The function of students’ email requests to faculty is both transactional and interactional. Students’ emails are not only sent
with the aim of receiving some form of service but they also need to adhere to the interactional function of language in order to
establish and maintain social relationships. Therefore, how to address their lecturers and how much directness is appropriate in
the requests performed through this medium, are some of the most difficult choices that students have to make. This study
investigates how L2 university students’ academic requests are formulated through the medium of email, and examines the
correlation between the forms of address, the degree of (in)directness and the degree of imposition of their email as a way to
express e-politeness.
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