scholarly journals English for Academic Purposes: Theory, Trends and Practices

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Gopal Prasad Pandey

English for academic purpose (EAP) emerged as a branch of English for specific purposes in the early 1980s. EAP grounds English language teaching in the linguistic demands of academic context, tailoring instruction to specific rather than general purposes. There is a growth of interest in EAP in the recent years. The interest in EAP developed in response to the growing need for intercultural awareness and of English as a lingua franca (ELF). EAP has become a major area of research in applied linguistics and focus of the courses studied worldwide by a large number of students preparing for study in colleges and universities. The increase in students’ undertaking tertiary studies in English-speaking countries has led to a steady demand for the courses tailored to meet the immediate, specific vocational and professional needs. Thus, most universities in the present day world prioritize the role of academic skills. The aim of the paper is to examine the key approaches to the teaching of English for academic purposes, current trends in teaching EAP, and to argue the centrality and significance of EAP in the academia. The paper concludes by arguing that a greater emphasis needs to be placed on methodology in EAP.

Author(s):  
Bambang Yudi Cahyono ◽  
Utami Widiati

The status of English as a foreign language (EFL) in Indonesia necessitates the use of English native speakers' utterances as models of pronunciation and as standard of understanding messages in various contexts, be they academic or social. As recently English has developed as an international language that can be used as a means of communication between people from non-English speaking countries, the role of listening activities in the teaching of English cannot be neglected. This article highlights the importance of listening and reviews some of the issues in the research and teaching of EFL listening. It firstly presents a paradigm of the listening process, followed by a theoretical framework for teaching listening, especially in the broader context of English language teaching. It then discusses the teaching of and research on EFL listening in Indonesia. Finally, this article outlines some recommendations for more effective teaching of listening in EFL classrooms.


2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 156
Author(s):  
Isra Irshad ◽  
Behzad Anwar

<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>


1970 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 82-93
Author(s):  
Evariste Manirakiza ◽  
Innocent Hakizimana

In the current trends of communication and globalization, the knowledge of vocabulary is of paramount importance. With a vocabulary package, people can read any texts and understand them. Additionally, it is easy to communicate when people have enough vocabulary. The present study is a class enquiry. It involved 30 students doing English for Specific Purposes at the University of Rwanda, College of Business and Economics, Business Administration option. Facing the challenge of getting students to effectively communicate in English and understand reading materials, the purpose of the study was to investigate into the role of vocabulary to the understanding of reading texts, speaking and writing activities. Data collection tools were individual evaluations, debates, a questionnaire and class observations. Findings revealed that vocabulary activities prior to reading provide students with many benefits. As students reported, vocabulary increased their understanding of the text and helps them exchange ideas and increase language skills while discussing vocabulary related exercises. Findings also indicated that the vocabulary activities helped students write in an effective way, applying new terms and writing freely. Therefore, it is recommended that vocabulary should be worked on thoroughly in order to foster reading comprehension, speaking and writing.


Author(s):  
Ali Ata Alkhaldi

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.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 268
Author(s):  
Maryam Cheraghi Shehni

The development of English as a universal language led to the emergence of a new field in English language teaching which is called English for Specific Purposes (ESP). Moreover, English is recently considered as an international language, and with advancements in technology, accordingly, there is a widespread growth in demand for English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses fluctuating in teaching length and mode. The present study, thus, attempts to consider the EAP Learners' Perceptions towards the use of tasks taught in universities as EAP courses for students and what English skills and abilities are required from them on the job.


Multilingua ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 33 (3-4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrikke Rindal

AbstractThis study investigates attitudes towards varieties of English among Norwegian adolescent learners and assesses the role of social evaluation for second language (L2) pronunciation choices by combining a verbal guise test with speaker commentary and reports of language choices. The results suggest that while American English is the most accessible English accent and the preferred L2 choice, Standard Southern British English remains the most prestigious English accent and retains its position as a formal English language teaching standard. However, not all learners want to convey the social meanings attributed to these widely identified English varieties, and therefore aim towards a “neutral” variety of English not associated with any native-English-speaking people or culture. The avoidance of standard varieties as L2 targets suggests that the tradition of questioning standard language norms in Norway is mirrored in L2 practices. The investigations into social motivations for L2 behaviour contribute to the ongoing discourse on the global spread and local appropriation of English. The results have implications for English language educators, who must meet the needs of proficient learners in an environment with increased intra-national use of English and no explicit model of pronunciation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. p1
Author(s):  
Carmen Manuela Pereira Carneiro Lucas

The present linguistic reality involves finding ways of communication in the globalized environment, where people move all around the world in order to find work, learn, or share experiences. One issue arising from English language teaching is that it has mainly overlooked teaching culture across the curriculum, thus allowing the increase of negative attitudes and stereotypes. This paper is set out to determine to what extent English language teaching (ELT) materials demonstrate the traits of the English-speaking Other, it what ways children are accessing the target ‘Kingdom’, and which are the best teaching strategies to provide them with the keys to the target world. Anchoring our perspective in CLIL and the 4 Cs, this study looks at ways of developing cutting-edge syllabi to develop intercultural awareness and preventing stereotypes. Findings from the application of the syllabi and resulting from an analysis of the cultural content of two internationally distributed ELT textbooks are reported. The present research put in evidence that cultural aspects are practically absent from the analyzed textbooks, thus lacking a key dimension in English Language Teaching and Education. Therefore, some recommendations for future textbook writers and EFL classroom practice are suggested.


2021 ◽  
pp. 136216882199034
Author(s):  
Mark McAndrews

In many English language teaching contexts, listening activities resemble listening comprehension tests. Scholars have argued that this product-oriented approach is not particularly effective in helping learners improve their listening skills and have advocated for the inclusion of instruction that targets specific features of spoken language. The current study tested these claims in the context of an English-for-academic-purposes (EAP) listening and speaking course. Sixty-four post-secondary learners of English were randomly assigned to one of two groups. In addition to their regularly scheduled listening activities, one group received 100 minutes of instruction for two prosodic features (paratone and prosodic phrasing), while the other group received an equal amount of product-oriented listening instruction. After the instructional treatment, learners in the prosody group outperformed those in the product-oriented group on comprehension of the target prosodic features, and on general listening proficiency tests. It is argued that short periods of instruction targeting prosodic features can improve the effectiveness of traditional product-oriented EAP listening instruction.


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