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PG Certificate - Teaching English for Academic Purposes

    This is a short review of the Teaching English for Academic Purposes course at the University of Leicester. The course is a PGcert and takes nine months to complete. As somebody who is always interested in professional development and really just like to learn (I’m a bit of a geek, addicted to MOOCs and Khan Academy), I thought it would be a perfect way to develop new skills and explore an area of English language teaching I am not familiar with. I would like to give you a brief rundown of the modules and what to expect in regards of activities.

The course is a one year, part-time course aimed at existing or potential teachers of English for Academic Purposes (EAP). I found the course very difficult but extremely useful. The EAP classroom is very different from the conversation English classroom I am used to, if you don’t have any experience of EAP and you want to take this course you might want to familiarise yourself with the BALEAP framework. There is a brief foundation unit followed by four modules spread out over the year, each module is split into three units.
  • Module One
    • Academic Contexts: In this unit, we looked at higher education procedures and policies. The unit also gives a brief overview of EAP.
    • Disciplinary Differences: This unit introduced us to the different tasks students have to do and the different expectations across academic disciplines.
    • Academic Discourse: An important part of EAP is looking at the language used in different subjects and how EAP teachers can present the language to their students.

  • Module Two
    • Learning Experiences and Expectations: This was an interesting unit, it dealt with the challenges students face when they enter university.
    • Critical Thinking: As the course progressed it became obvious that the role of an EAP teacher is not to just teach language but also to develop the critical thinking skills of the students.
    • Student Autonomy: Similar to the critical thinking unit, this unit focusses on how the teacher can encourage students to take control of their own learning.

  • Module Three
    • EAP Syllabus in Context: This unit dealt with the creation of EAP syllabi. The relationship between syllabus and method was discussed.
    • Approaches to Texts: In this unit, we focussed on the different types of texts we can use in the EAP classroom and how we can exploit them for classroom use.
    • Programme Development: The unit deals with course evaluation and how to give effective feedback.

  • Module Four
    • Communicative Language Teaching in EAP: Module four starts to get into the real nitty-gritty of what is needed in the classroom, this unit looks at tutorial practice in the classroom.
    • Lesson Planning and Materials: This unit looks at materials we can use in the EAP classroom.
    • EAP Assessment: Feedback (rather than grades) is vitally important for EAP students, this unit helps in developing your own process for feedback.

There are three assignments in each module, the first assignment is a 750-word blog (20% of the module mark), which is posted to the course’s blackboard page. The second assignment is a 2,000 word written piece of work (50% of the module mark). The third assignment is a work-based portfolio (30% of the module mark), in which you reflect on the learning in the module. The work-based portfolio is an interesting twist on the assessment process, we use a website called Padlet, which allows us to upload different types of media and discuss their relevance to the course.

The support from the tutors is very good, during each module a student has a Skype tutorial with a tutor. This time is spent giving feedback on the rough draft of the assignment. My one concern, and it is quite a big is that I don’t think it is suited to somebody who has no experience of EAP, I believe it would be much more worthwhile to a teacher who has taught some EAP classes in the past. I would just like to add, why are some of the academic works in TESOL/EAP/ESP (call it what you will) so mind-numbingly boring and full of jargon? It would be nice to read some exciting and informative academic writing, it's almost as if the writer tries to use ten words when one will do.

Now for the £4,500 question ...

Is it worth it?

Short answer, yes.

Long answer, also yes. It is a lot of money, but I am sure that this qualification helped me get some lucrative EAP pre-sessional jobs at UK universities. So yes the cost is expensive, but if it gets you work on a pre-sessional course then it does pay for itself. Away from the murky world of money the course certainly helped me become a better teacher, without the course I wouldn't have been aware of BALEAP, which I recommend any teacher who is interested in EAP should join. It also opened up a whole new world of EAL teaching which I didn't know existed. If you have the money ... go for it.


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