本研究目的旨在調查台灣大學生在電郵寫作時對於他們老師做出請求所用的請求及禮貌的策略為何。更進一步地檢視學生的電郵請求信中整體寫作架構及開頭和結尾方式大略為何，還有當請求的情境不同時，所用及之策略是否也跟著不同。本研究參與對象為128位研究者本身任教的其中一所台灣私立大學授課之大二英文的同學們。為了執行本研究目的，由Blum-Kulka，House，和Kasper (1989) 所研發使用的「跨文化言語行為實現計畫框架」修改版，英文簡稱CCSARP框架，以及Brown和Levinson (1987) 的「禮貌理論」個別被用來量化分析這些台灣大學生的「請求」和「禮貌」方面的策略使用。質化部份則是使用了Corbin和Strauss (2008) 的「紮根理論」來分析學生們使用電郵寫作時的基本架構為何，開頭和結尾方式又為何。本研究結果顯示，大致上來講學生們的寫作架構偏混雜，並沒有一定遵循某種固定方式而寫，即便內容架構混雜，大部分學生的開頭和結尾都趨於正式，譬如：開頭會使用 「Dear + 老師職稱」來稱呼老師，結尾部分會使用「sincerely yours +學生名字」來做結尾。在請求策略的使用上，學生們最常使用的策略為「傳統間接請求策略」。在禮貌策略的使用上，學生們最常使用的策略為「負面禮貌策略」。至於「性別差異」大致說來在學生請求及禮貌策略的使用上並無顯著差異。針對未來相關方面的研究建議會放在本論文最後章節來做討論。

This study investigated EFL university students’ request and politeness strategy use while writing request emails to their instructor at a private university in Taiwan. It furthermore examined students’ email openings and closings and their writing structures in each request situation to find out whether those structures would differ as the situation changed. The participants in this study were 128 sophomore students who were from the researcher’s English classes at this university. In order to fulfill the purpose of the study, an adapted version of Blum-Kulka, House, and Kasper’s (1989) Cross-Cultural Speech Act Realization Project (CCSARP) framework and Brown and Levinson’s (1987) Politeness Theory were used to analyze students’ request and politeness strategy use respectively, and Corbin and Strauss’s (2008) Grounded Theory was used to analyze the qualitative part of students’ email openings and closings and their writing structures. The results of the study showed that students’ overall writing formats were quite mixed in general. Most students tended to use a formal way (e.g., Dear + title) to address their teacher and a formal way (e.g., sincerely yours + student’s name) to close their emails. The request strategy they used the most was conventionally indirect strategy, and the politeness strategy they used the most was negative politeness strategy. Generally speaking, there was no gender difference in students’ use of request and politeness strategies. Suggestions and implications have been made at the end for future research studies.

Table of Contents
		Page
Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………	i
中文提要…………………………………………………………………………	ii
英文提要…………………………………………………………………………	iii
Table of Contents………………………………………………………………...	iv
List of Tables……………………………………………………………………..	vi
Chapter		
I.	Introduction……………………………………………………………	1
	    Background and Motivation……………………………………..	1
	    Research Purpose………………………………………………...	2
	    Research Questions………………………………………………	3
	    Significance of the Study………………………………………...	3
	    Limitation of the Study…………………………………………..	5
	    Definition of Terms………………………………………………	6
II.	Literature Review……………………………………………………..	7
	Emails…………………………………………………………………	7
	The Use of Request Strategies in Emails……………….......................	26
	The Use of Politeness Strategies in Emails……………………………	48
	Language and Gender…………………………………………………	59
III.	Methodology………………………………………………………….	63
	    Participants……………………………………………………….	63
	    Instruments……………………………………………………….	66
	    Procedure………………………………………………………...	68
	    Data Analysis ……………………………………………………	71
IV.	Results…………………………………………………………………	74
	EFL University Students’ Overall Email Writing Structures in Different Situations……………………………………………………	
75
	    Email Structure for Situation One: Request for Information…….	75
	    Email Structure for Situation Two: Request for Appointment…..	80
	    Email Structure for Situation Three: Request for Feedback……..	83
	    Email Structure for Situation Four: Request for Due Date Extension…………………………………………………………	
86
	    Email Structure for Situation Five: Request for Recommendation Letter…………………………………………	
88
	    Email Structure for Situation Six: Request for Revising Cover Letter…………………………………………………..................	
91
	EFL University Students’ Request Strategy Use……………………...	95
	    Request for Information………………………………………....	98
	    Request for Appointment………………………………………...	99
	    Request for Feedback……………………………………….........	101
	    Request for Due Date Extension…………………………………	102
	    Request for Recommendation Letter…………………………….	104
	    Request for Revising Their Cover Letter………………………...	106
	EFL University Students’ Politeness Strategy Use……………………	108
	    Request for Information………………………………………….	111
	    Request for Appointment………………………………………...	113
	    Request for Feedback…………………………………………….	115
	    Request for Due Date Extension…………………………………	117
	    Request for Recommendation Letter…………………………….	119
	    Request for Revising Their Cover Letter………………………...	121
	EFL University Students’ Use of Openings and Closings in Their Request Emails………………………. ………………………………	
124
	    Situation 1: Request for Information…………………………….	125
	    Situation 2: Request for Appointment…………………………...	125
	    Situation 3: Request for Feedback……………………………….	126
	Situation 4: Request for Due Date Extension……………………	126
	    Situation 5: Request for Recommendation Letter……………….	127
	    Situation 6: Request for Revising Cover Letter………………….	127
	The Role of Gender in Students’ Request and Politeness Strategy Use	129
V.	Discussions and Implications…………………………………………	133
	EFL University Students’ Overall Writing Structures………………..	133
	University Students’ Use of Request Strategies………………………	135
	University Students’ Use of Politeness Strategies…………………….	140
	The Openings and Closings of Students’ Emails……………………...	142
	The Role of Gender in Students’ Request and Politeness Strategy Use	143
	Conclusion…………………………………………………………….	144
	Suggestions for Further Research……………………………………..	145
References………………………………………………………………………..	148
Appendix A. Table 3.1-3.2………………………………………………………	155
Appendix B. 學生寫英文電郵的相關背景資料調查………………………….	159
Appendix C. Interview Questions………………………………………………..	164
Appendix D. Table 4.19-4.23…………………………………………………….	165

