‘S/He Holds the Trinity/UCLES Dip: Are They Ready to Teach EAP?’

Mark Krzanowski, University of Hertfordshire

Introduction

1. EAP: What is Missing in ELT Qualifications Framework

2. Questionnaire & Interviews: Questions & Interviewees

1 . To what extent did your Dip course (Trinity or DELTA) prepare you for EAP/ESP work?

2. What was missing?

3. What was the biggest ‘shock’ for you once you started teaching EAP?

4. DELTA courses (and to a certain extent, Trinity ones) devote a lot of time to TP (teaching practice) and professional/practical development in the classroom. Was the exposure you received sufficient to later manage in an EAP/ESP classroom?

5. Which useful things did you learn ‘on the job’ at Herts which were not covered during your Dip course (e.g. course/syllabus design or mats design)?

6. If either UCLES or BALEAP were to run a post (DELTA/Trinity) Diploma dip or cert in EAP/ESP, which aspects do you feel should be particularly covered?

7. Have your teaching philosophy and your ELT approaches, methods and techniques changed as a result of adding teaching EAP to your repertoire? If so, in what respect(s)?

8. Do you have any other useful comments in relation to the above?

3. Brief Review of Selected Answers to Questions & Points for Discussion

1 . To what extent did your Dip course (Trinity or DELTA) prepare you for EAP/ESP work?

• no unanimous agreement / opinions divided
• some claimed the Dip qual. did not prepare tutors for EAP work

‘EAP was mentioned on our Trinity Dip course, but not given any attention throughout the course. There was no coursework related to this. Also, the Dip did not cover anything geared towards university work’

• some thought it did:

‘The DELTA course taught me to think for myself, to experiment’, to be more independent as a practitioner. ‘Doing the DELTA assignments helped me refresh my academic skills’ and bridge certain gaps in my knowledge.

The DELTA course may certainly not be a qualification preparing for EAP work, but it certainly has an academic rigour to follow which later helps you in academic work. This does not necessarily apply to MAs in ELT or TESOL: some of them tend to be more “relaxed” in their approaches

• mixed views

‘The DELTA course did not prepare me for EAP/ESP work directly. However, I did my Dip in your place (i.e. in a university context) and this in itself was of enormous help’

Trinity Dip courses seem to overemphasise the importance of phonology

2. What was missing?

• not enough focus on EAP, ESP and ESOL: DELTA courses still remain very much EFLcentric
• DELTA courses encouraged materials adaptation and materials evaluation, but did not promote materials design
• no mention of or emphasis on how to deal with passive or reticent learners
• absence of broader focus on error correction: frameworks easy to identify with Europeans, but not with students from other cultures
• Dip courses certainly do not make trainers aware of the amount of preparation and marking (and photocopying!) involved in EAP/ESP work
• insufficient broader language and skills focus: teaching concentrated normally on listening, speaking, reading or a ‘systems’ lesson
• how to teach reading and writing at a higher (academic) level
• background knowledge to educational systems in different cultures
• major ELT/EFL examinations were dealt with, but there was no mention of the rationale behind IELTS and TOEFL
• no clear focus on teaching (almost) monolingual classes either in a UK context or abroad
• online/Internet learning
• observation of a wider range of ELT classes: either ‘live’ or on video (e.g. ESOL, EAP, ESP, ALS)
• lack of flexibility: the DELTA framework seems to be too rigid and too prescriptive (lesson plans and execution: not allowing for digressions or SS ‘taking the lead’, and unrealistic timing expectations)
• not enough input on students’ learning strategies

3. What was the biggest ‘shock’ for you once you started teaching EAP?

‘That the level of English of so many students can be so low!’

‘Most commercial EAP listening materials are such a ‘turn-off; they are so old-fashioned and unappealing’. The SS are clearly upset and surprised, and they don't understand why we use such materials.

‘What shocked me most is the contrast between a very challenging academic content of EAP courses and a very low level of English of EAP students’. Very often such students lack basic social/’survival’ skills, e.g. they don't know how to manage to get on a bus or do shopping in a supermarket

It is easier to manage the EFL experience in a small private EFL school. In the HE sector with increasingly large student numbers on EAP courses the learners become anonymous identities.

Affective and ‘hygiene’ factors: in EFL and in many private and FE colleges ‘learning’ takes place more effectively (e.g. learning facilities: duff. classrooms, libraries)

Insufficient in-house staff development in EAP compared to EFL; not enough informality and mutual support; not enough formal and informal EAP meetings:

‘We've got so much to learn informally from one another, but in many HE institutions we have little chance of being able to meet or speak regularly’

Insufficient ‘customer care’ package given the high tuition fees (the tutors are OK, but the ‘systems’...)

‘That the performance of the SS may be affected by their personal circumstances’ (e.g. having to work often 20 hours per week or having to adapt to a new environment)

Preparation, marking and photocopying

Frustration and feeling of inadequacy: ‘I would spend hours preparing a lesson for my EAP students, but they would not respond to it or appreciate it’. No one prepared me for this shock on a Dip course. I rarely experienced this teaching EFL.

