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7/27/2019 Portugal Inenglish 1999apr Email Projects

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E-mail projects& e-mail writing skillsb y Robert Tuck

Hav in g an e -mai l ad d ress th ese d ay s i sa l m o s t a s c o m m o n a s h a v i n g a m o b i l ep h o n e . E-ma i l i s a v ery r eal mean s o fc o m m u n i c a t i o n i n t h e l a t e 1 9 9 0 s .E-ma i l p ro v id e s a n ew an d ex c i t in greso u rce fo r th e lan g u ag e lea rn er wh icha t p r esen t i s w id e ly u n ex p lo i te d . E-mai l i s esp ec ia l ly id ea l fo r y o u n gl a n g u a g e l e a r n e r s b e c a u s e :a i t h a s a r e al c o m m u n i c a t i v e p u r p o s e ;b s tu d en ts a r e o b l ig ed to u se ac o m m o n l a n g u a g e , a b o v e a l l E n g l i s h ,t o c o m m u n i c a t e w i t h o t h e r l e a r n e rsa r o u n d t h e g l o b e ;c y o u n g lea rn er s ten d to lo v ec o m p u t e r s ;d i t i s s tu d en t - cen t r ed ;e i t can b e to p ica l ly b ase d ;f i t can b e a h u man is t ic - cu l tu r a le x p e r i e n c e ;g i t o f f er s o p p o r tu n i t ies fo r p e er -c o r r e c t i o n ;h i t may b e u sed to imp ro v e t r ad i t io n a lwr i t in g sk i l l s ;i and f inally , i t p ractises a realco mp u te r sk i l l wh ich i s in i t s o wn r ig h timp o r tan t in to d ay ' s w o r ld .A t th e B r i t i sh C o u n c i l . Pared e , we h av ein i t ia ted a n u mb er o f s imp le an d smal l -sca le e - mai l p ro jec ts w i th v ar io u s o th ercen t r es a ro u n d th e wo r ld . So f a r th eyh av e p ro v en q u i te su ccess fu l an d wein ten d to ex p an d o u r co n tac ts an dp ar t ic ip a t io n in th e n ear fu tu re .

Se t t in g up e -mai l pr oje c t sIn o rd er to av o id s tu d en td i s a p p o i n t m e n t a n d t e a c h e r f r u s t r a t i o n ,th ere a r e a n u m b er o f es sen t ia l p r ac t ica lq u es t io n s an d o th er f ac to r s to co n s id erb efo re y o u lau n ch in to an e -mai lp ro jec t .a E s s e n t i a l p r a c t i c a l q u e s t i o n sWh at i s th e lev e l o f y o u r s tu d en ts 'c o m p u t e r o p e r a t i n g s k i l l s ?S o m e s t u d e n t s a r e n o t c o m p u t e r

l i t e r a te . Yo u mu s t b e p rep ared to a t ten dto th e n eed s o f th ese s lo wer s tu d en tsand to al lo t suff icient t ime for them tof in i sh th e i r t a sk s in th e co mp u te r ro o m.A t ip i s to p u t th e mo re ab le s tu d en tsw i t h t h e w e a k e r o n e s .H o w m u c h o r g a n i s a t i o n / l i a i s o n a r e y o up rep ared to p u t in ?Yo u n eed to f in d so meo n e a t a sch o o lin an o th er co u n t ry to co -o rd in a te aco m p ar ab l e e -mai l p ro jec t so th a t y o u rs t u d e n t s h a v e s o m e o n e t o w r i t e t o .Th en y o u mu s t b e p rep ared to l i a i se o na r eg u la r b as i s w i th y o u r o p p o s i ten u m b er . Th is is a v ery imp o r tan t f ac to rth a t w i l l l a rg e ly d e te rmin e th e h o wsu ccess fu l th e e -mai l p ro jec t i s .C o n s id e rab le t im e i s n ee d ed in i t ia l ly toc o - o r d i n a t e s t u d e n t c o r r e s p o n d e n c e .O n c e t h e c o r r e s p o n d e n c e i s u p a n dr u n n i n g , c o - o r d i n a t i o n b e c o m e s e a s i e r .Ho w lo n g d o y o u wan t th e p ro jec t to g oon for?Yo u n eed to es tab l i sh th i s w i th y o u ro p p o s i te n u m b er f ro m th e o u tse t . Yo ud o n o t wan t an e -mai l p ro jec t to d r ago n in d ef in i te ly . Yo u sh o u ld l imi tc o r r e s p o n d e n c e t o a n u m b e r o f w e e k so n ly .H o w m a n y e x c h a n g e s d o y o u w a n tb e t w e e n s t u d e n t s ?

