English Language for Academic Purposes (EAP)

Nazish Sohail
[COMPANY NAME] [Company address]
Table of Contents

Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 2

What is English for Academic Purposes? (EAP) ............................................................. 3

Growth and Development of EAP ................................................................................... 5

Supporting International Students ................................................................................ 5

Needs Analysis ............................................................................................................ 5

Materials Development ................................................................................................ 6

English as the Language of Knowledge Exchange ...... Error! Bookmark not defined.

Practice and Pedagogy ................................................................................................ 6

Continuing challenges ..................................................................................................... 7

References ...................................................................................................................... 9

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 English for Academic Purposes (EAP)

Introduction
This topic has progressed a lot in the past two decades or so. In early 1980’s, it was just

a marginal branch of English which dealt with specific purposes known as English for

Specific Purpose (ESP) which has now evolved rapidly to become important subject in

research and teaching of English throughout the world. The subject takes its strength from

different theories and its commitment for research and language-based teaching, this

branch has expanded to number of universities in various countries with the ever growing

students coming from all over the world to enroll and study English in postgraduate

studies. Resultantly, the EAP has developed theory and different innovative practices in

the genre of English as other language or second language for students (Hamp-Lyons,

2011).

EAP aims to “… teaching of English with the specific aim of helping learners to study,

conduct research or teach in English-medium contexts.” (Flowerdew & Peacock, 2001)

What differentiates EAP from ESP is focus of EAP on the academic stuff but it should be

kept in mind that EAP is the sub-discipline of the ESP. The teachers of EAP has expertise

in the classroom teaching, student responsiveness, curriculum planning and development

of materials by offering support to the students and through educational management

programs. EAP deals in the wide range of dialectal, educational and applied linguistic

areas of study for academic purpose and its methodology is based on EAP theories

including language in classroom, methodology of teaching, education of teacher,

language assessment criteria, student need analysis, development of material and their

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evaluation, research and speaking at different academic levels and so on (Gillet, 1989;

Hamp-Lyons, 2011).

What is English for Academic Purposes? (EAP)

EAP is usually defined as “teaching English with the aim of assisting learners’ study or

research in that language” (Flowerdew and Peacock, 2001:8). Based on this definition,

this term covers different academic areas in practice including:

 Interactions with students in classroom including feedbacks, tutorials, discussions

and seminars.

 Postgraduate, graduate, and undergraduate teachings via development of study

material for lectures and classroom activities.

 Research activities including conference papers, proposal, journal articles etc.

 Writing exercises including exam papers, term papers, theses and essays.

 Administrative practices including the documents and material for carrying out the

course, defenses etc.

Mostly it is considered as a practical business and these areas are based on the specific

needs of the different students and their local context (Dudley-Evans, 2001). Although it

includes curriculum design, needs analysis and materials development, EAP is now also

a more intelligent and research-oriented field than characterizing it to these things only.

Today, students are requires to read and write for different events including speeches,

research, conferences etc. and participate in unfamiliar writing genres. Here EAP

supports the students in developing critical understanding of different linguistic context

and practices in the academic communication to accomplish their writing and reading

tasks (Hyland, 2006).

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The main aim of EAP is to capture the metaphors used in the academic language at all

levels and the proficiency in communicating the contexts to understand different fields. It

uses different research methods, theory and practice from different academic fields to

offer insights about the structure and meanings of the linguistic, written or visual academic

texts, academic pedagogical practices and the forthcoming behaviors of academics to

develop these behaviors. It is safe to say that EAP is a specialized teaching of the English

language based on the achievement of academic objectives related to reasoning, social

and dialectical attitudes and focuses on the understanding of different academic contexts

and texts. EAP is trying to deliver locally managed, problem-oriented approaches to the

widespread and endemic problems arising from academic studies of a diverse student

community that emphasizes on students' needs and communication issues (Hyland,

2006).

There are different programs that are developed to aid the students who lack English

speaking or writing skills or who have English as second language or non-English natives

in the academic situation has become the million dollar business in the world. Such

students take part in the academic achievements through the pre-sessional courses to

improve their English through EAP which are designed to improve their communication

skills to at least at entry level for getting admission in the English medium institutions.

These students are helped through learning of different academic skills and knowledge

that can be integrated in their educational structure. These academic developments have

reshaped how the English language is taught and research is conducted at higher level

with growth in research and practices in different academic contexts which has resultantly

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led to the concept of monumental academic English and acknowledgement of different

variations of disciplines (Hyland, 2000).

Most EAP teachers around the world do not speak English, which has changed the way

curriculum, materials, and teacher development programs are to be offered. Today many

teaching programs includes EAP courses with specialized degrees in the field available

at international level. EAP requires formal education and now more attention is been

given to this field at early schooling level towards the postgraduate writing and research

supervision (Braine, 2002).

Growth and Development of EAP

Supporting International Students

There has been a steady growth in EAP programs for international students due to the

growing demand for international students studying in English speaking countries. Jordan

(2002) noted that the students’ needs were intensive and the attention was giving to the

students who confronted difficulty with English language which was appropriate for many

students and teachers facing the educational problems. In those early years, the attention

was given to the student need analysis and development of materials (Candlin, Kirkwood

& Moore, 1975).

