Materials 1: Academic Email Writing

Materials Development 1:  Academic Email Writing

            This lesson is situated in a university IEP class, ideally at the highest or second highest level.  This particular class session takes place in a room with plenty of computers for students to use as well as a computer and projector for the teacher.  The class has 12-16 students, and the course is designed to prepare them for writing in academic contexts.  The purpose of this lesson is to raise student awareness of how emails to professors are different than casual emails, and to develop students’ ability to write polite, properly formatted academic emails that meet the expectations of the genre. 

            In this lesson, two main technologies are used:  an email client (Google-powered) and GoogleDrive (specifically, a GoogleDocument).  Using an email client allows students to gain authentic experience with a necessary medium and genre of written communication (Levy, 2009).  GoogleDrive is a technology that allows for the shared construction of knowledge, and in some ways functions as computer mediated communication (CMC), which has been shown to elicit more balanced output from a class of students (DuBravac, 2013; Lai & Li, 2011).  When used with a projector, it also allows for effective use of a whiteboard/display that allows students easily visible reference while completing a writing task. 

            This lesson also employs formative assessment.  In the warm-up activity, the teacher receives short emails from the students, which allows the instructor to quickly assess student strengths and weaknesses in terms of formatting and use of appropriate language, which can inform the rest of the lesson.  The teacher shares some of these insights and then students get the opportunity to reflect on the various linguistic options they could use during the brainstorm activity.  Finally, after completing the main email writing tasks, students engage in an informal, email-based peer review, in which they provide feedback to a classmate.

View the Lesson Plan:  Academic Email Writing LP
Access the GoogleDocument: GoogleDoc Brainstorm