Yo u sh o u ld d ec id e th i s b efo re y o uemb ark o n a p ro jec t , f o r th e samereaso n as ab o v e . Fo u r to s ix ex ch an g ess h o u l d b e e n o u g h .Wh at co n t in g en cy p lan s d o y o u h av e inth e ev en t o f tech n ica l h i tch es?S o m e t e c h n i c a l p r o b l e m s c a n a r i s eu n ex p ec ted ly wh en y o u a r e ac tu a l ly int h e c o m p u t e r r o o m , f o r e x a m p l e , a c c e s sto th e in te rn e t mig h t b e d en ie d . Th isc o u l d h a v e d i s a s t r o u s c o n s e q u e n c e s i fy o u h av e n o t p lan n ed so meth in g e l se tod o . On e t ip i s a lway s to h av e so me

C D - R O M s a t h a n d f o r a n a l t e r n a t i v eac t iv i ty . En c ar ta is id ea l b ecau ses tu d en ts can a lway s d o r esearch ab o u tth e h is to ry o r cu s to ms . , e tc , o f th eco u n t ry o f th e s tu d en ts th ey a r e wr i t in gto .Wh at sh o u ld y o u d o ab o u t s tu d en tswh o tak e lo n g er to wr i te?So me s tu d en ts s imp ly wr i te s lo wer o rmo re th an o th er s . A l lo w t ime for th eses t u d e n t s .Ho w d o y o u mo n i to r s tu d en t o u tp u t?En su re th a t s tu d en ts sav e th e i r wo rkand copy i t to both yourself and to theteach er in th e o th er co u n t ry . Th isp rev en ts lo s s o f th e i r wo rk an d a l lo wsy o u to mo n i to r wh a t th ey a r e wr i t in g .Wh at i f a ' k ey -p a l ' i s ab sen t?I t is best not to let s tudents wr ite theiro w n in d iv id u a l e -m ai l s . Tw o o r th r ees tu d en ts sh o u ld sh are a co m p u te r an dwr i te a jo in t e -mai l . Th is g u aran tee sth e ex ch an g e o f e -mai l s ev en i f o n e o rtwo s tu d en ts a r e ab sen t .Wh at ab o u t e -mai l wr i t in g ' n o n -c o n v e n t i o n s ' ?At th e mo men t i t ap p ear s th a t e -mai lwr i t in g can b e so mewh at d i f f e r en t f ro mmo re t r ad i t io n a l fo rms o f wr i t in g . Yo ucan argue that , because of i ts speed , i tsh ares so me ch arac te r i s t ics o f b o thsp eak in g an d wr i t in g . I t t en d s to b eles s fo rmal , l e s s co n v en t io n a l , th anev en in fo rmal le t te r wr i t in g .Th e main d i f f e r en ces a r e h ig h - l ig h tedin th e fo l lo win g , p erh ap s r a th erco n t r iv ed , co mp ar iso n o f an in fo rmal( th o u g h r a th er u p p er c las s ) le t te r an d ane - m a i l .

