What is EAP? Andy Gillett, University of Hertfordshire Introduction.

At the ESP SIG general meeting at Keele, there seemed to be a general lack of knowledge about EAP. What is EAP? Who are EAP lecturers? What do the do? What are the interested in? I would like to tr to answer some of these !uestions. It is "robabl true that most EAP lecturers are working in institutes of higher education where English is the medium of instruction. #he see man students for whom English is not a first language and who could benefit from English classes. $or some students, im"ro%ing their English is essential & the will fail their courses otherwise. Some think the can get better grades if the learn more English while others stud English because the like it. #he ob'ect of an EAP & English for Academic Pur"oses & course is to hel" o%erseas students o%ercome some of the linguistic difficulties in%ol%ed in stud ing in English. #he 'ob of the EAP lecturer is to find out what the students ha%e to do and hel" them to do it better. EAP is a branch of ESP in that the teaching content is matched to the re!uirements of the learners. It is also considered to be ESP if we take (obinson)s *+,,+, "". -&./ features which are usuall thought of as being criterial to ESP courses.

$irst ESP is goal directed & the students are not learning the English language for the sake of it, but because the need to use English. EAP students are usuall current higher education students or the are ho"ing to go on to higher education after their EAP course. #he need to learn English in order to succeed in their academic careers. Second, ESP courses are based on a needs anal sis, which aims to s"ecif as closel as "ossible e0actl what it is that students ha%e to do through the medium of English. 1ne im"ortant feature of EAP courses is the close attention that is "aid to students) aims and what the "lan to stud . #he first stage in an EAP, and ESP, course is to find out e0actl wh the students are learning English and therefore what language and skills the will need. 1ften there is a %er clearl s"ecified "eriod for the course. 2ost EAP students are doing fi0ed term courses in "re"aration for an academic course. ESP learners tend to be adults rather than children. 2ost EAP students are o%er +3 and the will ha%e made a difficult decision to stud in an English medium uni%ersit . Students ma need s"ecialist language, but this is not necessaril so. It is the acti%ities that the students will want to engage in that defines the course. As with all ESP, an EAP lecturer would not take a te0t and sa , 4 What can I do with this?4 #he starting "oint is alwa s, 4 What will m students need to do with this te0t and how can I hel" them to do it?4

In some cases, a %er high le%el of "roficienc is not re!uired, as long as the students can succeed in their aims. Students need to be able to get good marks for assignments. 1ur 'ob as EAP lecturers is to find wa s to enable them to do this & getting their "resent tenses correct ma not be as im"ortant the o%erall structure of the essa .

E%en so, EAP has not been mentioned %er often in the standard ESP methodolog books u" to now. 5utchinson and Waters *+,36/ ha%e little to sa about it. Kenned 7 8olitho *+,39, "". ., :;&:+, ++;&++6/ define it and use EAP situations for some of their case studies the also offer some EAP listening and s"eaking e0ercises. (obinson *+,3;, "". <6&6;/ looks at some of the materials a%ailable. 2c=onough *+,39, "". ,9& ,., ++.&++6,+--&+-:/ looks at the language of seminars and EAP testing and (obinson *+,,+, "". +;;&+;</ "ro%ides a good short sur%e of the "resent state of EAP. Se%eral articles in 2acka 7 2ountford *+,63/ look at s"ecific EAP "roblems> listening, language for economists and stud skills. It is to be ho"ed, howe%er, that this will be addressed b the "ublication of ?ordan *in "ress/. Courses. EAP courses are %er often "re&sessional courses. #hat is, the are taken before the students) main academic courses start. 2ost uni%ersities in the @K offer these "re& sessional courses, which %ar in length from one ear to two weeks. #he EAP courses often take "lace at the institution where the students intend to take their main academic course but this need not be the case. #hese courses are intended to "re"are Students in 5igher Education coming to stud in the @K to stud in English. #he also allow students to familiarise themsel%es with the new en%ironment and facilities of the institution before their main courses start. #he students need to learn to ado"t "articular a""roaches to their stud and learn strategies and skills that will enable them to succeed in the @K 5E s stem. #he "ur"ose of the "re&sessional EAP course is to bring them u" to the le%el that is necessar to start a course. In this case EAP tutors need to liaise with admissions tutors to find out what is necessar . EAP courses can also be in&sessional courses. #hat is the are taken at the same time as the students) main academic course. In&sessional courses can take one of two forms. #he can be seen as language su""ort classes & these are usuall free dro"&in classes held at lunch&times or Wednesda afternoons and students attend when the are able. Increasingl it is also becoming "ossible for international students to take credit&bearing EAP courses as "art of their degree. EAP/Study S!ills. #here is often discussion whether these two terms & EAP and stud skills & mean the same. I find it useful to make a distinction between general stud skills that are not concerned with language and language stud skills that will "robabl form "art of an EAP course. #here are man stud skills books a%ailable for nati%e&s"eakers and the usuall concentrate on matters like> where to stud , when to stud , time management,

