English For Academic Purposes Course Research Articles

Students’ attention in class: patterns, perceptions of cause and a tool for measuring classroom quality of life

Constructs such as engagement and flow have been well developed and studied in education contexts. Sustained attention, a distinct but related concept, has been less studied, particularly in the language classroom and foreign language medium education. In a case study involving mixed methods, student attention was measured repeatedly during a university English for Academic Purposes course. The aim was to examine whether students exhibit patterns of attention in communicative language learning classes in a similar manner to lectures and to examine attention patterns based on interaction types (group work, individual work, full class). Repeated surveys were used to reveal what students perceived as detrimental to attention and the perceived value of exercise breaks. Results suggested significant changes in attention over time and between teacher talking time, group work and individual interaction types. The study design itself forms an effective tool to improve classroom life including teachers’ monitoring of class dynamics, and for students, as a means of self-reflection to increase learning performance.

A Process Approach in the Teaching of Writing: Saving 21st Century Learners from Writer's Block

Writing is described by many cognitive psychologists as one of the most complex intellectual activities undertaken by humans. Therefore, it is not surprising that students find it difficult to deal with writing tasks. They often feel anxious about how to write and reach the targeted words—a situation known as ‘writer's block'. This paper describes how the process approach of writing can be used by teachers to assist students in completing a writing exercise. A case study of the implementation of process writing in English for Academic Purposes course at a tertiary institution in Malaysia is presented to illustrate the positive outcome of the process writing approach. The systematic research-based curriculum used in this course allows the authors to observe the process and progress made by the participants in this study. It includes an in-depth discussion on the non-linear and cyclical features of writing, and how the process writing approach can make writing a more flexible, adaptable and enjoyable operation as it allows ample time for intervention procedures, the writing of multiple drafts, audience feedback and delayed attention to editing—to lower students' writer's block. The ability of students to work through their writer's block in stages, enables the teachers to guide them into a step-by-step production of writing through this process.

Learning from Short-Term Study Abroad to Innovate Intensive English Programs on U.S. Campuses

A major focus of Intensive English Programs (IEPs) in most universities in the United States (U.S.) is English for Academic Purposes (EAP), which prepares English language learners for undergraduate and graduate study, delivered or facilitated in English across scholarly and professional settings. The same EAP approach may also be successfully implemented for short-term, inbound study abroad programs for international students and professionals hosted in the U.S. This qualitative review of current best practices aims to (1) to explore and document measurable trends on the efficacy of outbound study abroad programs from U.S. universities that may, ultimately, help develop short-term, inbound EAP programs, (2) provide a framework that could help IEP directors and coordinators in running short-term EAP courses, and (3) discuss innovations and future directions in hosting short-term EAP programs in an IEP setting in the U.S. Data sources include an extensive review of literature in the field (especially focusing on faculty-led study abroad courses overseas), ethnographic interviews of various stakeholders, and assessment/evaluation results from EAP materials developed specifically for international students in short-term IEP programs.

COMPARISON OF TEACHER’S AND STUDENTS’ RANKING OF ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC PURPOSES SUB-TOPICS

Ranking implemented in the English for Academic Purposes course helps in selecting appropriate sub-topics to be obtained by students. The aim of the present research is to compare teacher’s and students’ ranking of topics of the English for Academic Purposes course delivered to master of engineering students underpinning the elaboration of implications for the advancement of the English for Academic Purposes course. Research methods applied include the use of theoretical as well as empirical methods. Theoretical methods imply analysis of theoretical sources and theoretical modelling. The empirical study was characterized by its explorative nature. The empirical study was based on a survey carried out with 10 engineering master students of the Master programme “Information and Electrical Engineering” at Hochschule Wismar, Germany. The data were interpreted and summarized. The summarizing content analysis allows proposing that the students positively evaluated the majority of the sub-topics of the delivered English for Academic Purposes course. The hypothesis was formulated. Implications for the advancement of the English for Academic Purposes course were identified. Directions of future work were proposed. The novelty of the research is revealed by the formulated hypothesis as well as implications

An Interview with Miriam Schcolnik: Reading, E-Reading and Writing and Their Assessment

Dr. Miriam Schcolnik (emerita) is the former Director of the Language Learning Center of the Division of Foreign Languages at Tel Aviv University. For three decades she coordinated and taught EAP (English for Academic Purposes) courses as well as a course in Technology in Language Teaching. She has developed many online learning environments, multimedia courseware packages, EFL textbooks, and teachers' resource books. Her research interests are e-reading and writing, and the use of digital tools to facilitate language learning and communication.

