Analysing Email

LM350 Computer Mediated Communication

Admin

Search for politeness features? Tutorial is happening so we’ll have a break

10 - 10.15

CMC Research Wish List

Need to develop good empirical research methods, benchmarks for graphics, sound as well as text - data gathering, privacy

Need for research in languages other than English (or English + another language, or English as lingua franca)

Research on one-to-one and non-public CMC (inc. texting, mobile phone use, email at work, family emails)

Wider picture of CMC with other communication technologies, esp. over time (e.g. Backpacker project)

CMC research

Politeness - last week Structural features Agreements and disagreements Gender differences (+ many other user characteristics, e.g. age,

experience, language, nationality, status or locally determined features, e.g. fan or not)

Abbreviations and emoticons Code switching Turn taking Group/community issues - mutual support, in-crowd vs

“newbies”, policing And many more

Variables of media

Synchronicity Unit of transmission (character, message, programme) Persistence/retrievability Channel, e.g. graphical, textual, audio Support - paper, voice, computer screen, mobile phone screen Input device - voice, keyboard,pencil Anonymity Allows “policing” Allows one to one or one to many

TRY THIS WITH TEXT, PHONE, POSTER & EMAIL

Variables of situation

Participation structure (e.g. X is claiming expertise/power) Participant characteristics (e.g. X is younger than Y) Context (work/leisure, part of longer conversation) Purpose (is this directly/indirectly flagged?) Tone (friendly, businesslike, flaming…) Topic Conventions (greeting? quoting? politeness) Code - linguistic or other (which language? With graphics?

Abbreviations? Misspellings?)

We should be able to say something about all these perspectives from discourse analysis of messages

Susan Herring’s Example

Date: Thu 1 Jun 2000 10:03To: HERRING SUSAN <herring@uta.edu>From: Nancy Baym <nbaym@ukans.edu>Subject: Re:keynote scheduling

HI Susan, the last day is Sunday and we’re having no keynotes at all, so not to worry about that. Appreciate your flexibility, and expect we’ll all be able to work within such lax parameters! Plenary topic and title sound great, as does the workshop idea (you might want to call that one gender and the internet, just to hit the broader population a bit). Look forward to meeting you f2f and will stay in touch as things progress,

Nancy

What do we know about email?

Synchronicity Unit of transmission (character,

message, programme) Persistence/retrievability Channel, e.g. graphical, textual,

audio Support - paper, voice, computer

screen, mobile phone screen Input device - voice,

keyboard,pencil Anonymity Allows “policing” Allows one to one or one to

many

Asynchronous Message by message

Persistent unless deleted Channel, e.g. textual

Support - computer screen Input device - keyboard

Not anonymous Haphazard “policing” One to one (bcc? Copy to self?)

What do we know about the situation?

Participation structure Participant characteristics

Context Purpose Tone Topic Conventions Code

One to one, real names White middle class academic

women S is senior to N different institutions experienced with email

conference planning, previous emails, not f2f

Clarify planning details Friendly, professional Conference details Polite, semi-formal English, Bridget Jones

telegraphic

How could it be different?

Text message - persistence Phone call - synchronicity, support, channel Message on bulletin board/listserv - private/public Message to conference participants list - 1-1, 1-many Private email about personal topic - topic, purpose Email rejecting S’s paper - purpose, conventions Bad tempered complain about constant changes of

arrangements - tone, language

What can discourse analysis tell us? Levels of analysis

Linguistic structureTypography, spelling, word choice, sentence structure, message organisation

MeaningOf words, symbols, utterances, exchanges

Interactional coherenceTurn taking, back channels, repairs, topic decay

Social functionSignalling identity, group membership, humour, face/politeness, conflict, negotiating power

Susan Herring’s Example

Date: Thu 1 Jun 2000 10:03To: HERRING SUSAN <herring@uta.edu>From: Nancy Baym <nbaym@ukans.edu>Subject: Re:keynote scheduling

HI Susan, the last day is Sunday and we’re having no keynotes at all, so not to worry about that. Appreciate your flexibility, and expect we’ll all be able to work within such lax parameters! Plenary topic and title sound great, as does the workshop idea (you might want to call that one gender and the internet, just to hit the broader population a bit). Look forward to meeting you f2f and will stay in touch as things progress,

Nancy

Linguistic Structure

Date: Thu 1 Jun 2000 10:03To: HERRING SUSAN <herring@uta.edu>From: Nancy Baym <nbaym@ukans.edu>Subject: Re:keynote scheduling[OPENING, GREETING]HI Susan, the last day is Sunday and we’re having no keynotes at all, so not to worry about that. Appreciate your flexibility, and expect we’ll all be able to work within such lax parameters! Plenary topic and title sound great, as does the workshop idea (you might want to call that one gender and the internet, just to hit the broader population a bit). [ = MESSAGE BODY]Look forward to meeting you f2f and will stay in touch as things progress, [ = CLOSE]Nancy

What do we learn?

Educational level of sender - native speaker, US, accurate spelling, well-formed sentences, sophisticated vocabulary, skilful use of language

Style of message - slightly informal Organisation of message - conventional Sender’s state of mind? - in a hurry?

Meaning - speech acts 1

1. Hi Susan2a. The last day2b. So not to worry3a. Appreciate your flexibility3b. And expect we’ll be able to4a. Plenary topic and title4b. You might want to call

that…5a. Look forward5b. And will stay in touch6. Nancy

Greeting

Explanation

Reassurance

Thanks

Promise (mitigated)

Evaluation

Suggestion

Assertion (formulaic)

Promise (formulaic)

Signature

Meaning - speech acts 2

Greeting

Exp[lanation

Reassurance

Thanks

Promise (mitigated)

Evaluation

Suggestion

Assertion (formulaic)

Promise (formulaic)

Signature

OPENING

ACCEPTANCE OF S’s PROPOSALS

REQUEST FOR FUTURE ACTION

CLOSING

What do we learn?

Overall content - task or interpersonal? Task focus - negotiation

Meaning of each utterance in context, e.g. 3b = promise

Levels of directness - you might want to call that one gender and the internet, just to hit the broader population a bit

Interactional Coherence

Cohesion Links back - such lax parameters, your flexibility, the workshopImplicit link forward - you might want…

Exchange StructureN (30 May 20.35) Initiation [request time preference]S (1 June 02.19) Response [suggest preferred times]N (1 June 10.03) Acknowledgement/ [approve times; ask

Initiation for change to title]N (17 July 15.07) Re-initiation [request title & abstract]

What do we learn?

Function of this message in longer sequence

Breakdown of expected exchange structure

Extent of explicit and implicit references to other messages in sequence

Social Functions

Identity - N presents as conference organiser, experienced Internet user

Group membership - academic, female (?)

Face management/politeness - both positive face (appreciate, sounds great, will stay in touch) and negative face (not to worry, you might want, a bit)

Power - equals out, result is more or less equality

To take away

4 levels of analysis Reflect on paradigmatic choices - as a way of making

implications of the writer’s choice more obvious Also try imaging possibilities with different writer, respondent,

situation and so on.