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2/5

The/ Beech/ Treet8 The/Vowm-fine-don.'hJcn-thantyNN9 6JTSaturday 6 th-Junes '98

Deareit Lucy,How are/you/? I tru&t esve4 rythU%cf ti>juvyt fines with you-:

How lovely it wa&- to- receive/your lo/yt letter. It really wot,-a> plechyardt HWprb&e*.

So-you/ enjoyed/ your h oliday in/ YarvncruJth/. Y ou- yosid/ fred/ arid/Maviywere/there/too-l How marvellous! But what asyhaAnesHa rold/wa^rCt able/ to- makes it. Tell/ me/, wot- it Hit- gout? Or, dare/I yay ?Wa4 he/ in/Blackpool/ wM% yow-know-\vho? What as traAnpiyh/ womaruyhe/ iyl She/ iy yuch/ as hcn-rible/ lady, abyolutely hcn'ribLe. Where/ did/hesfvndsher?

The/ gcvrderv iy isvv fine-- b l o o m ; We- had/ M r Prieytly, the/ new vicar,over for teas lasyt Suruday. He)y yuch/ a> nice/ mari/you/ hnow.So - would/you/ like- to- haves teas ncyt Surulay? It would/ be/justyuper to- have you/ beccucye/ the- rhodxydcnA\-~or\y aruls b e g f - o n i a ^ are/ yo-dclAj^htfut at thiy tume of year; quite a- ypectacle- in/ fact.

Youry, as ever,"Rupert

2sd repy to youi )em Message |RiL-h Tex!y# d* jew Inser Fgma look Actons ye> lffl*

la*t letter "-W""^ + pre.o-i l**->-ffiwtfC >ou i trust everythiim is tine widl yu(f really was I pleasantsurprise. (%y N*fC ztMmnmr sp*c*Mso >ou enoyed yout holiday in yarmouth. you said tired and mavis were theicloo"'!!! ojhow man clousbut wha a shame harotd wasnt able to make it - W???7 -j* 5* "Mjoi was he h i hlaelpool with *you-know-who* wha a horrible lad) where didhe find her?the garden is in in e boom wc had m pnestly, the new vicar, over for tea last jsundat ties such a nice man. you knowsssooo would you like to have tea next Sunday it woud be stipe

le_J+UcrM -*t I /M.S. Mi*

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3/5

W h a t s h o u l d y o u t e a c h y o u r s t u d e n t s ?Th is i s a r a th er co n ten t io u s i s su e .S o m e c o l l e a g u e s a r g u e t h a t y o u s h o u l ds t ick to th e wr i t in g co n v en t io n s th a ty o u teach , fo r ex amp le , f o r in fo rmal o rfo rmal le t te r wr i t in g . O th er s b e l iev eth a t y o u sh o u ld ac t iv e ly teach so me o fth e n ew ' n o n -co n v en t io n s ' th a t a r ep ecu l ia r to e -mai l wr i t in g . I p e r so n a l lyf av o u r th e la t te r. E-m ai l wr i t in g i s an ew an d d i f f e r en t med iu m o fc o m m u n i c a t i o n a n d i t s l a n g u a g e , a tp r esen t an y way , ap p ear s to b e eq u a l lyd i f f e r en t . S tu d en ts w i l l n eed to b e , a tth e v ery leas t , aware o f so me o f th ewr i t in g p ecu l ia r i t i e s th a t a r e u n iq u e toe-mai l , an d esp ec ia l ly ch a t l in es , sot h e y c a n u n d e r s t a n d t h e m w h e n t h e ym e e t t h e m .