remembering, de%elo"ing stud habits, filing and organising books, how to s"end leisure time and so on, although the do often deal with as"ects of stud skills that in%ol%e language such as "lanning essa s and so on. #hese general stud skills are ob%iousl im"ortant to our Students in 5igher Education, but the are not usuall the main ob'ecti%e of EAP courses. #he language stud skills will form an essential com"onent of the EAP skills classes. Acade"ic Writin# Classes $or man students this is "robabl the most im"ortant as it is the wa in which most of their work is assessed. #he aim of an academic writing class is to "re"are students for academic writing tasks. #hese tasks %ar %er much from writing short answers in e0ams to writing dissertations and theses. 1f course, accurate grammar, "unctuation and language use forms an im"ortant com"onent of an EAP writing class, along with s"ecific teaching of the formal language re!uired. #his will in%ol%e teaching of different te0t t "es, linking words, sign"osting e0"ressions, introductions and conclusions. It is also im"ortant to teach @K writing con%entions as these can %ar %er much from those e%en in neighbouring Euro"ean countries. 5owe%er, EAP lecturers often find the need to concentrate on the "rocess of writing & "lanning, organising, "resenting, re&writing, "roof&reading, etc. *(obinson, +,33/. In m o"inion, the most useful single skill that I can teach most of the students I meet is organisation. If students make little grammatical mistakes, the get a small correction. 5owe%er, if there is a "roblem with organisation, the will get a big red !uestion mark. Writing classes are often task based and "ro'ect work allows students to work in their own field *see 8loor 7 St ?ohn, +,33/. Pro'ects also allow students to become familiar with wa s of working in 8ritish 5E. In "articular the will ha%e the o""ortunit to de%elo" the right kind of a""roach to stud ing in the @K. #his in%ol%es de%elo"ing a willingness to acce"t res"onsibilit for their own learning so that the are able to learn inde"endentl using initiati%e and self&disci"line. #he will need to de%elo" the abilit to think logicall and inde"endentl , to be reflecti%e and critical, to anal se, to s nthesise and to be creati%e. #he will also need to de%elo" the abilit to use I#, to mount well& "resented arguments, to sol%e "roblems and to work as a member of a team. #he following would be t "ical content>

(esearch and using the librar > finding rele%ant information, using catalogues, books, "eriodicals, bibliogra"hies and inde0es. @sing sources> making notes and writing u" notes & "ara"hrasing, summarising, !uoting 7 referring to sources, writing a bibliogra"h . Writing descri"tions of "laces, ob'ects etc classif ing and categorising com"aring and contrasting re"orting and narrating. =escribing "rocesses and de%elo"ments> e0"ressing "ur"ose, means and method, degrees of certaint , reasons and e0"lanationsAcause and effect

describing de%elo"ments and changes describing a se!uence of e%entsAtime relations.

Writing instructions. =e%elo"ing an argument> "resenting arguments, ideas and o"inions e0"ressing certaint and doubt su""orting an argument> illustrating and e0em"lif ing ideas refuting arguments, ideas and o"inions drawing conclusions. Writing skills> different kinds of writing, organisation & "resentation and la out s"elling and "unctuation including gra"hs, charts and tables st le re%ising the essa & "roof&reading.

