A study investigated the writing strategies used by English as a second language (ESL) students in writing electronic mail (e-mail) messages, and to what extent certain ESL teaching variables influenced students' use of writing strategies. Subjects were 16 ESL teachers and their 208 university students. Students were administered a 50-item Likert-type inventory of e-mail writing strategies (cognitive, metacognitive, social, and affective). Teachers were administered questionnaires concerning their teaching approaches for e-mail writing. Results indicate significant negative differences between students' use of communication strategies and these teaching variables: degree of teacher involvement in the e-mail project; the teacher's expectation of the formality of students' e-mail writing styles; and the degree to which the e-mail grading affected the final grade. Recommendations are made for ways to integrate e-mail writing into ESL classrooms and to foster students' conscious understanding of the use of various writing strategies. (Contains 25 references.) (MSE)