Th ere i s n o co n sen su s o n th i s mat te r . I ti s in th e h an d s o f th e in d iv id u a l teach er .Ho wev er , I can say th a t my s tu d en tse n j o y e d c o m p a r i n g t h e a b o v e l e t t e r a n de-ma i l . I b e l iev e i t i s a v a lu a b leex erc ise , p ro v id ed th a t y o u en su re th a tth e s tu d en ts k n o w th a t th e lack o ft r ad i t io n a l wr i t in g co n v en t io n s i su n iq u e to e -mai l an d ch a t l in es an d th a tin ' n o rmal ' l e t te r s th ey h av e to b er e t a i n e d . *

b O t h e r f a c t o r sTh e p ro jec t sh o u ld co r r esp o n d to ato p ic o n th e sy l lab u sW h e n e v e r p o s s i b l e , t h i s p r o j e c t s h o u l db e an ex ten s io n o f th e wo rk y o u a r ea l r ead y d o in g in c las s an d n o ts o m e t h i n g e x t r a .

Th e p ro jec t mu s t h av e r ea l i s t ico b j e c t i v e s .

S tu d en ts sh o u ld see th a t th e p ro jec t i sv iab le . S im p l ic i ty i s th e k ey h ere .Th e s tu d en ts sh o u ld see th e v a lu e o f th ep ro jec tTh e s tu d en ts n eed to b e ab le to see th a tth e p ro jec t w i l l imp ro v e th e i r l an g u ag esk i l l s .Th e p ro jec t n eed s to h av e an en dp r o d u c tPerh ap s y o u sh o u ld a im to mak e awal lc h ar t o r co l la te in fo rmat io n ab o u tso m eth in g . Th e e -mai l p ro jec t sh o u ldo n ly b e a mean s to ach iev in gso meth in g in th e c las s ro o m an d n o t anend in itself.Ex amp les o f ac t iv i t ies in c lu d e :- q u e s t i o n n a i r e s- co l lec t in g cu l tu r a l in fo rmat io n- wr i t in g r ep o r t s o r g u id es ab o u t ap ar t icu la r co u n t ry , e tc .- r o le -p la y s ( le t te r s o f en q u i ry ,fo l lo wed b y le t te r s o f f e r in g so m eth in g ,fo l lo wed th en b y le t te r s o f co n f i rmat io no r n eg o t ia t io n , e tc . Th is ty p e o fac t iv i ty i s p e rh a p s mo s t u se fu l w i thad u l t s . ) .Th e p ro jec t mu s t b e fu n an d in te r es t in gTh at sp eak s fo r itself.A n e x a m p l e o f s t u d e n t s 'c o r r e s p o n d e n c eMy s tu d en ts en jo y ed th e i r f i r s tex p e r ien c e w i th e -ma i l . On th e p ag eo p p o s i te i s an (u n co r r ec ted ) ex amp le o fa ty p ica l 1 5 -y ear -o ld in te rm ed ia tes t u d e n t ' s c o r r e s p o n d e n c e w i t h s o m eT h a i s t u d e n t s .

*[To g ive a s l ightly d if ferent poin t of v iew, I agree with the author about theimp o r tan ce o f d r awin g a t ten t io n to e -mai l an d ch a t l in e ' n o n -co n v en t io n s ' an d inp ar t icu la r th e u se of sy m b o ls . I wo u ld , h o w ev er , q u es t io n teach in g p u n c tu a t io nn o n - c o n v e n t i o n s , p a r t i c u l a r l y t h e e x c e s s i v e u s e o f q u e s t i o n a n d e x c l a m a t i o n m a r k san d th e n o n -o b s erv a n ce o f cap i ta l i sa t io n an d ap o s t ro p h e ru les . Ed . J


4/5

[sent]hellomy name is marga rida and i am fifteeni am a Port ugues e girl and i live lisboni have one brother h is name is manue li ho [ . . . ][received]H i, We are Tal , kik and Be. We are all 12 year s old.We are Thai gi rls . We live in Ban gko k. Tha nks for e-mail us . Be and I hav e twobrothers. Kik has three sis ter s. !!!

Thaila nd is very beaut iful count ry.Th ere are many interest things . Thai food isspice. Capi tal of Tha ila nd is Ban gko k. (that we live in) Thai lan d has threeseasons but it's very hot all year .