Acade"ic $istenin# Course 2an students are initiall %er worried about their listening skills. Academic listening usuall in%ol%es the non&nati%e s"eaker of English tr ing to follow a lecture or discussion in English and write ade!uate notes on it. As in man ESP classes, there is the !uestion of whether the "roblems are listening "roblems or language "roblems. Bertainl much listening to lectures or similar te0ts is essential. #here is also a need for making students aware of the wa lectures are organised, the "articular kind of language that is used in lectures *C nch, +,3:/ and making sure the know the language, "articularl the "ronunciation of familiar words, of their own sub'ect. $or me the most im"ortant skill is for students to learn to recognising the structure of lectures & the main "oints and subsidiar "oints. A t "ical s llabus would include>

5ow to take notes. (ecognising lecture structure> understanding relationshi"s in the lecture understanding relations within the sentenceAcom"le0 sentences im"ortance markers, sign"osts. =educing the meaning of unfamiliar words and word grou"s. (ecognising im"lications> information not e0"licitl stated recognising the s"eaker)s attitude. E%aluating the im"ortance of information & selecting information. @nderstanding intonation, %oice em"hasis etc. Cistening skills> skimming & listening to obtain gist scanning & listening to obtain s"ecific information selecti%e e0traction of rele%ant "oints to summarise te0t.

Acade"ic S%ea!in# S!ills Course

#his is becoming increasingl im"ortant as teaching methods change to in%ol%e more grou" work, 'oint "ro'ects and grou" marks. 5ome students see "roblems if Students in 5igher Education are not seen to be "ulling their weight in collaborati%e work. Academic s"eaking classes tr to hel" the students to be more aware of what is in%ol%ed in seminar or grou" acti%it and to su""l them with some of the interactional language that is used there. 1ne "roblem is the difficult of obtaining good data from which we can anal se the language in%ol%ed. In general though, man confidence raising grou" work e0ercises are necessar , as well as teaching of the language used. Students will be gi%en "ractice in making "resentations, taking "art in discussions on academic to"ics and so on. Such a course might include>

#he "ur"ose of seminars. 2aking a "resentation> the structure of "resentations making and using notes to s"eak from. Introducing the to"ic gi%ing the information in detail se!uencing, describing similarities and differences com"aring and contrasting illustrating a "oint & gi%ing e0am"les and referring to research em"hasising a "oint summarising and concluding. Bontrolling the discussion> leading the discussion changing the sub'ect & mo%ing on s"eeding u" things coming to a conclusion. Partici"ating in the discussion> interru"ting "olitel asking !uestions & asking for more informationAclarification stating a "oint of %iew & su""orting our %iew agreeing and disagreeing & challenging and commenting making suggestions checking & making sure that ou ha%e understood holding the floor & "re%enting interru"tions. Cistening and note taking.

Acade"ic &eadin# Course #he big difficult with reading is the amount in%ol%ed. #hese classes therefore aim to assist the non&nati%e s"eaker of English stud ing in the medium of English at tertiar le%el to use a wide range of reading strategies in order to recei%e more benefit from the course. 2an students still rel on "ainstakingl slow word b word reading. It soon becomes clear to them, howe%er, that the cannot read e%er word in the librar . General efficient reading strategies such as scanning to find the book or cha"ter, skimming to get the gist and careful reading of im"ortant "assages *Wallace, +,3;, "". ,&.+/ are necessar as well as %ocabular building e0ercises in the student)s own area. Cearning about how te0ts are structured can hel" students to read more efficientl . An academic reading course could include>

@nderstanding meaning> deducing the meaning of unfamiliar words and word grou"s relations within the sentenceAcom"le0 sentences im"lications &

information not e0"licitl stated, conce"tual meaning, e.g. com"arison, "ur"ose, cause, effect. @nderstanding relationshi"s in the te0t> & te0t structure the communicati%e %alue of sentences relations between the "arts of a te0t through le0ical and grammatical cohesion de%ices and indicators in discourse. @nderstanding im"ortant "oints distinguishing the main ideas from su""orting detail recognising unsu""orted claims and claims su""orted b e%idence & fact from o"inion e0tracting salient "oints to summarise following an argument reading criticall Ae%aluating the te0t. (eading efficientl > sur%e ing the te0t, cha"terAarticle, "aragra"hs, skimming for gistAgeneral im"ression scanning to locate s"ecificall re!uired information reading !uickl . Dote taking.

