{"id":1345,"date":"2016-07-13T08:49:03","date_gmt":"2016-07-13T07:49:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.reading.ac.uk\/engage-in-teaching-and-learning\/?p=1345"},"modified":"2019-10-04T15:32:05","modified_gmt":"2019-10-04T15:32:05","slug":"the-power-of-collaboration-reflections-on-st-andrews-eap-conference-by-bruce-howell-aaron-woodcock-isli","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/t-and-l-exchange\/2016\/07\/13\/the-power-of-collaboration-reflections-on-st-andrews-eap-conference-by-bruce-howell-aaron-woodcock-isli\/","title":{"rendered":"The Power of Collaboration:  Reflections on St Andrews EAP conference by Bruce Howell &amp; Aaron Woodcock (ISLI)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In February 2016, we presented at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.st-andrews.ac.uk\/elt\/eapconference\/\">a one-day English for Academic Purposes (EAP) conference<\/a> at St Andrews University, showcasing Reading\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.reading.ac.uk\/modules\/document.aspx?modP=CH3ENG&amp;modYR=1516\">\u2018English Language for Chemists\u2019 module<\/a>, a collaboration between the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.reading.ac.uk\/isli\/\">International Study &amp; Language Institute (ISLI)<\/a> and the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.reading.ac.uk\/chemistry\/\">Department of Chemistry<\/a>.\u00a0 As it turned out,\u00a0 collaboration between EAP and subject study departments, and its power to enhance teaching and learning (T&amp;L), was key thread running through all the presentations we saw that day.<\/p>\n<h1><strong>About the conference<\/strong><\/h1>\n<p>The conference is an annual event for professionals working in EAP in English language departments and units across the UK and further afield, who undertake activities similar to ISLI\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.reading.ac.uk\/ISLI\/pre-sessional\/islc-pre-sessional-introduction.aspx\">Pre-Sessional English (PSE)<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.reading.ac.uk\/ISLI\/academic-english-programme\/islc-in-sessional-introduction.aspx\">Academic English Programme (AEP)<\/a>. There are in fact a number of such conferences each year in the UK, and many attract participants from abroad. It is increasingly recognised that there is a need to support students whose first language is not English who arrive in the UK as a full time student, or (increasingly) as part of a Trans-National Education (TNE) programme. One question many leaders of T&amp;L are asking is how to incorporate EAP into existing degree teaching \u2013 should it be extra-curricular or should it be integrated into the degree itself? The conference theme attempted to tackle this challenge: <em>\u2018Finding the balance: language and content in EAP\u2019<\/em>, and thus provided an ideal opportunity for us to share ISLI\u2019s experience of collaborating with Chemistry.<\/p>\n<h1><strong>Our presentation: \u2018Designing a subject-specific EAP course for Chemists\u2019<\/strong><\/h1>\n<p>We outlined the content of the module, showing samples of teaching materials, and explained the story of the module\u2019s creation. We emphasised the central role collaboration had to play in the creation and running of the module: both <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reading.ac.uk\/about\/nuist.aspx\">collaboration<\/a> between the University of Reading and <a href=\"http:\/\/en.nuist.edu.cn\/\">Nanjing University of Information Science &amp; Technology (NUIST)<\/a>, and collaboration between ISLI and Chemistry. The latter in particular was central to delivering a module that teaches English that is both relevant and achievable. The collaboration ultimately won ISLI\/Chemistry a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reading.ac.uk\/cqsd\/AwardsandRecognition\/CollaborativeAwards\/cqsd-UniversityCollaborativeAwardsforOutstandingContributionstoTeachingandLearning.aspx\">University Collaborative Award for Outstanding Contributions to Teaching and Learning<\/a> (2014-2015).<\/p>\n<p>The \u2018English for Chemists\u2019 module (CH3ENG) was created for the 2014\/15 session onwards as a result of forward planning:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Chemistry staff members visiting NUIST and meeting Applied Chemistry students as well as their lecturers<\/li>\n<li>Chemistry staff members discussing any \u2018gap\u2019 of attainment likely when the 3+1 students arrive for Part 3 (thereby recognised that EAP support would be a necessary component)<\/li>\n<li>Chemistry working with ISLI to create 20 credits\u2019 worth of study designed uniquely for the NUIST\u00a0 students arriving for Part 3.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Two types of essential skill were identified as areas which would normally have been covered or developed during Parts 1 and 2:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><i><strong><em>language functions<\/em><\/strong><em>, such as explaining chemical reaction processes, clear pronunciation, effective speaking in groups in labs<\/em><\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><i><strong><em>important Chemistry skills<\/em><\/strong><em>, such as safety regulation awareness, Chemistry-specific IT, generic study skills.<\/em><\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The decision was therefore made to create two 10-credit modules, the former delivered by ISLI (CH3ENG), and the latter by Chemistry (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.reading.ac.uk\/modules\/document.aspx?modP=CH3NUI&amp;modYR=1516\">CH3NUI<\/a>), requiring further joint planning to take place, ensuring the modules complemented each other but did not overlap. An example of this would be \u2018avoiding plagiarism\u2019, which could equally be considered \u2018language\u2019 (ISLI) or \u2018general study skills\u2019 (Chemistry). In order to avoid repetition and retain a balance the \u2018avoiding plagiarism\u2019 objective was placed within the CH3NUI module. Close monitoring has taken place during the first 2 years, and gradual developments are ongoing, for example a greater emphasis on writing short examination-type responses will be given in CH3ENG.