Analysing Email

1. Analysing Email LM350 Computer Mediated Communication

2. Admin • Search for politeness features? • Tutorial is happening so we’ll have a break 10 - 10.15

3. 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)

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. Susan Herring’s Example Date: Thu 1 Jun 2000 10:03 To: 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

8. 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 email?

9. 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 What do we know about the situation?

10. 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

11. What can discourse analysis tell us? Levels of analysis • Linguistic structure Typography, spelling, word choice, sentence structure, message organisation • Meaning Of words, symbols, utterances, exchanges • Interactional coherence Turn taking, back channels, repairs, topic decay • Social function Signalling identity, group membership, humour, face/politeness, conflict, negotiating power

12. Susan Herring’s Example Date: Thu 1 Jun 2000 10:03 To: 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

13. Linguistic Structure Date: Thu 1 Jun 2000 10:03 To: 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 expectwe’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

14. 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?

15. 1. Hi Susan 2a. The last day 2b. So not to worry 3a. Appreciate your flexibility 3b. And expect we’ll be able to 4a. Plenary topic and title 4b. You might want to call that… 5a. Look forward 5b. And will stay in touch 6. Nancy Greeting Explanation Reassurance Thanks Promise (mitigated) Evaluation Suggestion Assertion (formulaic) Promise (formulaic) Signature Meaning - speech acts 1

16. 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 Meaning - speech acts 2

17. 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

18. Interactional Coherence Cohesion Links back - such lax parameters, your flexibility, the workshop Implicit link forward - you might want… Exchange Structure N (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]

19. 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

20. 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

21. 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.