Informality in Academic Writing: An Analysis of ESL Undergraduate Written Discourse

Abstract

Business correspondence is a foundational genre for ESL undergraduates, especially those preparing for professional roles that demand formal written communication. Despite its importance, research consistently points to a tendency toward informality in student writing, shaped by factors such as first language influence, instructional practices, and the growing role of digital communication. This study examines this issue within the Malaysian higher education context, drawing on 50 business emails produced by undergraduates at a public university. Guided by the informality framework proposed by Chang and Swales (1999) and operationalised by Hyland and Jiang (2017), the analysis focuses on nine informal features, including unattended anaphoric pronouns, second-person pronouns, contractions, sentence-initial conjunctions, direct questions, listing expressions, exclamations, sentence-final prepositions, and split infinitives. The findings indicate that although students possess a basic awareness of formal conventions, informal features persist due to L1 interference, limited exposure to authentic business discourse, and pedagogical priorities that emphasise grammatical precision over register-appropriateness. By shedding light on these patterns, the study contributes to ongoing discussions in ESL writing research and offers practical pedagogical strategies for developing students' professional writing competence.