Academic English is No One’s Mother Tongue: Graduate and Undergraduate Students’ Academic English Language-learning Needs from Students’ and Instructors’ Perspectives

Li-Shih Huang

doi:10.14297/jpaap.v1i2.67

Abstract

A research project designed to assess English-as-first-language (EL1) and English-as-an-additional-language (EAL) undergraduate and graduate students’ academic language-learning needs in the context of an academic language-support unit was conducted. This paper reports findings pertaining to 370 EL1 students and 88 instructors at the graduate and undergraduate levels. These participants responded to questionnaires, which requested them to rate the importance of academic language skills, to assess their own or their students’ skill status, and to respond to open-ended questions regarding their own or their students’ academic communication challenges. In addition to reporting EL1 students’ perceived needs and assessments of their skills, a comparison of findings between EL1 and EAL contexts is presented. Findings point to a match between instructors and students at both the graduate and undergraduate levels in their perceptions of important academic language skills, but a great divergence in their assessments of students’ competence in those skills. These findings indicate a need to re-examine the divide often made in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) programmes regarding divergent needs of EAL versus EL1 learners as well as to determine whether the convergence of their needs can be considered when planning EAP courses or workshops, especially during challenging economic times, when priorities must be set in response to the rise of international EAL student enrolment in English-speaking countries.

Highlights

I have gotten through almost two degrees in science and english [sic] is my first language but I rely heavily on Microsoft Word to catch my gramatical [sic] and spelling errors
English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses offered by language-support units in various academic institutions typically have EAL learners as their main constituents rather than students who speak English as their first language
Even though many accept that EAL and EL1 students may have different needs and challenges about communicating in English in academic settings, few would argue with the fact that ‘academic English is no one’s mother tongue’

Summary

Introduction

I have gotten through almost two degrees in science and english [sic] is my first language but I rely heavily on Microsoft Word to catch my gramatical [sic] and spelling errors. My discussions regarding graduate and undergraduate EAL students’ academic languagelearning needs, internally at my university’s working group on English language proficiency and Scholarship of Learning and Teaching Lecture Series, externally at international scholarly and professional conferences, and through publications, have all prompted the same question: What about students who speak English as their first language? English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses offered by language-support units in various academic institutions typically have EAL learners as their main constituents rather than students who speak English as their first language. In institutions of higher education, most languagesupport units provide English language support and services to both EAL and EL1 students. In the area of EAP, no studies have examined the needs of EAL and EL1 learners within an institutional context or used their findings as empirical supports that guide the handling of EAP support and services

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