Language Centres at a Crossroads

The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London, has been running introductory courses in good practice in EAP teaching for a number of years. In 2013, a group of participants from across the world and reflecting a wide range of experience formed the cohort for the summer programme of that year. Seven years on and these same participants come together again to reflect on what they were doing at the time that they joined the course and how their teaching experiences have changed or developed since they were participants in the “Introduction to EAP” course. Each teacher represents a different country and a different viewpoint of EAP teaching based upon their professional role and the cohorts of students they work with. The round table will focus on the EAP successes and challenges they have faced so far with each providing a personal perspective. In the discussion, the group will reflect upon what they have learned, map the current EAP situation identifying opportunities and threats, discuss how what they have learnt will impact on their teaching in the years to come, consider what the implications are for EAP teaching in the future globally and how this may affect professional development needs of current and future EAP teachers.

Questions to be considered are:

• How have the students you teach/the field of EAP changed over the past seven years?
• Have your teaching methodologies changed during this time and if so how?
• What are the current threats and opportunities for EAP teachers?
• What are the future implications for EAP teachers, students and curriculum designers for the next seven years?
• What do you think future TEAP courses will need to teach their participants?
• What future opportunities for EAP teacher development would you like to see?

This discussion will provide a rare opportunity for EAP teachers both native and non-native representing countries across the globe to discuss their own personal experiences of teaching EAP. It will offer the chance to share good practice while trying to find solutions for some of the challenges facing EAP teachers and their students currently. It will end with a discussion of what may happen next in EAP teaching and curriculum development and will hope to make some suggestions for future CPD opportunities for EAP teachers globally.

Shrouk Abdelgafar has over ten years of adult teaching experience. She is an Ontario Certified Language Lead Teacher. She has held two positions at University College London in Qatar; writing and career services manager, and teaching fellow for the Diploma in Applied Research Methods. She has taught ESP, IELTS and EAP at Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Doha, Qatar and set up their first writing center and academic English program. Her experience in Ottawa is mostly as an EAP Instructor at Algonquin College, and she currently teaches both EAP and ESL at the Ottawa Catholic District School Board in Canada. Her research interests include techniques in teaching academic writing, student motivation and assessment strategies in mixed level classes.

Constanza Arriaga is an interpreter and translator and has been teaching English as a Foreign Language at university level for over fifteen years. She loves collaborating with other institutions and working on Internationalization at Home projects to help students have an international academic experience in a context where the opportunities to travel and study abroad are not very usual. She has been in charge of implementing an academic writing course for graduate students, professors and researchers to give them the tools to share their research with the world.

Tony Corballis is an EAP Teacher, the Head of TEAP courses at SOAS London and a coach in communication and leadership. His expertise is in the communication aspects of executive presence and leadership transition, in self-promotion, developing interview strategy and employability skills, and also in voice and speech development, speech writing and presentation skills.

Jan Gibbons has worked in the field of education for over thirty years working in museums and galleries, primary schools family learning and widening participation and has been involved in English language teaching on a full time basis for the last eight years. She is a freelance EAP tutor who has taught Pre sessional EAP at Durham, Warwick, Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores and Nottingham Trent universities. She has taught foundation year students at LJMU and has taught on the Academic English. In Sessional and International Year One programmes at Into University of Newcastle.

Once Sophie got into higher education, she never wanted to leave. She has been roaming corridors of tertiary institutions all over the world for the past 20 years either as a student, or a lecturer, and sometimes both. Her background is in psychology, linguistics and communication. Sophie is particularly interested in how to achieve successful communication between speakers of different cognitive abilities and language proficiencies, as well as its impact on language learning, and academic skills. She is currently working at APU-Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University in Japan as an English and French lecturer.

Libor Stepanek is Assistant Professor in English and Director of the Masaryk University Language Centre, Brno, Czech Republic. His international teaching experience and teacher training activities include diverse EAP soft skills, however, his main academic interest lies in creativity and Creative Approach to Language Teaching (CALT).