David Read, the Academic Director for Technology Enhanced Learning at the University of Sheffield, introduces a brand new online conference for teachers of EAP.
On the 15th and 16th January 2015, Oxford University Press and the English Language Teaching Centre (ELTC) at the University of Sheffield are running a free online conference for teachers of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) with the theme of ‘The Cultures of EAP’. The idea behind the conference is to explore and celebrate the many differences in the way that EAP is taught and learnt around the world.
In setting up this conference, we wanted to give EAP teachers across the world a chance to come together and share knowledge and experiences of teaching in different contexts. When I looked around online, there seemed to be plenty of webinars and online conferences for EFL/ESL teachers, but almost nothing available for teachers of Academic English. There are some excellent organisations and communities out there, such as BALEAP in the UK and social networking groups such as the #EAPChat hashtag on Twitter or the Google+ TLEAP group, but no chances yet for a dedicated online conference.
In fact it was the TLEAP group on Google+ I turned to when looking for a suitable theme for this conference. Several contributors suggested the idea of the Cultures of EAP. What do we mean by this? Well, it’s an acknowledgement that EAP teaching and learning is not one thing, and can vary considerably from country to country, institution to institution and student to student.
For example, what differences are there in the students we teach? I teach at the University of Sheffield in the UK. Many of our students are postgraduate students from China and the Middle East planning to study a Masters or Phd, often in engineering, management or journalism. This heavily dictates the type of language work we do with them in class. Is that the same for other centres in the UK, especially those with students planning to study different subjects, such as humanities? Does that change the style and content of teaching? And what about other English-speaking countries such as the US, Canada and Australia, what dictates the nature of EAP in those countries? And how does this differ from teaching EAP in a student’s home country?
Another area might be student differences and challenges based on their first language or educational background. For example, what writing challenges do Chinese students face because of their L1 that students from other nationalities don’t? Is it easier for some students to give presentations because this is something that is common in their own country? How does a teacher deal with this in class?
We’d love to have a range of speakers from all across the world to give us a truly global perspective on how EAP is taught and learnt. Don’t worry if you haven’t presented online before, full help and training will be given. And even if you don’t want to present, you can just register to attend and make sure you get a spot on one of the numerous sessions that will be run over the two days. To submit a speaker proposal or to register for attendance, please go to this page on the University of Sheffield website.
