EAP Essentials - A Teacher's Guide to Principles & Practice Book + CD - Tapa dura

"Up-to-date, comprehensive and practical, this book is a very useful resource for EAP novices and experienced teachers alike." Nadezhda Yakovchuk, University of Leicester "Combines current research on EAP practice with a very practical approach that clearly comes from experience: an excellent read for new EAP teachers. I wish I'd had this book before I started in EAP!" Karen Nicholls, Sheffield Hallam University "This book will surely become essential reading for both trainee and practising EAP teachers alike." Jane Brooks, Sussex University "The book by Alexander, Argent and Spencer is a substantial offering at over 370 pages + a CD of photocopiable classroom materials. Working with a Social/Genre tradition, the book focuses on a small number of EAP themes (reading, vocabulary, writing, listening and speaking, critical thinking, learner autonomy, and assessment). More importantly, from my perspective, the authors also devote three major chapters to helping their readers to gain the knowledge and skills they will need as EAP practitioners in developing an account of the 'Context of EAP' and then carrying out detailed 'Text analysis' as a starting point for 'Course design'. The 16-page Bibliography at the end of the book is comprehensive and up-to-date. The chapter devoted to writing instruction builds on the earlier reading and vocabulary chapters and offers a series of case studies and examples which will help teachers to integrate genre approaches and to adapt Process Approaches into their EAP writing courses. Starting with an overview of what is involved in becoming a writer in higher education (and at least touching on some of the themes which concern Writing in the Disciplines/Academic Literacies practitioners), the chapter goes on to consider some of the challenges involved in writing from data, integrating sources, and developing a teaching programme that will help students to meet some of the challenges of disciplinary writing. Given my earlier comments on the tendency for teachers working in Social/Genre traditions to need to develop their own materials, the two books in this section have the potential to make a valuable contribution to the professional development of this community of practice. While McCarter and Jakes will be of interest to those approaching EAP for the first time or working on course book-based teaching introductory programmes, I feel that EAP Essentials by Alexander et al. will be more useful for those who are facing the challenge of developing their own EAP courses." ELTJ Review, Volume 63/4, October 2009 "EAP (English for Academic Purposes) is a field that has exploded in recent years: not only are overseas students flooding into universities in the English-speaking world, but many higher education courses are now being taught in English in countries where English is a second language for both teachers and students. For teachers who find themselves catapulted into devising and running such international courses, this book could be a godsend. Not only have the three authors combed the relevant research literature, but since 2002 they have run EAP teacher development courses at Heriot-Watt University and have harvested valuable material from conversations with the participants. This has enabled them 'to bridge the gap between theory and classroom practice' - and to use the courses as a laboratory in which to test materials and find out what works. Their own experiences over many years have also allowed them to pinpoint situations where teaching and learning can go wrong. The book presents major aspects of EAP, using well-chosen text extracts, questionnaires, discussions and case studies to stimulate reflection on and awareness of key issues. Chapter 1, 'The Context of EAP' (academic purposes and expectations), for instance, begins by differentiating ELT from EAP; probes the nature of teaching and learning at a university; continues with a fascinating discussion of the nature of the 'academic tribe' and how to join it ('the hidden curriculum'); suggests the most practical ways of handling the EAP learning process; delves into student and teacher expectations - and much more. Subsequent chapters cover text analysis, course design, reading, vocabulary, writing, listening and speaking, critical thinking, student autonomy and assessment. Clearly, this book isn't just about language: it explores the strategies, thinking, skills and attitudes that underpin the academic project - and how to convey these to the student. The accompanying CD, which contains photocopiable classroom materials, is a vital component in all this: it takes us from discussion to experience, with a wealth of tasks, exercises and tools to enable the student to master the language and thinking necessary for academic success. One niggle: Clarity. 