English For Academic Purposes Course Research Articles

Developing Language and Intercultural Skills through an IaH Programme at University

Following up on a project on the impact of study abroad on the language and intercultural skills of university students, this paper focuses on how such skills can be developed through a specific “Internationalisation at Home” (IaH) programme (Beelen & Jones 2015) that combines domestic students’ mentoring of international students (“study buddies”) with weekly language exchanges and an English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course focusing on internationalisation and interculturality (Arno et al. 2013). Based on previous findings that point to certain language and intercultural development as a result of a stay abroad (Cots et al., 2016; Llanes et al. 2016), we aim to find out if there are any changes among domestic students as a result of their participation in the programme. Language proficiency was measured in terms of the general score on a placement test as well as of oral skills measures. On the other hand, intercultural development was measured through closed questions about attitudes, knowledge, and behaviour—components of intercultural competence (Byram 1997)—together with open questions eliciting students’ perceptions of their participation in the programme. All in all, the results of this study can shed light on the provision of intercultural and international skills through EAP courses, based on expanded notions of EAP and ESP (English for Specific Purposes), which go beyond language to cover a wider range of skills.

Socially-shared Metacognitive Regulation Episodes Between Undergraduate Engineering Students During a Collaborative Genre Analysis Task in an English for Academic Purposes Course

Recent findings suggest that genre-based tasks such as move analysis when underpinned by the theory of metacognition can familiarize undergraduate students with newly encountered academic genres such as the research article. However, there still is a limited understanding about how and when novices engage in socially shared metacognitive regulation processes (SSMR) during online collaborative genre analysis tasks. The purpose of this study was to identify when and how a small group of undergraduate engineering students engaged in SSMR processes during a collaborative online move analysis wiki task. Results suggest SSMR was frequently triggered when participants faced a task-related problem and manifested as an expression of doubt and conflicting ideas or when participants attempted to reach a consensus on seemingly difficult genre analysis aspects.

The Success of an EAP Programme in Tertiary Education: Using a Student-Centric Approach to Scaffold Materials in an EAP

Researchers and practitioners who focus on academic writing in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses have reported on the need to equip students with the necessary knowledge and skills to deal with academic writing across different disciplines in tertiary education (Rinnert & Kobayashi, 2005; Shi, 2011; Thompson, 2013). Previous research (e.g., Crosthwaite, 2016) has predominantly measured students’ progress in an EAP by comparing students’ pre- and post-course scores of individual language/writing skills. Much less has been reported on the effectiveness of a detailed EAP curriculum design that scaffolds skills in stages. This study contributes to the current EAP research by examining holistically the impact of a 12-week EAP course that adopts a reading-to-write, student-centric approach to scaffold progressively difficult writing skills/knowledge to help students acquire academic writing skills by focusing on three core skills: language, text organisation, and content development. The data of this study show students’ perceptions of their writing abilities and the significant improvement in academic writing skills before and after completing the course.

The Nature of the Facebook Group Learning Environment: Insights from University Students

Abstract The paper analyses the inherent features of the Facebook learning environment that were identified by university students enrolled in an English for Academic Purposes course. The presented case study is based on students’ subjective theories that have been reconstructed from semi-structured interviews and diaries. The research material involves qualitative data acquired from thirty-four university students. The identified characteristics relate to four areas, namely motivation, distraction, security, and structure. The dominant strengths and weaknesses of the discussed learning environment are singled out.

The Effects of Flipping an English for Academic Purposes Course

This article addresses the lack of research into the effects of flipping tertiary level English for Academic Purposes courses. An experimental method was used to compare the outcomes and satisfaction of students (n=29) enrolled in a flipped and a traditional version of an Advanced Presentation and Discussion course at a university in South Korea. Results show that students in the traditionally taught class achieved better objective assessment outcomes, students in the flipped class achieved better competency-based assessment outcomes, and satisfaction was the same. These findings are of interest because they confirm some previous assertions about flipped learning while contradicting others. It is suggested that instructors need to consider the instructional design, video production, use of face-to-face time, and audience-specific considerations at the outset of establishing a course in order to develop effective learning environments.

