EAP & ESP

MAKING ACADEMIC ENGLISH DISCIPLINE-SPECIFIC.

Christopher GrahamGarnet Education, UK

What is EAP ?

........ and what should an EAP course cover ?

Let’s take a traditional skills-based approach.

ListeningSpeakingReadingWriting 

So what are the sub-skills for each of these ?

Listening

Preparing for a lecture

Predicting lecture content

Understanding lecture organisation

Choosing the best form of notes

Making notes

Listening 2

Signpost language

Symbols and abbreviations in note taking

Understanding speaker emphasis

Recognising digressions

Recognising a stance

Speaking

Speaking from notes

Reporting research findings

Formulating questions Formal academic presentation skills

Speaking 2

Seminar skills:

Asking for clarification

Responding to requests for clarification

Referring to other people’s work in seminars

Building an argument in a seminar

Agreeing and disagreeing

Reading

Using ‘internal’ questions to focus on contentUsing topic sentencesIdentifying topic development Using the internetUsing internet search results

Reading 2

Finding key information in complex sentences

Identifying confidence or tentativeness

Inferring implicit ideas

Understanding linkage in a text

Writing

Writing topic sentences

Summarising a text

Reporting findings from other sources

Avoiding plagiarism

Writing complex sentences

Paraphrasing

Expanding notes into sentences

Writing 2

Different types of essays – descriptive/analytical/comparison/evaluation/argument

Using direct quotationsCompiling bibliographies and references Writing essay plansWriting essaysDirect quotation vs. paraphraseIncorporating quotations Writing research reports

A few observations and questions

Most of the above have sub skills sets too.

These are general EAP skills of course, so how can we make them discipline-specific ?

Vocabulary

The (relatively) easy one. AcademicSemi-technicalTechnical.

The Context

All sample texts, recordings, practice situations can be made discipline-specific.

The Skills

ListeningSpeakingReadingWriting

Listening

The amount of lecture content in a typical programme. In other words is the course more lecture or seminar led ?

 The content – for example is the focus on statistical data or more on ideas ?

 Is the listening process more or less interactive ? What visual support might be used in lectures ? Is there generally pre or post lecture reading ? Is lecturer stance more or less of an issue ?

Speaking

What is the most common format ? Seminar, presentation, thesis defence, questioning within lectures etc.

 Are there any discipline-specific conventions or formalities in for example group discussions ?

 What is the general style of the spoken English ? Is it reporting, analytical, creative, challenging etc.

How are academic presentations perceived and managed ? Think about length, structure, question policy, the level of challenge.

Reading

How much reading is there ?What is read ? Papers, books, websites,

manuals, journals etcHow quickly ?What discipline-specific content is there e.g.

statistical data, complex philosophical arguments or case studies?

What level of comprehension is needed/what other conceptual reinforcement is there ?

Writing

How much writing is there ?What is written e.g. theses, essays, lab reports,

lit. crit. etc.What discipline-specific linguistic content is

there ? The passive for lab reports for example.

What stylistic issues are there ? Such as discursive or descriptive text ?

How critical is accuracy ?

A word about Garnet.

The background

The books

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