Hedges in Russian EAP writing: A corpus-based study of research papers in management

AbstractThe fact that English has become a lingua franca of academic communication has led to increased attention to teaching English for academic purposes (EAP) at the academia. Academic discourse markers, such as hedges, have been an important topic in academic writing research whose prime aim is helping non-Anglophone researchers to present their research findings in English for international publication. This study investigates the use of the most frequent hedging devices in a corpus of 58 works written by Russian university students and compares it to a corpus of articles published in peer-reviewed journals in business and management. The analysis of learner corpus data has provided evidence of how Russian ELF speakers use the language, showing significant differences between the use of hedges by the students and professional writers. The research has also highlighted a number of challenges which non-native learners face when writing academic texts. The study may contribute to a higher level of L2 academic writing in ELF contexts and have implications for creating EAP courses, research of second language acquisition and writing pedagogy.

Co-production and multimodality: learners as co-researchers exploring practice

ABSTRACT In recent decades, three forms of practitioner research have emerged: Reflective Practice, Action Research, and Exploratory Practice. While Reflective Practice and Action Research focus on teachers-as-researchers, Exploratory Practice positions learners as co-researchers, alongside teachers, teacher educators, and others. This article adds to those which examine the notion of learners co-producing research by exploring the potential of multimodal methods for data generation and analysis; it does this by critically analysing posters produced by learners as they puzzled, explored, collaborated, and disseminated their developing understandings on a pre-sessional English for Academic Purposes course in the UK. Focusing particularly on these ‘sticky objects’, to which emotions and beliefs attach, I argue that learners, like teachers, can ask robust questions, engage in creative investigative practices, integrating research and pedagogy. I posit that learners can develop profound insights into their practice which contribute to theory-building more broadly. This ‘fully inclusive’ notion of co-produced research challenges traditional assumptions about who does what in research and pedagogy, indicating an ethical imperative for learners to be included as co-investigators contributing their understandings to developments in theory and practice.

INNOVATIVE APPROACHES TO THE MASTERING OF SCIENTIFIC VOCABULARY WITHIN THE COURSE “ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC PURPOSES”

The paper deals with theoretical analysis and practical development of the problem of learning English scientific vocabulary by Master students in the course of “English for Academic Purposes”. English is used for a wide range of communicative intentions, in particular, for scientific communication. Academic communication is one of the leading, as it contributes to the development of science and society. English scientific vocabulary allows students to gain access to modern science and the opportunity to present the results of their research to the world community, prepare scientific written works on their specialty. The purpose of this article is to develop an innovative system of exercises for teaching scientific vocabulary in the English for Academic Purposes course. The analysis of modern linguistic, psychological, linguodidactic researches has allowed to define the basic features of innovative approaches to the academic discourse scientific vocabulary learning. Using a method of systematization and classification of language material and a method of logical-didactic relationship of pedagogical actions, we have developed a system of exercises for mastering scientific vocabulary by Master students in the English for Academic Purposes course. The system of exercises provides the language acquisition by students through repetition of language units in the isolated form and in form of original and adapted scientific sentences and pedagogical texts according to students’ specialty. The system of exercises is aimed at learning general scientific and abstract vocabulary, pedagogical terms, set expressions, abbreviations, linking phrases and verbs. The purposes of the exercises are: presentation, repetition of actions with language units and the use of the language units in oral and written speech at the text level.

FORMULAIC LANGUAGE OF TOURISM IN ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC PURPOSE (EAP) COURSE BOOK: A CORPUS-DRIVEN APPROACH

One approach to taking advantage of corpora in language teaching would be adding to a textbook through enriching it through employing corpus-based research. When it comes to using English for Academic Purposes (EAP) materials, the inclusion of corpora in teaching language becomes even more urgent. In the current study, the authors did their best to investigate and describe the presence of formulaic language in an EAP textbooks titled: English for international tourism: Pre-intermediate students’ book written by Dubicka and O’keeffe (2003) through a case study, and corpus-driven method as a research methodology. Therefore, this study aims to investigate to what extent the EAP course book designed for tourism titled English for international tourism (EIT) is compatible with a corpus-driven formulaic approach. Findings show that this EAP textbook falls fairly short of presenting the necessary formulas as frequently employed in tourism English. Supplementing such materials with corpora and the formulaic they provide may boost the quality of EAP education and practice.