Moodle quizzes as a teaching tool in English for academic purposes course

Moodle is a learning management system (LMS) whose popularity, as adjunct to traditional courses ('blended' or 'hybrid') or as a tool for distance education programs in various disciplines, is rapidly increasing. The research goal was to examine college students' acceptance of this LMS for learning 'English for academic purposes' course (EAP), when Moodle is rich in quizzes. One hundred twenty-nine BEd college students from the two specialisations (special-education and early-childhood) participated in the research. The technology acceptance model was used to examine college students' acceptance of this version of Moodle. The research results demonstrate that the participants rated the experience above average. In addition, the results show that the three components PU, CSE, and PEU are proved key determinants, not only of EAP students' attitudes towards Moodle platform that is rich in quizzes, but also their future use of this platform as academic learners, and thus as teachers. The participants' intrinsic and extrinsic motivations had significant correlations with the five components of Moodle acceptance for EAP.

Moodle quizzes as a teaching tool in English for academic purposes course

Moodle is a learning management system (LMS) whose popularity, as adjunct to traditional courses ('blended' or 'hybrid') or as a tool for distance education programs in various disciplines, is rapidly increasing. The research goal was to examine college students' acceptance of this LMS for learning 'English for academic purposes' course (EAP), when Moodle is rich in quizzes. One hundred twenty-nine BEd college students from the two specialisations (special-education and early-childhood) participated in the research. The technology acceptance model was used to examine college students' acceptance of this version of Moodle. The research results demonstrate that the participants rated the experience above average. In addition, the results show that the three components PU, CSE, and PEU are proved key determinants, not only of EAP students' attitudes towards Moodle platform that is rich in quizzes, but also their future use of this platform as academic learners, and thus as teachers. The participants' intrinsic and extrinsic motivations had significant correlations with the five components of Moodle acceptance for EAP.

TEACHING IN CLOUDS: USING THE G SUITE FOR EDUCATION FOR THE DELIVERY OF TWO ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC PURPOSES COURSES

Being one of the most important and influential advancements in information technology since the emergence of the Internet, cloud computing has invaded the area of English for Specific Purposes (ESP), among other fields, due to its flexibility, availability, practicality and cost effectiveness. In 2006 Google developed its Apps for Education, currently referred to as “G Suite for Education”, that provide teachers and students with access to different tools, such as Classroom, Mail, Drive, Calendar, Docs, etc., each serving different educational purposes. This paper reports on a research study conducted at the Cyprus University of Technology Language Centre in Fall 2016, in the context of two blended English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses for first-year students of the Departments of Agricultural Sciences, Biotechnology and Food Science and Commerce, Finance and Shipping, which are based on social constructivist approaches with elements of connectivism and student-centered teaching methods. The study aimed at eliciting data on the students’ views regarding the ease of use of G Suite for Education tools, difficulties encountered during their use, and their efficiency in the teaching and learning process. Data was obtained through an online questionnaire, consisting of Likert scale and open-ended questions, administered to the students at the end of the semester. Findings illustrate that students viewed the use of G Suite for Education tools in their EAP courses very positively, both in terms of ease of use and efficiency in the learning and teaching process, encountering only minor difficulties during their use.

A framework to support group essay writing in English for Academic Purposes: a case study from an English-medium instruction context

In English for academic purposes courses, group oral presentations are quite common but essay writing tends to be seen as an individual endeavour, albeit with scope for peer review. This article discusses action research reflecting on student perceptions of a framework to support students through a semester-long collaborative essay assignment in an English-medium instruction university in Macau. The framework presented incorporates collaborative and individual assignment tasks, assisted by information and communications technology, to support the collaborative process and facilitate the assessment of the individual within the group. Even though writing in a group may take more time and effort, it is viewed favourably by the majority of students due to the additional learning gains to be made by writing collaboratively, including the increased quality of ideas and the social interactions (face-to-face and online) required to come to agreement.