'estin# 2ost EAP lecturers are in%ol%ed to some e0tent in testing Students in 5igher Education. #his can in%ol%e ad%ising admissions tutors on what e0ternal English language tests are a%ailable and what the scores mean. 1n the basis of these scores, students can be acce"ted or gi%en offers conditional on reaching a "articular le%el of English, or attending a certain length "re&sessional course. #he most well known EAP test is the IEC#S *International English Canguage #esting S stem/ test. #his test is 'ointl managed b the @ni%ersit of Bambridge Cocal E0aminations S ndicate, the 8ritish Bouncil and I=P Education Australia. #he test tests academic reading, writing s"eaking and listening and re"orts the le%el of each skill on a band from + to ,. 2an uni%ersities also ha%e their own "roficienc tests which are written, administered and u"dated b EAP lecturers. Ans(erin# e)a" *uestions $or man Students in 5igher Education, the biggest worr about stud ing in English is e0ams. #ime is the biggest "roblem, so an abilit to understand the !uestion !uickl and "lan an answer is im"ortant. IA'E+$ Conference, ,eele #here is alwa s a good selection of EAP related "resentations at IA#E$C. Presentations on EAP to"ics at the recent IA#E$C conference at Keele included. ?eanne Godfre - Black Holes in EAP & in%estigated seminars and described what she described as the 4 black holes of academic s"oken interaction.4 & what actuall ha""ens in seminars.

Ceila El&8adri & A global approach to teaching basic research skills & described how she teaches the basic skills of summarising, "ara"hrase, librar skills to first& ear students to enable them to write a well&de%elo"ed research "a"er. Barole Ari'oki & A module for a module& described how o%erseas students at 8ritish @ni%ersities can gain credit for their English classes. ?an $isher & Is English language testing successful in our Kingdom? & looked at the use of IEC#S as a selection tool. Conclusion EAP is thus an im"ortant area of ESP, accounting for a large amount of the ESP acti%it world&wide. 2ost of the work, howe%er, takes "lace, unknown to much of the English language teaching world, in uni%ersities. It is discussed in 'ournals and at conferences such as IA#E$C and 8ACEAP *8ritish Association of Cecturers in English for Academic Pur"oses/. #here ha%e been se%eral EAP related articles in this newsletter, and ma be there would be interest in more. &eferences and +urther &eadin# Adams, P., 5eaton, 8. 7 5owarth, P. *Eds./. *+,,+/. Socio-cultural issues in English for academic purposes. Condon> 2acmillan. 8loor, 2. 7 St ?ohn, 2. ?. *+,33/. Pro'ect writing> #he marriage of "rocess and "roduct. In P. B. (obinson *Ed./, Academic writing Process and product *EC# =ocuments +-,, "". 3.&,9/. Condon> 2odern English Publications. 8lue, G. 2. *Ed./. *+,,:/. !anguage" learning and success Stud#ing through English . Condon> 2acmillan. 8rookes, A. 7 Grund , P. *Eds./. *+,33/. Indi$idualisation and autonom# in language learning %E!& 'ocuments ()(*+ Condon> 2odern English Publications. Bowie, A. P. 7 5eaton, ?. 8. *Eds./. *+,66/. English for academic purposes+ Condon> 8AACASEC21@S. $lowerdew, ?. *Ed./. *+,,9/. Academic listening ,esearch perspecti$es+ Bambridge> Bambridge @ni%ersit Press. 5utchinson, #. 7 Waters, A. *+,36/. English for specific purposes+ Bambridge> Bambridge @ni%ersit Press. ?ordan, (. (. *+,3,/. English for academic "ur"oses *EAP/. !anguage &eaching" --" +.;& +<9.