'Academic writing should be transparent, like a pane of glass, so that ideas can be clearly seen without the language intruding.' How true! Yet the authors rather reverently present nominalisation ('noun phrases') pre-modification and the passive as essential components of academic writing. True - up to a point; but used to excess, these elements lead to obscurity. John Kirkman's Good Style: Writing for Science and Technology would be a useful corrective here. All in all, though: indispensible." Charles Rankin, Warnford, UK for English Teaching Professional, Issue 64, September 2009 "One of the must-haves of an English teacher is glimpses of knowledge from different fields, such as art, music, sports, psychology, and world issues. An EAP instructor requires more specialised knowledge and skills to present it within an academic approach. That situation can create anxiety.Three EAP instructors and teacher trainers from Heriot-Watt University revealed this self-confidence problem and have produced this guidebook to help resolve it. The product of their reflective work comprises ten chapters, each dealing with a specific domain of EAP instruction, such as course design, text analysis, critical thinking, student autonomy, assessment and the four essential skills. Whereas the introductory chapter acquaints readers with the basics of academia, the most lengthy section belongs to 'Text analysis' (2) and 'Critical thinking' (8) as they are considered key elements of academic thought. The proposed framework to equip students with these skills is to exploit one text in detail rather than deal with a variety of texts. So, teachers are encouraged to assess the linguistic aspects of texts when selecting them for class use. The prerequisite of this skill is 'teacher language awareness', which has been brought into the limelight in recent years. This concept incorporates teachers' knowledge about language, knowledge of language and consideration of the learners' perspective. Indirectly, EAP Essentials encourages both teachers and learners to adopt this approach. A particular strength of the book is that each chapter is supplemented by case studies. Teacher trainers may discuss these studies in their training sessions. The EAP syllabus itself may be supplemented by the in-class discussion of the student case studies given. For readers willing to expand on the given information, further reading lists of leading research titles are also provided at the end of each chapter. The accompanying 'Classroom materials CD' includes 47 trialled activities, usually in the form of awareness-raising tasks that range from identifying attitudes towards plagiarism, to text analysis tools. I highly recommend this title for both novice and experienced EAP instructors, teacher trainers and researchers who would like to gain insights into current EAP research and practice." Filiz Rizaoglu, Izmir Institute of Technology, Turkey for iatefl Voices, Issue 210 "Nowadays course books could consider an on-line element as an indispensible part of the format, while remaining practical, grounded, realistic and skills-based. Those laudable aims are achieved handsomely in EAP Essentials: A teacher's guide to principles and practice. As a 'how to' manual, EAP Essentials identifies some key concepts: course design, building specific skills for an academic context, and pathways toward student autonomy. What is especially encouraging in this book is its clear, focussed and thorough explication of the many skills required for the successful student at a tertiary level; even practitioners of study skills for native English speakers would find much of this material useful. Each chapter includes reflexive questions on relevant topics which require the reader to engage fully in the learning process and to develop his or her own skills base. The book includes a CD of classroom materials which are suitable for adaptation to a range of contexts. As a grounding in the skills needed to teach EAP, this book indeed covers the EAP Essentials." Jack Bowers, Australian National University for the Journal of Academic Language & Learning EAP Essentials is a comprehensive and pragmatic resource book for all teachers of English for Academic Purposes (EAP). The content is delivered in line with current learning methodologies, that is, it includes input sections followed by case study examples and tasks, many of which are reflective in nature, to involve the reader in a process of self-paced learning. The book has ten chapters: The context of EAP, Text analysis, Course design, Reading, Vocabulary, Writing, Listening and speaking, Critical thinking, Student autonomy, and Assessment. Most of these chapters are around thirty pages in length, making the text sufficiently comprehensive. In addition, there is an accompanying CD-ROM that contains photocopiable resources for classroom activities and teachers' notes. The authors say that the book is intended to be 'like working with an experienced EAP lecturer': you get practical advice and knowledge drawn from both research and experience (butwithout the camaraderie born of the daily grind). In many ways I think that the book achieves this aim. There are many insightful and pertinent observations made, for example, about dealing with subject-teachers in other departments and forming links across university faculties. I enjoyed reading (as opposed to just hearing) that individual departments' advice to students regarding their writing is often somewhat naive and unhelpful, e.g., 'writing is like anything else: it just requires hard work'. For second language learners embarking on university-level English-only courses for the first time, this type of advice is about as helpful as leaving a note on the door saying 'back in five minutes'. Luckily, this book offers much more practical solutions for teaching EAP to non-native speakers. The text analysis section (chapter 2) offers a good overview of aspects such as genre, register, theme-rheme, cohesion and general-specific text development. Of course, book length treatments are available on many of these aspects and the present text merely skims the surface. However, the numerous tasks for teachers and students (in the text and on the CD-ROM) mean that this text actually covers much more than the sum of words printed on its pages. The exercises provide considerable intellectual stimulation and focused reflection for practicing teachers. By reading and working through the tasks, teachers new to this area of English teaching