Immersed in academic English: vocabulary and academic outcomes of a CLIL university preparation course

ABSTRACTThis article reports on an English for academic purposes course designed following the tenets of content and language integrated learning (CLIL) to address the needs of language minority (LM) high school graduates entering Canadian universities. The language used in and required of post-secondary study is challenging for many LM students, particularly those with marginal English language arts grades, contributing to a difficult transition into university. The goal of this course was to improve academic English language skills to mitigate this transition; academic language skills and strategies were embedded, and the content and materials mimicked mainstream university courses. To determine what, if any, vocabulary gains took place during the course, data from pre-/post-testing and writing samples of the ten consenting participants were analyzed using t-tests. These data consisted of lexical measurement tools including the Gates MacGinitie Test of Reading (Vocab) and the Productive Academic Word Test, along with writing analysis using TAALEs and Lextutor software to evaluate lexical sophistication. Each measurement indicated vocabulary gains occurred during the six-week CLIL course. Qualitative examples of student work are provided, and subsequent academic performance of participants is presented. This research concludes with recommendations for future research and CLIL implementation in higher education.

Impact of Teaching Cohesive Devices on L2 Students’ Language Accuracy in Written Production

A well-written text is not only grammatical, but also cohesive and coherent. Cohesive devices play the most basic role in cohesion of a text and should be taken into consideration in teaching writing. This paper reports on a study investigating the impact of teaching academic text cohesive devices on L2 students’ language accuracy in written production. The main objective of the study is to find out if teaching cohesive devices would enhance students’ prior knowledge and subsequently result in increased written language accuracy. Based on a pre-post-test research design, 40 students enrolled in English for Academic Purposes course at a university in Malaysia were engaged as participants. A note-taking test was conducted prior to and post intervention. The intervention consisted of lessons on academic text cohesive devices. The data was then analysed and reported using descriptive statistics and paired sample t-test. From the findings, it is clear that there is an increase in the minimum and maximum scores as well as in the mean scores between the pre- and post-test. More importantly, there is evidently a significant improvement in the participants’ post-test language accuracy as evaluated through number of error-free t-units. In sum, the teaching of academic text cohesive devices does have a significant impact on language accuracy in written production. Hence, this study recommends L2 learners’ prior knowledge activation to enhance written language accuracy.

English for Specific Purposes: Designing an EAP Course for Computer Science Students

<p><em>The aim of this study was to design English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course for University students enrolled in the Computer Science Department. For this purpose, academic English language needs of the students were analyzed by using a 5 point Likert scale questionnaire. Additionally, interviews were also conducted with four faculty members of the department and the data were analyzed qualitatively. Thus, mixed methods were used for collection and analyses of data. The results of the analysis of questionnaire and interviews indicate that the four language skills, namely listening, speaking, reading and writing are frequently used in students’ academic context and among the four, speaking is the most frequently used skill. Students are deficient in writing and speaking skills as compared to listening and reading; therefore, speaking and writing should be given preference while designing the syllabus.</em></p>

"English for Academic Purposes in the Korean University Context: Teachers’ Opinions on What is Being Taught, How it is Being Taught, and Possible Improvements"

As the use of English in the academic world increases around the world, English for Academic Purposes (EAP) continues to grow. The increase in demand for EAP courses and teachers often finds English teachers having to prepare students to study in fields that they themselves might not be familiar with or teach a style of course they might not have done before. In addition to these obstacles, there are many institutional barriers that prevent teachers from teaching EAP properly. This paper examines these problems in the South Korean university context. Currently many Native English Speaking (NES) English teachers are transitioning from teaching Commutative Language Teaching (CLT) classes to teaching EAP courses and are experiencing many problems and barriers as they transition and teach EAP. 10 NES university teachers were interviewed in order to gather qualitative data about their experiences in teaching EAP courses in an attempt to better understand the current situation in many Korean universities. The data gathered revealed many similar problems and led to ideas for possible improvement on many levels.

