Challenges and Tensions in Materials Design for English for Academic Purposes

PIM - November 2024, University of Portsmouth

The PIM explored the challenges and tensions faced by practitioners  in designing effective and appropriate materials for English for Academic Purposes programmes. Challenges faced by materials designers include the tension between disciplinary authenticity of the content and accessibility not only to students, but also to tutors, some of whom may have to ‘switch gears’ from general EFL to EAP in a short period of time. Resolving tensions such as these requires a fine balance and careful decision making.

Presentation Slides:

PLENARY - Prof Nigel Harwood Challenges and tensions in materials design for English for Academic Purposes

Alison Leslie and Alex Cheleeger - We're all in this together

Debra Jones - Using student samples in insessional materials design

Dr Michelle Evans - Tensions and Challenges in Materials Design

Dr Milada Walkova - Use your own words Questioning EAP materials on paraphrasing

Dr Susie Cowley-Haselden - A spoonful of sugar – helping the theory into practice pre-sessional go down (well)

Ella Ballinger and Amy Aisha Brown - Fostering Digital Accessibility Awareness in EAP Materials Design A Collaborative Approach

Katherine High and Vicki Stevenson - Who do we think we are? Re-examining our core theories to develop In-sessional materials in collaboration with the School of Law

Kelly Webb Davies - AI4LA Creating AI EAP Materials from the Principle of Language Adjustment

Laura Richards - A Material Change How AI-powered Language Tools will could reconfigure priorities for EAP curriculum design

EAP for a more Sustainable World

PIM, March 2023, Oxford Brookes University

How can EAP contribute to teaching and learning for a fairer, fitter future?

 All EAP leaders and practitioners hold a unique position to sketch out the conceptual ground for sustainability education, as they set the scene for academic study in HE. Staples of EAP expertise such as scaffolded learning, reflective practice, communicative and collaborative learning, critical thinking skills and student-centred pedagogies are also key to teaching and learning for sustainability.

This PIM aimed to build on these EAP strengths and share complementary knowledge, resources and networking potential to enable educators from multiple disciplinary backgrounds to embed transformative sustainability education into any course, at any level.

Presentation Slides

Alex Runchman and Michael Thornton: Embedding UN Sustainable Development Goals into an EAP Curriculum 

Averil Bolster and Peter Levrai: Be the Change you want to see - Ways of practising for Teachers

David Nelson and Cathy d'Abreu: Appreciative Inquiry, the ESD Competency Workshop

Dr Alex Mifsud: Using Climate Education - Carbon Literacy Training (CLT) - to address Global Sustainability Challenges

Dr Graham van Wyk and Clare Stephens: A Foundation module in Tourism and Hospitality, reconfigured to embrace notions of Inclusivity, Decolonization and Sustainability

Dr Isabel Rimanoczy: What is the Sustainability Mindset and why does it matter in Higher Education? (Plenary)

Dr Mina Samangooei: Using the UN Sustainable Development Goals as a Framework for developing critical thinking

Jo Kukuczka: Evaluating Values

Kashmir Kaur: To include or not to include - Integrating Sustainability in the Mainstream Language Curriculum

Lisa Hale: Learning to do. Collaborative Learning - EAP meets ESD

Oxford Brookes University and IUT2 Grenoble: Our ongoing partnership

Owain Llewellyn: A Framework for the Future. Embedding ESD in a Pathways College

Peter Buckley: Things to consider when Incorporating Sustainability into your Professional Practice 

Prof Simon Kemp: Why Sustainability matters, and how Education can be the difference (Plenary)

Sasha Coutinho: Questioning Language, Power & Knowledges. Colonisation in Medical Knowledge Production and the impact on the Development and Acceptance of African Traditional Medicines

 

Watch selected videos from the PIM in this YouTube Playlist. 

Teacher Development: EAP CPD & Lesson ‘Observations’ / Planning in an Online World 

Document - Written by Carole MacDiarmid of English for Academic Study, University of Glasgow is a resource addressing the needs for CPD and developmental observations on online pre-sessional courses.

BALEAP Can Do Framework: Competency statements for international students (Master's level)

BALEAP Publication - About this resource: 

BALEAP has carried out research into the competencies required by students studying in UK universities at Master’s level. The results of this research are available as the BALEAP Can Do Framework.

The number of international students studying at universities in the UK continues to grow as does the number of courses designed to prepare them for their study, particularly at Master’s level. Expertise in EAP teaching and testing has also developed, but to date there has been a perceived lack of criteria describing student competencies which could underpin methodology, materials development and assessment. The publication of the Common European Framework of Reference provided a model of how such criteria might be gathered and organised. Subsequently, work has been carried out by the Centre for Research in English Language Learning and Assessment (CRELLA), University of Bedfordshire, contributing to the English Profile programme (see The English Profile Can Do project https://www.beds.ac.uk/crella/our-research/research-projects/ep/ and http://www.englishprofile.org/) and by the British Council and EAQUALS who, in partnership, have published the Core Inventory for General English including a section on competencies required for research at the CEFR C1 level.

The research project undertaken by BALEAP investigated the nature of student competencies from a different perspective – that of the lecturers who teach international students. A group of researchers interviewed lecturers from a range of universities and disciplines and analysed and collated their responses. These have been put together into a framework divided into the four skills of Writing, Speaking, Reading and Listening, further subdivided into categories that reflect the range of competencies that make up each skill (Academic Context; Academic Discourse; Discipline related; Practical Skills). Within these categories there are other subdivisions allowing the grouping together of competencies that relate to a specific aspect of a skill, such as ‘Dissertation or project writing’ within the category of Writing; ‘Group’ or ‘Individual’ competencies within Speaking; or ‘Language specific’ in all categories.

The list of competencies is entirely generated by what was identified by lecturers in extensive interviews and, as might be expected, the sections on the productive skills, Writing and Speaking, are much richer and more varied than those of the receptive skills of Reading and Listening, the latter, in particular. In many cases, but not all, the competencies are recognisable as objectives that would form part of any standard EAP syllabus. However, to ensure clarity and a measure of standardisation, a further column has been added to the framework, providing exemplification and ideas for development of competencies. The ideas are brief summaries of possible activities, but a further resource is under development which will consist of possible lesson plans. This will be added to gradually to build a much larger resource of teaching materials.

It is envisaged that the framework could be used as a reference document, acting as a basis for:

  • Developing curricula and syllabuses for EAP courses

  • Developing teaching materials for such courses

  • Providing a basis for assessment tasks (formative and summative)

  • Supporting teacher development, particularly where teachers are moving into EAP from General English teaching