Job Discussion Forums

eihpos · Joined: 14 Dec 2008 Posts: 331

I've been looking at the better paid, joint venture university recruitment websites. I have a BA, (Unrelated) MA, TEFL and experience.I realise that my CV doesn't cut it at the moment, but I would like to gain some experience this year that will make me a more desirable applicant for these jobs in the next couple of years. I may also do a DELTA or MA but not until I've paid off the loan for the last MA!

I was looking at the requirements for Kaplan NCUK to get an idea, and EAP experience is listed as a must.

I am wondering where to get EAP experience? I have no problem getting offers from regular unis or language schools, but none provide EAP.

Advice would be great!

Dedicated · Joined: 18 May 2007 Posts: 972 Location: UK

eihpos,

If you are in the UK, apply for a pre-sessional course at a university for 8 or 5 weeks. There are loads of such jobs advertised on jobs.ac.uk and baleap.org.

krayola · Joined: 23 Jun 2009 Posts: 38

i was in the same position as yourself and the closest I found is where I work now, New Oriental. They have schools all across China. In that second tier of English schools with EF and Wall Street.

plenty of private IELTS, TOEFL and university students that want to improve their writing and academic reading. not ideal but not bad when you consider that they also have a General English course and a wide range of English Corner style classes.

it's been good for my teaching and I can now list EAP (admittedly outside of a university setting) on my resume as well as back it up with plenty of practical knowledge if ever needed to in an interview.

El Macho · Joined: 30 Jan 2006 Posts: 200

There are all different sorts of EAP teaching that you can do. Think about what level you're interested in teaching (high school? university? graduate?) and what skills (reading? writing? research?). Look at foundation year programs run by join ventures or AP/IB/A-level high school programs. If you were to teach English at that sort of institution, it would certainly count as "EAP".

You might want to read an EAP book to get a better idea of the field. In my MA course one of our textbooks for the EAP module was Jordan's English for Academic Purposes. I think it would be a good choice.

What is your MA in? You might also think about using EAP to work your way into CLIL, which could be more rewarding.

If you're interested in an entry-level EAP position in Beijing, pm me. It pays the typical China wage (5,000/month) for very few hours/week (9), but after two years there (and with similar qualifications to your own), I'm leaving for a job with great benefits paying 20k+/month.

A verifiable, successful track record of being an EAP teacher can be very, very valuable. Much more so, I think, if you're able to teach CLIL in a content area that's in demand.