Email correction. Literature & Language. Coursework

Running head: DUY’S EMAIL1
Duy’s Email: Reflection & Corrections
Student Name
College/University Affiliation
DUY’S EMAIL

2

Duy’s Email: Reflection & Corrections
1. Duy’s Email: Reflection
Duy’s email clearly reflects several key mistakes non-native speakers make in written communication. In addition to Professor Baker’s exclamation about Duy’s language use, “Syntax, spelling, whew!” Duy fails to use appropriate rhetorical devices usually used in email writing. Typically, emails start by a proper address and since, Duy is writing to a professor, he should have used a formal form of address such as “Dear Professor Baker.” This should have been followed by a greeting typically used in emails written to professors by students such as “I hope my message finds you very well.” Clearly, distractions caused by several grammatical, syntactic and word choice mistakes, improper use of register (e.g. “I would like to know more about it, that is, if I am...”), and failing to conclude properly make for a poor email. Understandably, Duy is not a native speaker and, as far as his email shows, he has not practiced writing enough to avoid simple writing mistakes. Moreover, Duy’s idiomatic choices (e.g. “How do you do?”) uncover a fairly early prescriptive study of English. Typically, prescriptive learning of English instruct learners to use “how do you do?” in formal address. The application of such mod of formal address is clearly inappropriate in current email and only shows poor early English instruction methods . Instead, Duy should have practiced writing more not only to write emails yet all written forms of communications he is supposed to use at college. To ...