Job Discussion Forums

[eihpos]

Hi,

I'm starting a job teaching EAP soon and I've never done it before. I don't have a TEFL related MA either. I've taught exam prep and general ESL for a good while so I should be ok.. They wouldn't have offered me the job if they didn't think I could do it, I guess. That's what I'm telling myself anyway!

However, I'm still a bit nervous about it. Obviously, I have a good idea of what it involves and have read a few articles online. I was wondering if anyone can offer any advice or links?

[nomad soul]

For which country? What are the students' academic degree level (BA? Master's?) Anyway, you'll probably be using a syllabus which will guide you in what you need to teach. For now, check the university's website for a description of the courses and possible downloadable course materials.

[rtm]

[mmcmorrow]

There are a number of useful resources on the Teaching English site run by the British Council - just put 'EAP' 'Academic' 'University' 'Lecture' 'Essay' etc in and you'll get various lesson plans, activities and comments. For instance, one posting recommends this set of resources from Southampton University on how to prepare to study at a university in Britain. There are a lot of vocabulary resources for EAP built around the Academic Word List by Averil Coxhead, from Victoria University, Wellington, NZ. Finally, I have created a set of 'podcasts' giving listening and vocabulary practice for Uni level students. Enjoy!

Martin McMorrow, Massey University, New Zealand

[MsBlackcurrant]

Are you in the UK over the summer? I've noticed that there are a couple of short summer courses around on TEAP.

The School of Oriental and African Studies in London offers a two-week course in August:
http://www.soas.ac.uk/ifcels/eap/

Bell offers a two-week course in Cambridge in July:
https://www.bellenglish.com/Courses/Teacher/Development/ELTspecialisms/88362/Teaching-English-for-Academic-Purposes/2014-07-13/

The London School of Economics has a one week course in September:
http://www.lse.ac.uk/language/EnglishProgrammes/EnglishforTeachingPurposes/TEAP%20for%20Social%20Sciences.aspx

I don't know if these short courses are any good, but they're definitely expensive! I only know about them because I've been looking into teaching EFL at a university in the Middle East in a few years' time.

[mmcmorrow]

Another long-term option, if you are looking at learning more about teaching EAP, is the Cambridge Delta. EAP is one of the options you could choose for module 3.

I've posted a few times here and there about Delta - I have worked on the programme as a tutor and assessor.

Martin McMorrow, Massey University, New Zealand

[eihpos]

Thanks so much for the helpful replies. I would love to do one of those courses MsBlackcurrant, but I simply can't afford it and am not in London either. I'm checking out your links right now Martin, and they are really helpful. I would like to do EAP for the module 3, but I've just completed module one, so perhaps when I have some experience with it in this new job, I'll get started on that.
Thanks again!

[mmcmorrow]

Good luck with that. Another source of online video materials, mainly at elementary to intermediate levels, is BBC Skillswise. For example, this simple presentation on how to give presentations.

A few years ago, I featured a set of materials from BBC English on listening to lectures in my podcasts, together with a couple of others about academic English - you are welcome to take a look:

Listening to lectures 1
Listening to lectures 2
Listening to lectures 3
Listening to lectures 4
Academic reading skills
Academic English

Back then, the linked material was mainly audio. More recently, I tend to embed a video presentation from TED talks into the podcasts - though they've been more infrequent.

Martin McMorrow, Massey University, New Zealand