‘EFL courses are often criticised for their linear approach. However, there's something to be said for an incremental approach’. I am not happy to see many EAP students often being ‘thrown in at a deep end’ and having to do academic tasks which are either beyond them or for which they are not ready yet

Syllabus negotiation is a big word in ELT. To what extent is there any s.n. on f/t pre-universiry courses?

That the needs of EAP home students are often so similar to those of overseas EAP SS

‘Schemes of work for large provisions taught by many tutors are useful, but it should be remembered that no two classes are ever the same’; ‘Often you need to depart - flexibility is the key’

‘DELTA courses inevitably made certain assumptions: the teaching preparation of a trainee is normally aimed at Europeans with a reasonably high level of literacy skills in their own language as well’

‘Group and pair work are not always appreciated by overseas students’

Promotion of learner independence and fostering learner autonomy may result in 55 being left to their own devices

That it's so difficult to get a full time job in EAP

Ts' expectations of EAP SS are very high: Ts need to be constantly reminded: ‘Can I do it myself?’ (e.g. presentation skills or summary writing)

In EFL students' cognitive levels and language levels/ability seem to be similar. This is not true of EAP SS

Some EAP students are often interested in one narrow area only, and may not be interested in EAP classes

4. Generally speaking NO

5. Which useful things did you learn ‘on the job’ at Herts which were not covered during your Dip course (e.g. course/syllabus design or mats design)?

• how to plan courses and prepare schemes of work
• how to assess presentation skills
• how to teach process writing and how to teach writing in academic contexts
• how to teach EAP in a complex organisation
• the importance of materials design
• to pay more attention to cultural differences and student expectations
• that classroom dynamics in EAP may be different to c.d. in EFL
• that a relatively large amount of T-T-T in EAP may often be ‘expected’ by learners themselves

6. If either UCLES or BALEAP were to run a post (DELTA/Trinity) Diploma dip or cert in EAP/ESP, which aspects do you feel should be particularly covered)?

• TP (Teaching Practice): supervised in EAP/ESP contexts
• identifying teaching approaches and practices which are different from established EFL methodologies
• approaches to error correction when dealing with non-European languages
• teaching low-level monolingual classes
• course planning and design
• preparation of schemes of work and individualised programmes of study
• materials design, e.g. reading & writing mats preparation, preparing lecturettes, using academic periodicals and quality newspapers for classroom use
• academic traditions in other cultures (particularly with regard to writing, but also other areas, e.g. presentation skills) plus relevant background knowledge
• detailed review of major EAP coursebooks and publications
• coverage of established and new EAP/ESP examinations (IELTS, TOEFL, ELSA); EAP-driven components of CAL exams
• how to motivate students for whom English is a bridge to further specialist study
• teaching/training teachers how to deliver effective presentations
• how to give oral and written feedback to EAP students
• how to conduct small seminars and one-to-one tutorials
• getting ongoing feedback from students and monitoring levels of students’ satisfaction in addition to institutional student feedback questionnaires
• maintaining supportive contact with students outside the classroom (e.g. e-mail messages and electronic notice boards)
• different patterns of classroom interaction in EAP contexts
• assessment and testing in RAP: how it differs from EFL
• design of tailor-made examinations for EAP courses and maintaining congruence of standards over the years
• analysis of observed or videoed EAP classes
• principles of British academia: what is ‘cultural imperialism’ and what is universal
• approaches to teaching productive skills in LAP
• demystifying LAP myths and misconceptions (e.g. the predominance of the discrete skills approach; LAP: Ts can't be experts in every field; fear of EAP as sth difficult to get into)
• how to teach LAP to home students
• importance of levels of maturity for language acquisition and implications for teaching approaches and materials

7. Have your teaching philosophy and your ELT approaches, methods and techniques changed as a result of adding teaching LAP to your repertoire? so, in what respect(s)?

• unanimous response from tutors (‘Yes’)
• having wider awareness of teaching approaches in ELT
• being able to make ‘more informed’ choices
• enjoying the relative freedom and autonomy of a T in the LAP classroom (although ...)

8. Do you have any other useful comments in relation to the above?

Post-Dip EAP qualification - another expensive ‘hurdle’?

Money, time and accessibility considerations

You need a background in academic study yourself in order to understand what EAP SS need

DELTA & Trinity courses do seem to prefer a general English environment (DELTA or TESOL:

unintentional misnomers)

EAP could - if necessary - be covered as ‘alternative practices’; would course Ts normally have the expertise?

A post-Dip EAP training course should be a desirable ‘top-up’, but not an absolute requirement

EAP: offered these days more and more frequently in FE colleges (e.g. Southgate College or Westminster College) - the EAP market needs to make adjustments

4. Conclusions

Are they ready? NOT ALWAYS!

There is a need for a post-Dip EAP training course

Delivery:

• how?
• part of MA courses? and
• a free standing module (for candidates who do not wish or cannot afford to do an MA in ELT or TESOL)
• only in a university context/HE institution?

Question to consider:

EAP qualification: something obligatory or desirable for EAP practitioners? Interviewees

Final conclusion:

EAP is so diverse and in many respects different from EFL and ESOL that it deserves more prominence in ELT: a separate recognised qualification would raise the status of the EAP specialism.

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