueno, M., 1998. The effects of electronic mail on Spanish L2 discourse. La ng u age Le a r n i ng a n d Te c /t n o logy. (I9 2) : 5 5 - 7 0. Goodwin, A.A., Hamrick, J. & Stewart, T.C., 1993. Instructional delivery via emall.. ?ESOL Journal.3(1), cited 12 January 2005. Available from www. aitech. ac.ip/itesh/,

http:lll

Intan Safinas Mohd Ariff Albakri, Siti Hamin Stapa & Rosseni Din., 2003. Using E-mail dialogue journal writing in ESL classroom. Virtech Journal,
3(1): 55-65. Krashen, S., 1981. Second Language Acquisition and Seconcl Language Learning. Oxford: Pergamon Press. Kroonenberg, N., 1995. Developing communicative and thinking skills via ema1l. ?/ze Internet ?ESL Journal. 4(2): 24-27, ctted 30 January 2005. Available from http ://www. aitech. ac. jp/-iteslj, Lee Eui-Kap., 1998. The efferts of e-mail mode on Korean High School students' task-based writing in English.. ?/te Inlernet TESL Journal. 4(ll):24-27, cited 30 January 2005. Available from http://www.aitech.ac.jp/-iteslj/, Mello, V., 1998. Report on a penpal project, and tips for penpal project success. ?/te Internet ?ESL Journal. aG), cited 23 February 2005. Available from http ://www. aitech. ac. ip/-itesh/, Meloni, 8.C., 2001. Using e-mail in Foreign Language Teaching: Rationale and suggestions. The Internet TESL Journal. 6(3), cited 23 February 2005. Available from http ://www. aitech. ac.ip/-iteslj/,

Nagel, D.S., 1999. E-mail

in the virtual classroom. Th.e fnternet ?ESL Journa/. 5(7), cited 23 February 2005. Available from http://

www. aitech. ac.jp/-iteslj/. Nesamalar Chitravelu, Saratha Sithamparam & Teh Soo Choon., 2005. ELT Methodology.'Principles and Practice.z"d Edition. Shah Alam: Penerbit Fajar

Bakti Sdn. Bhd. Stewart, T., 1996. Secret partner journals for motivation, fluency andf:un. The fnturnet TESL Journal.2(7), cited 23 February 2005. Available from htto:/
/www. aitech. ac.jp/-iteslj/,