WIKIPEDIA PROJECT TO TEACH ACADEMIC WRITING IN AN EAP UNIVERSITY COURSE

The introduction of modern information and communication technologies (ICT) into the classroom has led to a number of challenges and opportunities for instructors across the field of education. Wikipedia, a collaborative encyclopedia, has proven to be one of the most controversial online platforms throughout academia, with many higher education instructors banning its use outright. Despite the prevailing negative attitude, there has been a recent shift in thought among some in the field regarding its utilization as a teaching tool in a number of applications. One popular use is as the centre of a writing project, most commonly the creation of a new article or the improvement of a pre-existing one.This paper outlines a case study conducted at the Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies in the autumn semester of 2019, in which first year international veterinarian medicine students wrote Wikipedia articles as part of a semester-long project in an English for academic purposes course in order to improve academic writing skills such as researching, analysing, summarizing, and editing. Analysis of two questionnaires and the students’ work suggest that despite some challenges, a Wikipedia article writing project can serve as an engaging, rewarding, and effective method to teach academic writing skills.

Translanguaging pedagogy in teaching English for Academic Purposes: Researcher-teacher collaboration as a professional development model

Research has shown both the potential advantages of translanguaging pedagogy in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) contexts and some challenges facing teachers. However, there is still paucity of research on how to provide professional support for teachers to develop translanguaging pedagogy. This article focuses on a design-based research (DBR) study in which a teacher collaborated with a researcher in an EAP course at a university in China to co-develop teacher capacity in using translanguaging pedagogy. Findings from classroom observations, researcher-teacher lesson co-planning meetings, post-lesson sharing sessions and interviews have shown changes in the teacher’s beliefs and practices of using translanguaging pedagogy and several challenges she encountered, particularly the conflicts between the monolingual ideology in traditional TESOL discourses and the recent translanguaging pedagogical principles. This article suggests that researcher-teacher collaboration can be an effective strategy in helping in-service EAP teachers to reflect on and change their beliefs and practices while the process could be discursive. It calls for further explorations with teachers on principles that value multilingual speakers’ full linguistic and semiotic repertoires in teaching and learning EAP and investigations of how these principles can be realized for emerging EAP programs in universities in China and other similar contexts.

Perceptions of the Effect of an EAP Course on English Self-efficacy and English Proficiency: Voices of International Students in China

The English language has become an essential means for communication and studies for international students globally. With the increasing number of international students trooping to China to study diverse courses which are taught in the English medium, there is a need to address challenges faced by international students from non-native English speaking countries. The study adopted an embedded mixed-method approach where face-to-face interviews and focus group discussions were conducted on freshmen international students taking English for Academic Purposes (EAP) in a specific faculty of a university in China. The interviews were supplemented by the Questionnaire of English Self-Efficacy (QESE) to measure their perceived English self-efficacy after the course. An online questionnaire on English Course Evaluation (ECE) was used to measure the students’ assessment of the course. The findings of the study offer insights into the effect of the intervention, challenges faced by students during the course, and suggestions on things to consider during the implementation of English courses for non-native English students in the future.

FORMATION OF PROFESSIONALLY-ORIENTED COMPETENCE IN TEACHING ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC PURPOSES FOR CHEMISTRY - BIOLOGY STUDENTS

English for Specific Purposes (ESP) is categorized into two main classification areas English for Academic Purposes (EAP) and English for Occupational Purposes (EOP). In this article authors briefly describe the differences between these two sub-branches of ESP. At the same time this article deals with the implementing English for Academic Purposes (EAP) in teaching Combined Major Program 6B015002 ‘Chemistry and Biology’ at Suleyman Demirel University (SDU). Some of higher-leveled students like to enhance their comprehension of Academic English. Thus, EAP course was introduced to meet higher-leveled students’ academic and professional interests. The main purpose of the EAP course was to provide learners with all basic abilities to conduct research and generate a piece of extended writing in their own subjectspecific area. Students not only needed to work on their study skills such as techniques, note-taking, and compiling bibliography, but also on acquiring study competencies which involved development of critical questioning, allocating the tasks, compiling an abstract book, and organizing conference skills

Exploring Critical Pedagogy and Choice in EAP Material Development : A Case Study

In recent years, English language teaching materials, textbooks, videos and websites that facilitate the learning of language, which have grown in number, have tended to cover safe, non-controversial topics using the banking model (in Paulo Freire’s terms). Often these topics did not engage learners either affectively or cognitively. This study addressed the lack of choice and localised context in an English for Academic Purposes course in Hong Kong by incorporating learners’ choices of topic and digital stories into the course. The findings indicated that learner autonomy over topic and the affordances of digital delivery stimulated students to feel ownership and relevance to their local community. The results suggested that by incorporating the principles of critical applied linguistics, second language learners and students can co-construct material and knowledge and represent what they find personally meaningful, which may lead to social changes in society.

