The decision to organise meetings on professional issues in English for Academic Purposes was taken at a BALEAP business meeting in June 1991 with the intention of providing a forum for those interested in this area of English language teaching to meet and exchange ideas . The first four Professional Interest Meetings (PIMs) took place between November 1991 and January 1993 and the sessions attracted interest, not only from among BALEAP members, but from an increasing number of English teachers both in universities and other institutions where EAP is taught.
As the mail list and attendance increased, so did the request for some kind of record of the meetings to be published. This is the one area which has proved most difficult to initiate. However, here is the first effort in that direction - a report of the three meetings held in 1994.
Not all of the presenters at these meetings chose to contribute to this report. However, all the speakers who participated are listed in the programmes for each meeting and could be contacted through their institution should you wish to find out more about their particular presentation. As editor of this report, I have tried to reflect, as accurately as I can, the substance and tenor of each of the conferences . Of course , the responsibility for any errors in this report is mine.
To those who have contributed, many thanks and a reminder to you, the reader, that they each hold the copyright to the work referred to in this report.
The three meetings in 1994 were:
Developing a Critical Approach to Reading in Academic Contexts held at The Institute for English Language Education, University of Lancaster on 26 February with Romy Clark as the coordinator.
The Analysis and Construction ofArguments in Written Academic Texts held at The English as a Foreign Language Unit, University of York on 1 1 June with Andy Curtis as the coordinator.
Spoken English in EAP Contexts held at The Centre for Applied Language Studies, University of Reading on 3 December with Clare Furneaux as the coordinator.
Grateful thanks are due to the coordinators at the three institutions who not only persuaded the speakers to participate and arranged the programme but handled all the vital practical details such as room bookings, catering and car parking! Their hard work resulted in three stimulating and informative meetings which received very positive feedback from those attending and left me, as the BALEAP PIMs organiser, with little to do but enjoy myself - which I did!
BALEAP’s organiser for these meetings is now Gail Langley of South Bank University and enquiries about future meetings should be directed to her at International Business & Languages, South Bank University, Borough Road, London SE1 OAA Telephone 0171 815 7719
Hilary Bool
November 1995