Student Workshop on Email Etiquette

On June 14, 2023, a workshop on "Email Etiquette" was arranged by the Department of English and Humanities, ULAB, for the students of the department. The facilitator was one of the Teaching Assistants of DEH, Sanjida Akther. At present, she is pursuing her MA in English degree in Literature and Cultural Studies.

Ms. Akhtar began with a brief discussion on what significance the word "Etiquette" holds in both academic and professional settings. Stressing its importance, she then proceeded to explain how to write a formal email.

She began by showing examples of formal and informal emails, and why the latter should be avoided. Then she shared the basic format of writing a formal email and educated the audience on appropriate language that is to be used in emails. She stated that formal emails should always consist of “third person pronouns” and the writing should have a polite tone with little to no use of colloquial phrases.

Following that, she presented the do's and don'ts of email writing. She advised not to use any nonstandard fonts, emojis, or vague words. Moreover, she stressed that students should be mindful of the tone of the writing as an improper and demanding tone in an email can create a poor impression of the writer. She also suggested that the writer must proofread before sending any email, and send a follow-up email in cases of unresponsive correspondents.

Thereafter, Ms. Akhter handed out a worksheet activity and asked the participants to identify and correct the errors of the two emails given in the sheet while addressing their queries. Finally, she asked for feedback on the workshop from the audience and concluded the session.

Report by Kazi Zarin Anjum (202013001)