<\/p>\n<h1><strong>Presentations from other universities<\/strong><\/h1>\n<p>EAP taught on its own as a subject, as in most Pre-Sessional English courses, usually results in a \u2018generic\u2019 form of English teaching, i.e. activities which require academic skills such as structuring writing, using references, presenting clearly, and contributing to seminar discussion. Topics and formats tend to be closer to social science(s) than pure sciences because of the likelihood that the topic areas are \u2018common knowledge\u2019. Generic EAP would involve studying texts and writing essays on ethical business, education approaches, employment patterns, and the like.<\/p>\n<p>Contributions to the conference made it clear that \u2018imbedded\u2019 In-Sessional English is a fast-growing area of interest for many EAP professionals, and this conference gave an opportunity to share best practice in giving English language support to students learning specific subject areas. For instance, colleagues from the University of Manchester presented on two projects: a masters level \u2018Principles of Scientific Writing\u2019 for Chemistry, and the challenges of providing English language support for mathematicians. Colleagues from the University of Edinburgh posed interesting alternative views on to what extent Academic English lecturers can or should comment on the <em>content <\/em>of students\u2019 writing, and colleagues from the University of Leeds are launching a brand new <a href=\"http:\/\/www.leeds.ac.uk\/arts\/info\/125008\/english_language\/1378\/summer_courses\/4\">discipline-specific Pre-Sessional English programme<\/a>, which has involved close collaboration between the English language centre and subject departments across the university.<\/p>\n<p>Common sentiments expressed were:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>a) collaboration between English language and subject experts is vital<\/li>\n<li>b) a \u2018blinkered\u2019 subject focus is not enough (as with many professional roles these days): EAP lecturers need to have some interest in or knowledge of specific academic subjects, while subject lecturers need to have some interest in or knowledge of the language issues of international students<\/li>\n<li>c) teaching and learning leaders in UK universities often do recognise &#8211; though could perhaps recognise more &#8211; the importance of integrating language and study skills support into TNE programmes, rather than offering \u2018extra-curricular\u2019 opportunities<\/li>\n<li>d) ideally, staff in both EAP and subject departments should be involved in planning and delivery of certain modules, even at times \u2018team teaching\u2019 or \u2018team marking\u2019, though this clearly has resourcing implications (utilising PhD students as tutors can be a good solution).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h1><strong>Reflections and follow-up<\/strong><\/h1>\n<p>ISLI at Reading already has an expanding range of subject collaborations as part of the AEP programme, with an increasing number becoming credit-bearing. Food and Nutritional Sciences has a long-standing 2+2 arrangement with Henan University of Technology central to which is an embedded credit-bearing EAP module, while Reading has plans to expand its 3+1 provision with NUIST in other subject areas. This seems to be in step with other UK universities, and there will be more of such possibilities growing in future.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, ISLI are currently looking into developing a more subject-specific PSE programme, and will therefore be closely watching developments of the new subject-specific Pre-Sessional English programme at Leeds.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps the most significant expansion of this type of activity will be seen at the Malaysia campus, where students will benefit from carefully planned English language and study skills input both before and during their degree courses, and will feature <em>inter-campus<\/em> as well as <em>inter-departmental<\/em> collaboration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In February 2016, we presented at a one-day English for Academic Purposes (EAP) conference at St Andrews University, showcasing Reading\u2019s \u2018English Language for Chemists\u2019 module, a collaboration between the International Study &amp; Language Institute (ISLI) and the Department of Chemistry.\u00a0 As it turned out,\u00a0 collaboration between EAP and subject study departments, and its power to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":124,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[204],"tags":[555,231,44,557,484,485,486,424,487,474,488,550,489],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/t-and-l-exchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1345"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/t-and-l-exchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/t-and-l-exchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/t-and-l-exchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/124"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/t-and-l-exchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/t-and-l-exchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1345\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/t-and-l-exchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/t-and-l-exchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/t-and-l-exchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}