Effect of strategy instruction on EFL students’ video-mediated integrated writing performance

Integrated writing and strategy instruction (SI) in the English for Academic Purposes (EAP) context have increasingly drawn much research interest in recent years for their strong pedagogical and assessment value. The role of video in integrated writing has also been widely acknowledged for pedagogical and theoretical reasons. However, research on the use of video in integrated writing tasks especially in the EAP context still remains scarce. To address this gap, this paper examines the effect of SI on students’ integrated writing as indicated in their overall writing performance scores and in each of the scoring rubric scales and the differences in their performance per Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) level. We conduct explicit SI intervention for one semester in an EAP course. The success of the intervention is highlighted in the experimental group students’ substantial improvement in their overall writing scores and particularly in the citation and verbatim scales especially at intermediate and advanced level. Our findings suggest the positive impact explicit SI has on integrated writing performance. They also highlight the value and feasibility of using video in instruction and assessment of integrated writing in EAP contexts.

Confronting MA students’ and seminar teachers’ diverse agendas concerning academic literacy development through an EAP writing course

<p>Academic courses aim to develop kinds of literacy that are significantly different from what students know from other contexts. Mastering ways of constructing knowledge in scholarly disciplines in a foreign language poses a considerable challenge, not only for the uninitiated. The challenge is none the less small for English for Academic Purposes (EAP) writing instructors as the currently observed diversity of student populations in master’s programs compels them to revise some of their long-standing assumptions and practices. The article reports on a study aiming to compare MA seminar teachers’ and beginner MA students’ perceptions of writing needs and an EAP course expectations and<br />suggests how the responses can be used constructively in writing pedagogy.</p>

Using Texts Which Address Local Issues to Create a Discursive Space within an Undergraduate Writing Course

ABSTRACT This study explores whether collaboratively writing about local issues would enable learners to deepen their understanding of their relationship with their own social context. A discursive space within an English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course at an institution of higher education in Qatar was created. This was accomplished by replacing the readings within a mainstream EAP textbook with texts which explored local issues. This provided an opportunity for female undergraduate students (N = 30) to write term papers about some of the discourses which permeated their lives. Data were collected using open-ended questionnaires as well as examining participants’ term papers. Writing the term papers enabled some participants to become more aware of ongoing societal change and reflect on how they are located within this process. Elements of critical pedagogy were brought into a mainstream EAP course whilst at the same time respecting Qatar’s traditions and culture.

Enhancing L2 Motivation and English Proficiency through Technology

Balancing and mastering the linguistic and academic demands of English teaching in higher education can become a difficult hurdle to surpass. Since curricula that integrates technology appears to provide an array of opportunities that promote engagement and language skills, it is worth examining how and whether L2 motivation, self-regulation and learning can be heightened through digital technologies. This paper describes a 6-week intervention programme conducted on 205 international students enrolled on an English for Academic Purposes course at a British university. Based on L2 imagery techniques and ePortfolios, the intervention proved to be of benefit to learner engagement and language acquisition.

From General ESL to EAP

This paper is based on the presentation by the same name given in Lawrence, KS on December 7, 2018 as part of the Building Bridges for English Language Centers conference. The presenters were two instructors, Diane Taveggia and Parul Sood, who taught EAP courses for the first time after teaching general ESL classes for many years at the Applied English Center (AEC) at the University of Kansas (KU). The presentation focused on the skills taught in two English for Academic Purposes courses - EAP 101 taught by Parul Sood and EAP 102 taught by Diane Taveggia in the Academic Accelerator Program at KU. This paper expands upon the difference between the University’s IEP and the Academic Accelerator Program as well as the challenges of the transition experienced by the two instructors who made the leap from ESL to EAP for the first time.

Once Upon A Time: A Framework for Developing Creative Writing in ESP and EAP

Creativity is useful for enriching the quality of learning (Maley, 2015). Using English for creative learning purposes is essential for studying on various university degree courses. Writing is potentially considered as the most important skill although it is a difficult skill for Second Language (SL) learners to master (Nunan, 1999). One of the possible reasons for this is that it has not been well-emphasized and developed in English language materials (Alkhaldi, 2014; Tomlinson, 2015). This study focuses on writing, particularly, creative writing in English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses. The main purpose of an ESP course and EAP course is to improve traditional and technical writing skills for students, and this might be at the expense of creative writing. This study explores creative writing and its possible challenges. It also discusses the significance of creativity, creativity and the language learner, creativity and motivation, creative writing, and the role of creative writing in ESP/EAP. Finally, it elaborates and recommends a systematic, principled framework based on a review of the related literature for developing creative writing in ESP/EAP courses.