Medium of the data

The medium of the data – electronic mail – should be taken into consideration as it affects the way requests are performed. “Media are the physical means by which communication is created, transmitted, or stored” (Yates & Orlikowski, 1992: 319).

Emails, as a mode of communication derived from telephone communication, are computer-mediated messages sent electronically from one computer to another.

Combining features of spoken discourse with those of written discourse (Gimenez, 2000: 238-242; Harrison, 1998), electronic mail is a new genre in terms of the study of illocutionary acts. The spoken and written characteristics of emails are summarized by Yates & Orlikowski (1993) as follows:

3 The figures in Table 4.4 include the number of words of product names and addresses deleted to protect

Chapter 4. Research Design and Methodology 74 Spoken:

• Informality

• Electronic interaction

• Conversationality

• Incomplete sentences

• Textual indication of oral emphasis on words or phrases with capital letters.

• … Written:

• The ability to reflect on, edit, and shape the message before sending it

• Careful composition into written text

• Use of formatting devices and related language primarily or exclusively used in writing such as Attention Line, Subheadings

• Containing lists or attachments

• formality

• …

Since emails have the characteristics of both spoken and written discourse, the participants will be represented as addressors and addressees in this study, instead of writers and readers. Email is primarily designed for information exchange (Mulholland, 1999:74); hence, brevity in language use, which improves communicative efficiency, is becoming the preferred style of computer-mediated communication. In the field of international business, efficient cross-cultural communication is a prerequisite for business success. As electronic mail offers immediacy, practical efficiency, and organizational exigency collectively, it has become the accepted business communication practice worldwide (Louhiala-Salminen, 1999: 103).

4.5.2. Layout of Emails

Specific features of layout give rise to specific forms of requests. The knowledge of the layout of emails will help us understand why requests in electronic mails differ from those in spoken discourse. For example, thanking requests at the end of an email are employed not only to end the email as a preclosing, but also to thank and to

Chapter 4. Research Design and Methodology 75 request. Moreover, the information enclosed in Header, Salutation, Preclosing and Signature Block provides further evidence to support the analysis of requestive strategies.

4.5.2.1. Email Header

Modern technology has given rise to a new layout of business correspondence, which results in special forms of requests. The inside address of traditional letters is replaced by the Email Header comprising “From”, “Date”, “To” and “Subject”.

Linked to ‘Subject’ is Attachment. In order to make email text look concise and not to exhaust the reader, long texts can be placed in a separate document and attached to the email. Attachments are especially helpful in international business email communication, for price lists, product lists, contracts, business plans, etc. are normally attached to the email. Near the Header is “Toolbar” containing “Delete”,

“Reply”, “Forward” and “Move”. The function of “Reply” enables the writer to reply to the message automatically without typing the address of the recipient. This function creates a string of copied originals and replies in sequence, which enables the interactants to derive the intended meaning from the previous emails (Mulholland, 1999:71-73).

4.5.2.2. Salutation

Immediately before the body of an email comes the salutation. Nickerson (1999:50) claims that first name is the norm of salutation in organizational emails, and using first name can claim solidarity. Since forms of address have social meanings, and politeness is systematic, examining how terms of address are used in email dialogues and when they change from formal to intimate forms, or vice versa, may help determine the social distance between S and H. Table 4.5.2.2 indicates the distribution of salutation in the two corpora.

It shows that title plus last name and title plus full name are the most common practices, constituting an average of 44.8% of terms of address. The two forms are considered together because they may share the same pragmatic meaning in

Chapter 4. Research Design and Methodology 76 international business correspondence. This is because last name has different positions in different languages, and international business people sometimes use title plus full name to avoid mistaking last name. The second highest frequency in Corpus I is held by first name, and the third last name. It is commented by an American informant that the use of last name without title in the BI sub-corpus is nothing but an error. Probably Brown intended to use first name to express solidarity, but he confused Li Tang’s first name with his last name due to different orders of English and Chinese names, and due to the fact that it is the norm to use first name in American organizational emails (Nickerson, 1999: 50).

Salutation BI SI BII SII Salutation BI SI BII SII

TLN /TFUN⁴ 57 33 42 47 FN 0 54 11 1

Full name 0 13 5 1 No Salutation 0 0 17 18

Sir/sirs 0 0 17 28 Company name 0 0 3 1

LN 43 0 5 1 Other 0 0 0 3

Table 4.5.2.2. Salutation titles (%)

It is interesting to note that Brown and Li share the same pattern. Both use more title plus last name or full name in the first ten emails before Li signs the Confidentiality Agreement, and regular first name in the last six emails after both parties have signed the confidentiality Agreement. Mutual exchange of title plus last name suggests a relationship of acquaintance, while mutual exchange of first name signals intimacy (Fasold, 1990: 8). Changing from mutual exchange of title plus last name/full name to mutual exchange of first name suggests shortening of the social distance between the two parties. The same pattern is repeated by a string of emails between a Chinese seller and an Egyptian buyer in Corpus II: they begin to use less formal addresses when they are more familiar with each other. The findings of the patterns of the forms of address are consistent with the choices of requestive strategies employed to carry out Routine, Negotiation and Consequence Requests, which will be shown in Chapter 7.

4 FUN stands for full name

Chapter 4. Research Design and Methodology 77

4.5.2.3. Preclosing

Preclosings are words or phrases signaling the end of an email. The following are some of the most frequent preclosings employed in the two corpora:

• We look forward to your reply.

• If you have any interest/questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

• … and thank you very much for your cooperation.

Most of the preclosings have the function of soliciting response from the addressees, which is a significant step made to stimulate communication.

4.5.2.4. Signature Block

The Signature Block encompasses a number of lines presenting information on the writer of the email, such as the name and address. How the writer represents him/herself has social meanings. A close look at the signatures by Brown and Li reveals that full name is used mainly at the beginning of the email negotiation, while first name is utilized regularly when they have had more contacts with each other.

Since reciprocal use of first name expresses solidarity between the interactants (Fasold, 1990:8), the social distance seems to be shortened between the interactants when first name is used regularly. This progress roughly parallels the patterns of the salutations and the requestive strategies, which will be discussed in Chapter 7. The findings show that the frequency of full name is 60.8%. As such, the social distance between the interactants in international business emails is clearly larger than that between the interlocutors within the same company or country. This may suggest that requestive hints may be used infrequently in the two corpora.