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Preliminary information
Level: Intermediate
Time: 90 minutes?
Aims:
To introduce some common acronyms used in e-mails
To look at some tips for writing e-mails
To give intensive reading practice
To give oral fluency practice
To give practice in writing e.mails - if the writing activity
is used as a follow up
Assumptions:
That the stds use or will be using in the near future
e-mails in English & that the stds will therefore find
the theme interesting
That some of the acronyms & e-mail tips will be known
That the language in the e-mail reading will generally be
OK although there are some unknown words - see anticipated
problems. For latin-based languages there are a lot of 'similar'
words
Anticipated problems:
Some vocab items in the e-mail reading might not be known
- depending on the group.
eg. disorder, burden on, staggering, treatment, donate, to
forward, tracking software, to track, pea soup for hobos,
sodium-laden soup, riding the rails, screeching >>>
solution: pre-teach essential items & leave the rest for
after the reading.
Materials & aids:
Board
Tasks - acronyms, netiquette
dos & don'ts (taken for a Guardian Weekly article
24-30 May '01), e-mail text, comprehension
task
Procedure
Stage 1: Lead in to raise interest
tch< > stds, 5 mins
1. Elicit the times that the stds write in
a normal day - e-mail should come out here > follow on
with a discussion on the value of e-mails > then on to
how to write them - any rules? Heard of acronyms used in e-mails?
Stage 2: Lead in to raise interest
std<>std, tch< > stds, 5 mins
1. Match up acronyms & meaning, in pairs.
There's the same activity with emoticons as well - explain
that they have to lok at them side on.
2. Feedback - elicit any more they might know & any they
use in their language(s)
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Some common acronyms
used in e-mails - match the two columns
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BTW
FWIW
FAQ
FYA
FYI
IMHO
IMO
IMNSHO
TIA |
In my humble
opinion
For what it's worth
Frequently asked question(s)
In my opinion
For your action
Thanks in advance
By the way
In my not so humble opinion
For your information |
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| Answers: |
| BTW
- By the way
FWIW - For what it's worth
FAQ - Frequently asked question(s)
FYA - For your action
FYI - For your information
IMHO - In my humble opinion
IMO - In my opinion
IMNSHO - In my not so humble opinion
TIA - Thanks in advance
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Emoticons: match
the two columns
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:-)
:-D
;-)
{}
O:-)
X-)
:-X
:*
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winking
kissing
I see nothing
hugging
I say nothing
angel
laughing
smiling
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Answers:
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:-) smiling
:-D laughing
;-) winking
{} hugging
O:-) angel
X-) I see nothing
:-X I say nothing
:* kissing
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Stage 3: Awareness of 'good' e-mail writing
std<>std, tch< > stds, 10 mins
1. Elicit any tips they know of for writing
e-mails. Explain task - to match Dos & Don'ts
2. Task, in pairs - monitor & help out
3. Feedback - discuss
| A Compendium
of Netiquette - put the following points into the
appropriate column below |
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Always greet your correspondent
Start your message in the subject field
Overuse acronyms; you may not be understood
Wait a day, if possible, before answering
Forward e-mails without getting the author's permission
first
Re-read before sending
Think before you write
Write anything you wouldn't put on a postcard
If you are angry, wait even longer
Be brief
Write in capital letters; it will be perceived as shouting
Don't use
Think creatively about your subject line
Use upper & lower case
Use e-mail as a weapon or to conduct difficult conversations
Spell & punctuate properly
Sign off simply
Be negative
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DOs
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DON'Ts
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| Answers: |
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DOs
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DON'Ts
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Always
greet your correspondent
Think before you write
Re-read before sending
Wait a day, if possible, before answering
If you are angry, wait even longer
procedure
Be brief
Think creatively about your subject line
Use upper & lower case
Spell & punctuate properly
Sign off simply
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Don't
start your message in the subject field
Don't overuse acronyms; you may not be understood
Don't forward e-mails without getting the author's permission
first
Don't write anything you wouldn't put on a postcard
Don't write in capital letters; it will be perceived as
shouting
Don't use e-mail as a weapon or to conduct difficult conversations
Don't be negative |
Stage 4: E-mail reading
std<>std, tch< > stds, 15 mins
1. Give out e-mail texts - face down - &
say they can look at it for 30 seconds to get the general
idea.
2. Stds look & then turn the papers over.
3. Stds compare answers.
4. Feedback
5. Comprehension task - hand out - stds read
6. Read & answer task
7. Stds compare
8. Feedback & discuss the e-mail - believe it??? Received
any similar??
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Comprehension questions:
1. Who should read this e-mail?
2. What's the problem?
3. What are some of the consequences
of this problem?
4. What is the solution to the problem?
5. What will happen if the money cannot
be raised?
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Stage 5: Language focus ideas
Among the areas you might want to pick up
on are:
- to be a burden on somebody
- the x is ....., not to mention ....
- it's imperative in order to ....
- in the event that we can/can't
Stage 6: Follow up ideas
- stds write a response to the problem, offering
advice & sympathy
- stds write their own hoaxes - following
the problem - solution structure of the example e-mail - should
be lots of fun
- stds search on the Net for more hoaxes
- supply them with some of the addresses from the July Newsletter.
They bring them in, swap them around & vote on the most
outlandish/interesting/provocative etc.
Text
From: john@fallforit.com]
Sent: Saturday, 23 June 2001 14:54
For: info@developingteachers.com
Subject: Please help!!!!!!
Please read this unless you don't have a heart!
Hello, my name is Harold Anslinger. One month ago,
my little boy, Tommy, was diagnosed with Simiatomia-B,
a rare genetic disorder which affects the nuclei of
cells.
Chromosomes are genetically modified and human chromosomes
are slowly changed into chromosomes of a chimpanzee.
My beautiful six-year-old son is slowly turning into
a monkey.
Needless to say, this is a burden on my wife, Marlene,
and I. The doctor's bills are staggering, not to mention
the cost of bananas and the little tricycles that chimps
like to ride. Doctors tell us that the changeover will
be complete in one year and that our only hope is a
new experimental treatment available at Johns Hopkins.
In an act of extreme generosity, Microsoft, Johns Hopkins,
and the Pope have volunteered to donate one cent for
every e-mail that you forward. God bless Bill Gates!
God bless Mr. Hopkins! God bless His Holiness!
Here's how it works. Every time you forward this e-mail,
special tracking software in Switzerland keeps track
of it and the money is automatically placed in a Swiss
bank account. We need to raise approximately three million
dollars, which is 300 million e-mails, so please forward
this message to all of your relatives, all of your friends,
and even people you may not like so much. It's imperative
in order to keep little Tommy from becoming a chimp,
and to find a solution for others like him.
In the event that we can't raise the three million
dollars, the money will be donated to Campbell Soup's
"pea soup for hobos" project, where cans of
sodium-laden soup are donated to indigent people riding
the rails. I have to go now. Tommy is screeching for
another banana.
Thank you, and god bless.
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