will be able to learn about aspects of key importance (e.g., noun phrases, rhetorical structure, academic style), and also experience tasks designed for learners in the EAP context, thus providing useful models for designing their own activities. For more experienced practitioners, this text offers a thorough review and synthesis of central strands of EAP curricula and methodology, with the aforementioned practical observations of the authors being a very welcome addition. The suggested reading at the end of each chapter points the reader in the direction of many well-known books covering the different aspects of EAP. The book is aimed at practicing teachers wanting to develop their skills and knowledge, rather than academics reading for research. This is obvious from the lack of research articles in the suggested reading but also in the referencing style, which uses a numbered endnote system to avoid the inclusion of bulky citations. Although this system is not particularly helpful for chasing up references, the use of previous research helps to support the authors' points, rather than being based on subjective experience alone. The balance is just right: there is enough research and reading to follow up on information, but this is not overburdening for practitioners, who will appreciate the pragmatic tone and content of the text. A useful and innovative unit focuses on critical thinking (chapter 8). This is accompanied by a set of ten resource materials on the CD-ROM, making it a thorough and practical introduction to developing critical thinking in the EAP classroom. The authors advocate using authentic texts (and genres) in the classroom, and elucidate the benefits of this through a comparison of two teacher's approaches to a particular lesson. However, there is a section later (p.134-5) that discusses writing one's own texts for classroom use, again with an example case study. In sum, the text appears to agree with Swales (2009:5) in advocating the 'occasional use of instructor-written materials'. Personally, I always find it easier to find and adapt texts than to try to research and write up my own. If I have one gripe (and I do) it is that some of the texts and topics used in the materials in the CD-ROM are either not academic enough (e.g., washing dishes) or relevant only for humanities and social science students. The non-academic ones are justified as being useful for introducing new students to the concepts of EAP such as genre or register while still utilizing familiar genres (e.g., formal/informal letters or single paragraphs); this suggests that the intended audience is at a lower band of proficiency. More advanced learners will need more exposure to authentic texts in their target areas, and as soon as possible: for these learners it may be better to skip the formal/informal letters and jump straight into selected academic texts with non-academic texts for comparison. The second point is that science and engineering students are (again) disadvantaged and expected to read business case studies about hotels and chocolates, elementary nature vs. nurture arguments and mobile phone essays. Other 'popular' themes in EAP materials are the linguistic and education articles - an assumption of applied linguists seems to be that everyone else is interested in their subject because they are studying EAP, and as they have usually done research themselves, they use these as texts for teaching (this is even suggested as a source of materials, p.134-6). There is one useful activity for mathematical expressions and another in the critical thinking section that focuses on forming hypotheses, but all the others are purely humanities and social science topics. Overall though, this is a minor problem (but one which reflects a consistent trend in EAP materials writing). The text is very well-organised, well-written, practical, stimulating and resourceful. The text encourages reflective practices and gives support for teachers new to the area. The colour scheme is restricted to black and green on white, but skimping on presentation is fine when the contents ...

EAP Essentials: A teacher's guide to principles and practice With the increase in students joining academic English-language courses, the teaching of English for Academic Purposes is a rapidly expanding profession. There are, however, few specialist handbooks for the practising teacher in this field. EAP Essentials: A teacher's guide to principles and practice is grounded in the authors' extensive practical experience in the EAP classroom. It bridges the gap between the theory and practice of EAP teaching, by distilling the insights from recent research into ideas that can be applied in teaching and materials development. EAP Essentials builds confidence through a range of practical tasks and by providing case studies of real teachers and students. This enables the teacher to reflect on best practice and identify ways to develop their own teaching skills. EAP Essentials offers original and practical ideas appropriate to a wide variety of contexts. The accompanying free CD also provides a large number of well-trialled materials that can be copied for use within the classroom. The book contains ten chapters, each one underpinned by up-to-date research, and backed up with a list of recommended further reading. Key Features * The latest research adapted for classroom use * Practical approach allows teachers immediate engagement with EAP materials * Real case studies document classroom experience of teachers and students * CD-ROM includes original ideas and well-trialled materials for teaching in a variety of contexts * Written by practising EAP trainers from Heriot-Watt University