E-mail Communication As A Motivating Means For English Writing

Computer-based media place new demands on language that can promote variations in language use (Halliday, 1990). Electronic mail (E-mail) has some functions and formal features associated with spoken language as well as formal writing (Davis & Brewer, 1997). No doubt E-mail has become an essential new way of communication in our daily life, and many CALL researches prove that E-mail is effective in ESL classroom. Can it be a motivating means in English writing class? The present paper intends to gain insights into this problem. The two-year-long study proves that electronic mail writing helps the students to overcome their shyness, gain confidence in their writing, enjoy a feeling of success and initiate their motivation to write. E-mail is effective in improving the students' writing abilities. This paper also analyzes the function of E-mail and the reason why E-mail is used in the teaching of writing, narrates an experiment performed on the teachers' side on how to make E-mail effective to promote the students' writing ability. It is hoped that the activities presented in this paper will provide teachers with some ideas for developing their own activities in teaching and to promote the students' ability in writing.