EXPLORING EFFICIENCY IN TEACHING EAP WRITING AT RUSSIAN UNIVERSITIES

Teaching English for Academic Purposes (EAP) in Russian universities is becoming important nowadays because of the increasing attention to globalization. In education globalization is occurred through internationalization of education where EAP plays a crucial role. The authors of the article argue that, on the one hand, teaching English in non-linguistic Russian universities is often reduced to mastering the so-called general course of the language, which does not provide students with a tool for international communication in professional spheres. On the other hand, the English language, becoming the language of international academic communication, is transformed into a special academic discipline, becoming both a means and a content of learning English. Thus, new tasks are set for teachers of English, one of the most important is the search for effective technologies for teaching EAP. This article describes implementation of information communication technologies (ICT) in EAP course at Russian nonlinguistic universities. The aim is to carry out the theoretical analysis of the integration scheme of blended learning into the curriculum of Russian universities includes the research on the efficiency of wiki based EAP teaching experience and examines the pros and cons of various forms of blended learning opposed to the traditional classroom education and puts forward the issues of blended learning. The article reflects the stages of the project based on technology enhanced teaching EAP to undergraduate students by means of Web 2.0 tools. The article contains a detailed description of the project, its mission and respondents feedback gained via quantitative and qualitative research methods. Based on the professors and students interviews, questionnaires and observation, it has been found out to be in demand among the students who are digital natives and long for ICT assisted language learning and is subject to some criticism along with numerous benefits, which are also reflected in the results and findings of the study.

Investigating the Iranian EAP Stakeholders' Ideas Apropos of Applying the Internet in EAP Curriculum

English for Academic Purposes (EAP) has become one of the most important fields in English Language Teaching (ELT) in Iran. Thus, researchers, syllabus designers, and EAP instructors are always in search of new materials and tools to enhance learning. The Internet is regarded as one of the most useful and practical tools which can be used in EAP pedagogical settings. As a result, becoming aware of the EAP stakeholders’ attitudes toward using the Internet is so necessary. To this aim, university students (Chabahar Maritime University) and EAP lecturers were given questionnaires. The analyzed data revealed that most EAP instructors and students have a positive attitude toward using the Internet as one of the main sources of EAP courses. However, there were few cases that a relatively significant number of participants had a negative attitude toward internet resources. These cases are discussed in detail and some solutions are suggested.

Exploring Iranian ESP teachers' subject-related critical incidents

English for Academic Purposes (EAP) teachers, among other challenges, are required to deal with content areas which are beyond their realms of expertise. This can lead to special types of critical incidents (CIs) for them (i.e., subject-related CIs). Despite their importance, CIs seem to have received little attention in EAP teaching and teacher education. This study addresses EAP teachers' subject-related CIs. A total of 13 subject-related CIs gathered from interviews with 34 Iranian EAP teachers were analyzed in order to examine their nature as well as the strategies and tactics that teachers used to handle them and the insights they gained from such incidents. The analysis shows that EAP teachers used three types of strategies for dealing with subject-related CIs: admitting ignorance, avoidance, and risk taking. They used various types of tactics for handling their subject-related CIs and described lessons they learned from them. The results indicate that CIs can provide invaluable insights into the nature of the challenges EAP teachers face regarding the specialized content of EAP courses.