List of Tables
Table				Page
2.1		Selective Comparison of Email Characteristics with Characteristics of Face-to-face Speech (Baron, 2003, p. 87)……………………….		
9
2.2		Forms of Address (Hallajian & David, 2014, p. 89)……………….		24
2.3		Use of Deference “Dear” in Openings (Hallajian & David, 2014, p. 90)…………………………………………………………………..		
24
3.3		The Arrangement of Time for Students’ Written Assignments………		69
3.4		Statistical Methods Used in Each Question…………………………		73
4.1		The Placement of Students’ Email Request (n= 468)……………….		94
4.2		EFL University Students’ Overall Request Strategy Use in All Situations (N = 468)………………………………………………...		
96
4.3		EFL University Students’ Request Strategy Use While Requesting for Information from Their Instructor (N = 73)…………………….		
98
4.4		EFL University Students’ Request Strategy Use While Requesting for Appointment with Their Instructor (N = 82)……………………		
100
4.5		EFL University Students’ Request Strategy Use While Requesting for Feedback from Their Instructor (N = 78)……………………….		
101
4.6		EFL University Students’ Request Strategy Use While Requesting for a Due Date Extension from Their Instructor (N = 86)………….		
103
4.7		EFL University Students’ Request Strategy Use While Requesting for Recommendation Letter from Their Instructor (N = 84)……….		
105
4.8		EFL University Students’ Request Strategy Use While Requesting for Revising Their Cover Letter from Their Instructor (N = 65)…..		
106
4.9		EFL University Students’ Overall Politeness Strategy Use in All Situations (N = 468)………………………………………………...		
109
4.10		EFL University Students’ Politeness Strategy Use While Requesting for Information from Their Instructor (N = 73)………..		
111
4.11		EFL University Students’ Politeness Strategy Use While Requesting for an Appointment with Their Instructor (N = 82)……		
114
4.12		EFL University Students’ Politeness Strategy Use While Requesting for Feedback from Their Instructor (N = 78)…………..		
116
4.13		EFL University Students’ Politeness Strategy Use While Requesting for a Due Date Extension from Their Instructor 
(N = 86)…………………………………………………………….		

118
4.14		EFL University Students’ Politeness Strategy Use While Requesting for Recommendation Letter from Their Instructor 
(N = 84)……………………………………………………………..		

120
4.15		EFL University Students’ Politeness Strategy Use While Requesting for Revising Their Cover Letter from Their Instructor (N = 65)……………………………………………………………..		

122
4.16		EFL University Students’ Use of Email Openings and Closings…...		128
4.17		Male and Female Students’ Request and Politeness Strategy Use in General (N = 468)…………………………………………………..		
130
4.18		Male and Female Students’ Request and Politeness Strategy Use While Requesting for an Appointment with Their Teacher 
(N = 82)……......................................................................................		

132

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