This study examined the utility of electronic mail (e-mail) as an instructional tool for limited-English-proficient (LEP) adult females who have made little progress in learning writing in English as a Second Language (ESL). Six subjects, aged 30-50 years, enrolled in a university ESL program produced 25 e-mail exchanges with the research over a 5-week period. Subjects fell into two groups: those under age 40 with e-mail experience, and those aged 40-50 who were unfamiliar with e-mail. Analysis of the messages focused on number of messages, word counts, acquisition of new vocabulary directly related to comprehensible input, and syntactic complexity resulting from the use of connectors in the subordination of clauses. Results indicate that supervised e-mail had a positive effect on the writing skills of adult learners who have few opportunities to interact with target language speakers, and can be used as an effective extracurricular learning tool, particularly with older students. Appended materials include a brief subject questionnaire, summary of subjects' responses to it, letter of consent, and tables summarizing characteristics of the data and subordination and connectors in the data. Contains 32 references. (MSE) (Adjunct ERIC Clearinghouse on Literacy Education)