| dc.description.abstract | Målet for dette forskningsprosjektet var, først of fremst, å undersøke hvorvidt hvordan det å skrive eposter på engelsk i Norge var av noen betydning og, i så fall, for hvem. Problemstillingen for dette prosjektet er todelt. For det første ønsker jeg å få et tilstandsbilde på hvordan de forskjellige normene for åpnings- og avslutningsfraser og æresbevisninger I norsk og engelsk epostetikette, er navigert av norske studenter når de skriver til universitetsansatte på engelsk. For det andre vil jeg undersøke hvilken effekt de forskjellige språkvalgene de tar har på mottakere med engelsk som førstespråk, og hvorvidt de tolkes annerledes av noen som har norsk som førstespråk.
For å svare på dette gjennomførter jeg semi-strukturerte intervjuer og undersøkte et korpus med autentiske eposter.
Resultatene indikerer at dette er et tema som har gått litt under radaren, selv om det påvirker studenter og ansate i deres hverdag. Det oppfattes ikke som en krisesituasjon, men det er en viss mengde ubehag og beklemthet som går uuttrykt. All informantervar tydelige på at de er aksepterende og forsåelsesfull I møte med eposter som ikke møter standerene deres, at de ikke tok seg nær av det. De henviste også til at andre ville kunne være mer dømmende. | |
| dc.description.abstract | The aim of this research project was, first of all, to discover whether the issue of how to write emails in English whilst in Norway is of any consequence, and if so, to whom and why. In other words, to figure out where there is a there there? A secondary aim was to widen the academic conversation by questioning the pervasive appropriateness-based model of linguistic variation in L2 email correspondence. There were two research questions that served as a starting point for this project: (1) how are the differing norms of greetings, closings and honorifics in Norwegian and English email etiquette navigated by Norwegian students writing to university staff in English? (2) what effect do the different linguistic choices they make have on English L1 receivers, and do Norwegian L1 (English L2) speakers interpret them differently?
To answer these questions I conducted semi-structured interviews with English L1 and Norwegian L1 members of staff, and analysed a small corpus of authentic emails. The approach was exploratory and constructivist, with elements of ethnography. The aim was to get a picture of actual practice of email writing and analyse that in relation to reflexive interview accounts. The project prioritised depth over breadth, as this seemed to be required for a nuanced account of complex processes and conflicting ideals.
The results of this study indicate that the topic of email etiquette might have gone slightly under the radar, yet it is something that affects both students and staff on a regular basis. There does not seem to be an acute crisis in communication, but there also seems to be a level of discomfort or awkwardness that goes unacknowledged and unaddressed. It is significant that the interviewees all stressed their own acceptance and understanding when faced with student emails that did not conform to their expectations. All stated that they, in general, did not mind, notice or care very much about potential faux-passes by students. However, in doing this they also singled themselves out and referred, implicitly or explicitly, to a less unforgiving "other", who would probably mind more. These conflicting ideologies do not only affect student writers, but also staff recipients.
An important aspect for critical research is that it can be of use and applicable beyond its own narrow scope. This project has combined elements from critical sociolinguistics, discourse analysis and sociopragmatics, to further investigating how situations of meaning making and interpretations are navigated, and how it is influenced by lack of immediate responses and a lack of denotational common ground. This is a project that assists in the continuing cross disciplinary efforts of the sociocultural language sciences. This was intended to be an exploratory study, where the aim was to find out whether there is a there there. This, judging from the findings, appears to be the case. The next step will be to add more perspectives and investigate how these results compare with other groups of people in different locations. | |