From Inbox to Insight: Materials Design for Global Business Email Communication
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Abstract
Existing English for Specific Purposes (ESP) materials for business communication often rely on standardized, decontextualized models that fail to reflect the linguistic diversity and pragmatic demands of real workplace email exchanges. To address this gap, the present study designed and evaluated ESP teaching materials for business email writing that integrate genre-based pedagogy, English as a Lingua Franca (ELF)-aware principles, and data-driven learning (DDL). The materials incorporated authentic business emails from ELF professionals and scaffolded writing tasks that guided learners from genre awareness to independent corpus-informed production. The study involved 30 Thai undergraduate EFL students (CEFR A2–B1) enrolled in an English for Business Email Writing course over 11 sessions. Quantitative data from pre- and post-writing tests were analyzed using paired-sample t-tests, revealing statistically significant improvement across four email genres (p < .01) with large effect sizes (Cohen’s d = 1.72–2.80). Qualitative reflections from semi-structured interviews further illuminated how authentic input, guided DDL practice, and teacher and peer mediation fostered learners’ confidence, genre control, and intercultural sensitivity. The study contributes a replicable model for developing authentic, needs-responsive ESP materials, offering practical implications for educators and materials designers seeking to prepare learners for multilingual workplace communication.
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