Illuminating expertise in academic language development: English for Academic Purposes practitioners in the UK

Abstract

This qualitative case study focuses on English for Academic Purposes (EAP) practitioner accounts of student academic language development at a UK university. EAP practitioners are often uniquely well placed as experts in the complexities of language development and academic language choices which vary according to discipline, epistemological stance, and genre. However, their expertise is often misunderstood or misrepresented. This study contributes to debates on academic language development by using a variation on nominal focus group technique to capture the expertise of EAP practitioners and by applying a lens of language as a social semiotic. Thematic analysis establishes four EAP practitioner discourses: the WHAT and the HOW of language development, and CONTEXTUAL CONSIDERATIONS and DECISION-MAKING in language development. The significance of this study lies in the illumination of experienced EAP practitioners’ expertise through a framework that can inform conversations about language development policies at institutional level.