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04:00-05:00 GMT

Getting organised: Helping low level EAP learners write coherent texts

with Craig Thaine

Low-level English for Academic Purposes (EAP) writing programmes often focus on language accuracy with a specific emphasis on sentence-level grammar. While this is important, experts agree that a core learning need for these students is producing coherent, well-organised texts. This webinar will show how the adoption of a lite version of a genre-based approach can help low-level EAP learners with simple text organization and consider the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in academic writing programmes. The presenter will share a range of practical ideas and teaching tips throughout the session.

10:00-11:00 GMT

Academic English has a past and a present – but what is its future?

with Chris Sowton

2024 is the 50th anniversary of the use of the term ‘EAP’ (English for Academic Purposes). In comparing EAP provision in 1974 vs 2024, clear threads and similarities can be seen – but if we look ahead to the next half-century, the nature of change is likely to be seismic and fundamental rather than gradual and evolutionary. Hard as it is to imagine the EAP landscape in 2074, this presentation will consider some of the core aspects of the field and speculate on what could happen – for example, the digital tools employed, the language(s) used, the way learning is assessed, how content is delivered, and how ‘the teacher’ is perceived.

20:00-21:00 GMT

Light a fire through personalizing and localizing content

with Alice Savage

This session introduces three major shifts currently upending English language teaching: generative artificial intelligence, culturally responsive teaching practices, and genre-based projects. The intersection of these three developments potentially offers teachers guidance and resources for creating personalized content that can complement traditional unit topics. The presentation then addresses the what and the how of creating these materials with examples of modules, texts, processes, and activities. 

04:00-5:00 GMT

A critical question for EAP: How does vocabulary grow?

with Averil Coxhead

Learners with larger vocabulary sizes are usually more proficient than those with smaller lexical treasure chests. This talk focuses on why a large vocabulary is needed for EAP (English for Academic Purposes), how vocabulary grows and what factors affect its growth. We will also look at how teachers and learners can work on growing a larger vocabulary for EAP.

10:00-11:00 GMT

A creative and – dare I say it...? – fun approach to building academic writing skills

with Greg Archer

Join Greg Archer as he explores a fresh, engaging approach to building academic writing skills. Find out how a ‘light touch’ method can be used alongside innovative classroom activities to raise students’ awareness of style, tone, and academic conventions. By incorporating techniques such as backtranslation and embracing the positive contributions of AI, students can analyze and rethink their academic language use, resulting in an intellectually stimulating and surprisingly enjoyable learning experience.

20:00-21:00 GMT

Thinking Locally, Writing Socially
 

with Colin Ward

It’s hard to prepare our students for the expectations of “good” academic writing without asking what their future teachers value.  In this talk, participants will hear the results of a study that compared the academic expectations of ESOL and non-ESOL faculty at a community college in the United States. The findings suggest a rethinking of 21st-century writing practices with lessons that prioritize localization, collaboration, and extensive reading. 

Averil Coxhead

Professor Averil Coxhead teaches undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Applied Linguistics in the School of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies, Victoria University of Wellington, Aotearoa/New Zealand. Her most recent books include Connecting corpora and language teaching (2022; Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press), Measuring the vocabulary size of native speakers (with Paul Nation; 2021; John Benjamins), English for vocational purposes (Routledge, 2020) and Reading for the academic world, a series of textbooks with Professor Paul Nation (2018, Seed Learning). Averil’s research interests include vocabulary for specific and academic purposes, corpora for language learning and approaches to teaching and learning vocabulary.

Greg Archer

Greg Archer is a Delta-qualified teacher and teacher trainer who has been involved in English Language Teaching since 2010. After moving to Cambridge in 2013, he worked at an international college there for eight years, at various times managing the English Language department, developing EAP and exam classes and teaching students whose ambition was to enter a UK/EMI university. He has written a number of coursebooks (and a wide range of study material) for Cambridge University Press & Assessment, and over the past decade has delivered talks, webinars training to teachers from all over the world.

Colin Ward

Colin Ward is a professor, materials writer and teacher trainer from Houston, Texas, USA. He received his MA in TESOL from the University of London and has published ELT materials with several publishers, including Cambridge University Press and Assessment. Colin has been a featured speaker at various local, national and international conferences and co-curates a successful ELT blog, EnglishEndeavors.org, where he shares his passion for bridging theory to practice.