English

This study employs a corpus-based method in analysing the noun and noun premodification in journal articles relevant to the field of International Business Management. Following the frequency-based tradition, the noun and noun premodification are identified and extracted by using the node-and-collocate approach. The corpus is divided into five sub-corpora for the purpose of analysing the noun collocations and noun premodification types in each section and between different sections in the journal articles, namely, Introduction, Literature Review, Methods, Results and Discussion sections. The findings show that general adjective is the most common noun premodifier, followed by noun premodifier in both the Introduction and Literature Review sections, whereas general adjective and noun premodifier are both commonly used as premodifiers for nouns in Methods and Results sections. Besides, the general adjective is the most dominant premodifier in Discussion section. The findings also indicate that ed-participial and ing-participial premodifiers are not commonly used in the relevant journal articles. With regard to the use of noun premodification types between different sections in journal articles, general adjective+noun collocation is more pervasive in Introduction, Literature Review and Discussion sections. On the other hand, noun+noun collocation is more commonly found in Methods and Results sections. Following Hoey’s Lexical Priming, the results show that priming occurs at grammatical level within the discourse. The noun collocations identified are compiled for the possible use in the English for Academic Purposes Course. Keywords: corpus-based method; noun premodification; frequency-based; collocation; textual colligations DOI: http://doi.org/10.17576/3L-2017-2301-09

Good or bad collaborative wiki writing: Exploring links between group interactions and writing products

The wiki has empowered collaborative writing in L2 classes during this decade. Previous studies investigated wiki writing processes, including students’ contribution to wiki texts and patterns of interaction, but scarce is the research on the quality of wiki writing products in relation to peer interaction during writing processes. This article reports a case study that examined collaborative wiki writing texts, and explored the links between wiki-mediated interactions and wiki products when four small groups of ESL students performed a research proposal writing task in an English for Academic Purposes course. We examined the qualities of wiki group writing products by analyzing features of rhetorical structure, coherence, and accuracy, supplemented with the scores given by two raters. Based on previously reported results on group interactions (Li, 2014; Li & Kim, 2016), we also explored the connections between writing products and patterns of interaction in the wiki writing task environment. Results revealed that Group 1, which demonstrated a collective pattern, produced the research proposal of the highest writing quality, particularly in the areas of rhetorical structure and coherence, followed by Group 2 that exemplified an expert/novice pattern. Group 3 and Group 4 that exhibited a dominant/defensive pattern and a cooperating-in-parallel pattern respectively produced research proposals of relatively low quality. We explained the links between wiki interactions and products by drawing on scaffolding and co-ownership.

Does EAP writing instruction reduce L2 errors? Evidence from a longitudinal corpus of L2 EAP essays and reports

AbstractDespite the efforts exerted on error correction by teachers and students during English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses, the literature is split about whether such instruction succeeds in reducing grammatical and lexical errors in student writing. In this study, a longitudinal corpus of essays and reports collected at three key data points along a tertiary EAP course (pre-course, immediate post-course and final assessment) totalling 205,682 words was annotated for 12,996 errors across 10 grammatical and lexical error types. The results, including a mixed-effects linear model, showed a general significant decline in the number of errors produced over the duration of the course. However, closer examination revealed that the frequencies of the majority of individual lexical and grammatical error categories remained unchanged over time, despite specific out-of-class instruction on these errors as well as numerous occasions where teachers provided written corrective feedback. The overall usefulness of the error correction feedback and instruction resulting from the EAP course in question therefore remains inconclusive, although students and other stakeholders may still call for the inclusion of such feedback and instruction on EAP curricula.

Meeting Students’ Expectations in an Arab ICLHE/EMI Context: Implications for ELT Education Policy and Practice

Students’ expectations have seldom received any attention in English Language Teaching (ELT) education research in the Arab World in general and in Integrated Content and Language in Higher Education (ICLHE)/English Medium Instruction (EMI) English for Academic Purposes (EAP) in particular, despite their importance for policy and practice. This mixed-method study investigates the expectations of 50 students attending an ICLHE/EMI EAP course at College of Law, Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) in the Sultanate of Oman. The results have shown that the students had course materials and content and course pedagogy and design implementation expectations. The results have further revealed that the teacher played a key role in meeting his students’ expectations through his effective teaching. The findings have important implications for ICLHE/EMI policy implementation in other similar local, regional and global contexts. Keywords: Students’ expectations; English Language for Law (1); Integrated Content and Language in Higher Education/English Medium Instruction; English Language Teaching; College of Law