Fatemeh KarimiAvargani - MA in TEFLSheikbahaee University (Isfahan) Branch, Iran

Since the presence of the Internet and its various new applications, the communication modes have been changed. E-mail as one of these applications acts as a means of interaction and helps both theprofessors and thestudents to think about a suitable reply. This study aimed to investigate the role of proficiency in the politeness of electronic requests and to examine the textual features of openings and closings of electronic requests written by Iranian EFL students to their professors at BA and MA levels. To achieve this end, 80 students with different proficiency levels and academic educational backgrounds were selected from Islamic Azad University of Khorasgan, Isfahan. They were asked to write an e-mail to their teachers and request for the reconsideration of their grades. The correlation coefficient of spearman showed that there was a direct relation between proficiency, use of openings and closings. Moreover, with regard to using different types of openings and closings across the two levels, Chi-square analysis revealed significant differences between BA and MA students. To conclude, the findings of this study have implications for language learners to be aware of the politeness strategies and develop pragmatic competence to improve the quality of their electronic requests.

E-mail, Politeness, Language Proficiency, Request