?ordan, (. (. *+,,6/. English for academic purposes. Bambridge> Bambridge @ni%ersit Press Kenned , B. 7 8olitho, (. *+,39/. English for specific purposes. Condon> 2acmillan. C nch, #. *+,3:/. Stud# listening+ Bambridge> Bambridge @ni%ersit Press. 2acka , (. 7 2ountford, A. *Eds./. *+,63/. English for specific purposes. Condon> Congman. 2c=onough, ?. *+,39/. ESP in perspecti$e. Condon> Bollins. (obinson, P. *+,3;/. ESP English for specific purposes+ 10ford> Pergamon Press. (obinson, P. *+,,+/. ESP toda# A practitioner.s guide+ Condon> Prentice 5all. (obinson, P. B. *Ed./. *+,33/. Academic writing Process and product %E!& 'ocuments (-/*+ Condon> 2odern English Publications. Swales, ?. 2. *+,,;/. 0enre anal#sis. Bambridge> Bambridge @ni%ersit Press. &eco""ended 'e)t -oo!s $airfa0, 8. 7 #rEeciak, ?.*+,,,/. English for academic stud# series !istening. Condon> Prentice 5all. Glendinning, E. 5. 7 5olmstrm, 8. *+,,-/. Stud# reading+ Bambridge> Bambridge @ni%ersit Press. 5am"&C ons, C. 7 5easle , 8. *+,36/. Stud# writing+ Bambridge> Bambridge @ni%ersit Press. C nch, #. 7 Anderson, K. *+,,-/. Stud# speaking. Bambridge> Bambridge @ni%ersit Press. C nch, #. *+,3:/. Stud# listening+ Bambridge> Bambridge @ni%ersit Press. 2cGo%ern, =. *+,,9/. English for academic stud# series ,eading+ Condon> Prentice 5all. Dorthedge, A. *+,,;/. &he good stud# guide+ 2ilton Ke nes> #he 1"en @ni%ersit Press. (ignall, 2. 7 $urneau0, B.*-;;;/. English for academic stud# series !istening. Condon> Prentice 5all. 2adden, B. G. 7 (ohlck, #. D. *+,,6/. 'iscussion and interaction in the academic communit#+ Ann Arbor> @ni%ersit of 2ichigan Press. Smith, 2. 7 Smith, G. *+,33/. A stud# skills handbook+ 2elbourne> 10ford @ni%ersit Press.

Swales, ?. 2. 7 $eak, B. 8. *+,,9/. Academic writing for graduate students+ Ann Arbor> @ni%ersit of 2ichigan Press. Swales, ?. 2. 7 $eak, B. 8. *-;;;/. English in toda#.s research world+ Ann Arbor> @ni%ersit of 2ichigan Press. #rEeciak, ?. 7 2acka , S. E. *+,,9/. English for academic stud# series Stud# skills for academic writing+ Condon> Prentice 5all. Wallace 2 *+,3;/. Stud# Skills In English+ Bambridge> Bambridge @ni%ersit Press. Waters, 2., 7 Waters, A. *+,,./. Stud# tasks in English. Bambridge> Bambridge @ni%ersit Press. Weissberg, (. 7 8uker, S. *+,,;*+ 1riting up research E2perimental research report writing for students of English. Englewood Bliffs, D?> Prentice 5all. White, (. 7 2cGo%ern, =.*+,,9/. English for academic stud# series 1riting. Condon> Prentice 5all. Williams, (. *+,3-/. Panorama An ad$anced course of English for stud# and e2aminations . Condon> Congman. And Gillett is Princi"al Cecturer in EAP in the School of Bombined Studies at the @ni%ersit of 5ertfordshire, 5atfield, @K. 5e has s"ent most of the last -. ears teaching ESP in "ri%ate language schools, State Bolleges and @ni%ersities both in the @K and abroad. 5e is now mainl in%ol%ed in organising, "lanning and teaching EAP courses to students taking a wide range of courses at the @ni%ersit of 5ertfordshire)s cam"uses at 5atfield, north of Condon, @K. Address> School of Bombined Studies, @ni%ersit of 5ertfordshire, Bollege Cane, 5atfield, 5erts, AC+; ,A8, @K.

And Gillett *+,,</. What is EAP? IA&E3! ESP SI0 4ewsletter" 5, +6&-:. *u"dated August, -;;;/ 8ob ?ordan wrote a follow u" article to this in the ne0t issue of the IA#E$C ESP SIG Dewsletter. Blick here to read it. 8ack to EAP bibliogra"h
8 est m atches f or e n#lish f or a cade"ic % ur%oses . ordan