Despite the fact that pop mail does not allow the use of the devanagari script, still it is an important part of my Hindi classes. Students are encouraged to keep an on-going personal journal throughout the course. It should contain reactions to the material covered in class, questions, reflections, insights or suggestions on any kind of issue regarding the learning process. Students are not required to submit the journal as a whole, rather it is intended primarily as a personal type of learning activity. However, each student will be expected to e-mail a minimum of ten fournal entries - one per week each quarter. The purpose is threefold: to serve as a way of interaction between student and instructor, to stimulate learners to self-monitor and self-analyze, and to show the degree of progress after each quarter.

I can never say if students actually do that on a daily basis, but I do receive regularly their messages. It has been a very positive experience so far. On the one hand, I have a better chance to know my students, to approach some of their problems individually, and hear their opinion on the class activities or assignments. On the other hand, the students claim the e-mail dialogue reduces the anxiety and pressure when they ask questions for clarification, verification or additional explanation. Of course I have always had students who are more open and others who are reluctant to do e-mail interaction with me, but that's a part of the job. In the latter cases I ask them only for questions on the learning material and reports on how they study.

Click here for student reactions to the use of e-mail.

Click here for more ideas from language teachers about e-mail use .

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