We wou ld like to kno w abou t you and you r cou ntry . Can you tell me? what isyour capital city? Is your food spicy like us?H ow many seasons do your country have?

see you laterb y e . . . A _ A

kik be tal[sent]Hi !My name is Marga rida and i am a fifteent h Portugu ese girl.I live in Lisbon , that is a wond erful city and is our capital city. We usuall y don'teat spicy fo od.In our country we have 4 season s: summer, winte r, sprin g and fall.I love doing gymna stics and listennin g to mus ic. And you?Bye from you Port ugue se friend

M a r g a r i d a[received]Hi Margarida!

Thanks for reply us . We glad to see your e-m ail.In your count ry has four- seasons ! It's cool. Do u have snow in win ter ? InThailand , winter is hot . ( We think it's your summer.)

We like to collect all of ticke ts. Everyt hing about mov ies ! We like pop musi c.We like Backs treet 's boys , Hans on , Spice Girls , Take 5 , 5ive , Kavanaaqua , Boyzo ne and All Sain ts. We like to reading all kinds of boo oks .Especialy CARTOONS!

In Thaila nd we learn 2 or 3 languag es.Thai , English someone lea rn Chinese ,Japanes e and French.

We would like to ask you some que stio ns. Do you collect anythin gs? and what? Whatband s do u li ke?Do you like reading ? In protu gal ,how many lan guage do you study?PLEASE REPLY US

SEE YOUFROM YOUR THAI F RIENDS[sent]hello i am glad you liked my e-mai l.in portug al wint er is cold and summer is hot .i like reading no vels and adventu re books and my favouri t bands are spice girls ,silence 4 and green day.i do like collect ing things and i have been collect ing stamps and stickers.We learntwo langueges like French and English .No, i must go, but i hope you will write to melater.Bye from your Portu guese friend

Margarida

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Th e s tep s in v o lv ed in se t t in g u p an e -mai l p ro jec t1 Th e two teac h er s sen d each o th e rd e ta i l s o f th e i r c las ses , e . g . ag e , n u mb ero f S S , n a m e s , e t c .2 T h e t e a c h e r s m a t c h c o m p a t i b l ec l a s s e s . T h e c o r r e s p o n d i n g c l a s s e ss h o u l d h a v e a p p r o x i m a t e l y t h e s a m en u m b e r o f s t u d e n t s .3 A l lo w an en t i r e les so n to g iv in g y o u rs tu d en ts e -mai l acco u n ts - i t t ak es mu c hl o n g e r t h a n y o u m i g h t i m a g i n e .4 T h e t e a c h e r s e x c h a n g e t h e i r s t u d e n t s 'e -mai l ad d resses an d ag ree o n a to p ic .

Usefu l B r i t i sh C o u n c i l co n ta c tsP a u l T h o m p s o n . B a n g k o k .p a u l . t h o m p s o n @ b r i t c o u n . o r . t hJ u l i a n D o b s o n . T o k y o .J u l i a n . D o b s o n @ b c - t o k y o . b c o u n c i l . tN e i l H u n t . H o n g K o n g .n e i l . h u n t @ b r i tco u n . o rg . h kIa in S tewar t . C aracas .i a i n _ s t e w a r t @ b r i t c o u n . o r g . v eR o b e r t T u c k . P a r e d e .r o b e r t _ t u c k @y a h o o . c o m

5 In su b se q u en t les so n s th e s tu d en tswr i te to each o th e r - g e t th em to co p yth e i r e -mai l s b o th to y o u an d th e o th erteach er , so th a t y o u b o th h av e a r eco rdo f th e i r wo rk .6 L im i t th e s tu d e n ts ' ex c h an g es tob e t w e e n f o u r a n d s i x e x c h a n g e s .

iSHiflBPBfthas taught E n g l i s h in S p a i n ,Germany and the U.K . He is currentlyworking on an M. A . (Ed u ca t i o n ) forth e O p e n Univers i ty , while teaching a tthe British Counc i l , Parede.
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