Needs Analysis
The teacher analyzes the students’ needs by assessing their syllabus and designing the

course according to their needs, the materials are developed accordingly with right

selection of texts, learning goals, educational tasks and student evaluation for the

success of the course (Carkin, 2005). Analysis of needs is the first step in EAP to assist

the students (Zughoul & Hussein, 1985).

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Materials Development
Once the needs are identified and analyzed, the design and development of appropriate

materials is the next big step. In the past, the study centric materials were in trend in the

higher education system but in EAP, the materials intends to provide the basic

preparation to the students for understanding different disciples which became popular

afterward (Williams, 1982; Salimbene, 1985).

Knowledge Exchange through English

The second important event in the history and development of EAP was the steady

evolution of English as the prominent language for the spreading of academic knowledge.

This development was incremental as most of the journals decided to use English as a

neutral language and instead of publishing in their own language, they started to publish

in English (Swales, 1997; Salager-Meyer, 2008). This growth in the English language was

referred to as advanced EAP for research purpose (Hyland and Hamp-Lyon, 2002;

Swales & Feak, 2004).

Practice and Pedagogy

In the last decade or so, EAP has flourished in a larger field but more split in processes

from the point of view of delivery. The previous approaches to EAP including academic

writing for international students, study aids, and other labels that constitute to be the

EAP legacy but at the same time there is more mature approach in practice these days.

The methodolgy in which the usual teaching methods at universities for international and

non-English students are developed for English teachers to now analyzing the need for

EAP solutions. These EAP teachers are more qualified and stable in designing and

developing of curriculum and training programmes (Hamp-Lyons, 2011).

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Challenges in EAP
The professional development of teachers of EAP is very important as they lag behind in

the industry due to the vast expansion of needs for students requiring EAP. Many

universities and schools employs teachers who lacks the proper knowledge and skill set

for being EAP teachers or teacher with training in EAP are rare in private sector

institutions. Teaching the students with English as secondary language is different than

the teaching English speaking students. Similarly, most of the teachers in EAP around

the globe are non-English speakers and they need training and their needs are different

from the English speakers and understanding and recognition of their needs for

development of new EAP materials is important for the professional development of these

teachers which will also support them and the students (Hyland, 2006). There is a huge

gap in the progress between the development of materials and the training of the EAP

teachers and this gap needs to be filled through proper trainings to match their knowledge

and skill set.

Also many EAP courses lack research or theoretical framework as most of the textbooks

are dependent on the experiences of the writer alone rather than the systematic research

approach. Now the situation has changed and there are more interesting and involving

methods to EAP courses based on latest pedagogic approaches like awareness raising,

analysis and EAP modules linkage (Benesch, 2001; Swales and Feak, 2000). These

approaches are more successful but this should be noted that one approach is not

applicable to all the situations and different situation demands different teaching

methodology. Therefore, the innovative practice in pedagogic and curricular level in EAP

are required.

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There are different cultural, social, political and ideological disputes faced by EAP in the

context of language and its uses and EAP is struggling to find methods to deal with these

issues (Benesch, 2001). EAP is self-scrutinizing field which offers teachers ethical and

contemplative methods for research and training in order to help the students with

understanding of different courses and disciplines (Hyland, 2006).

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References

 Benesch, S. 2001. Critical English for Academic Purposes. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

 Braine, G. 2002. Academic literacy and the nonnative speaker graduate student.

Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 1(1), 59–68.

 Candlin, C. N., Kirkwood, J. M. & Moore, H. M. 1975. Developing study skills in

English. In ETIC, English for academic study: problems and perspectives (pp. 50–

69). London: The British Council.

 Carkin, S. 2005. English for academic purposes. In E. Hinkel (Ed.), Handbook of

research in second language teaching and learning (pp. 85–98). Hillsdale, NJ:

Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

 Dudley-Evans, T. 2001. English for Specific Purposes. In R. Carter and D. Nunan

(eds), The Cambridge guide to teaching English to speakers of other languages.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

 Flowerdew, J., and Peacock, M. (eds) 2001. Research perspectives on English for

Academic Purposes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

 Gillett, A. J. 1989. Designing an EAP course: English language support for further

and higher education. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 13(2), 92-104.

 Hyland, F. 2000. ESL writers and feedback: giving more autonomy to students.

Language Teaching Research, 4, 33–54.

 Hyland, K. 2006. Disciplinary differences: language variation in academic

discourses. In K. Hyland and M. Bondi (eds), Academic discourse across

disciplines. Frankfurt: Peter Lang.

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 Hyland, K., & Hamp-Lyons, L. 2002. EAP: Issues and directions. Journal of English

for Academic Purposes, 1, 1–12.

 Salager-Meyer, F. 2008. Scientific publishing in peripheral (a.k.a. developing)

countries: Challenges for the future. Journal of English for Academic Purposes,

7(2), 121–132.

 Salimbene, S. 1985. Strengthening your study skills: A guide for overseas

students. Rowley, MA: Newbury House.

 Swales, J. 1997. English as Tyrannosaurus rex. World Englishes, 16, 373–82.

 Swales, J., and Feak, C. 2000. English in today’s research world: a writing guide.

Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

 Swales, J., and Feak, C. 2004. Academic writing for graduate students, 2nd edn.

Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

 Williams, R. 1982. Panorama. London: Longman.

 Zughoul, M. R., & Hussein, R. F. 1985. English for higher education in the Arab

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