EAP Course in China

堯可 趙欣歆

【Abstract】The term English for Academic Purposes （EAP） was first put forward by Tim John in 1974 and was accepted and extensively used by British Council in 1975. EAP courses are worldwide adopted while in China EGP （English for General purpose） is still the prevailing course. As a result， facing the existed problems in general English teaching for Chinese English learners， scholars explore the revolution. This article mainly illustrates EAP content and discuss about how Chinese universities set the standards for their own EAP courses.

【Key words】EAP； Course development

【作者簡介】堯可（1993.06-）， 女，江西南昌人，東華理工大學(xué)，碩士研究生， 助教 ，TESOL；趙欣歆，中國民航大學(xué)。

1. Introduction

The publish of the journal English for Academic Purposes demonstrates that EAP became one of the two main branches of English for Specific Purposes （ESP） within wider field of language learning and teaching （ELT） （Hyland， 2006）. Another main branch of ESP is EOP （English for Occupational Purposes）. EAP refers to ‘teaching English with the aim of assisting learners study or research in that language （Hyland， 2006）. Meanwhile， EAP also divided into ESAP （English for Specific Academic Purpose） and EGAP （English for General Academic Purpose）. Not just theories， Tokyo University and Kyoto University arrange the first and second year in university for the study of EGAP and another two years for EGAP curriculum study. Universities in Hong Kong mainly require the EGAP courses （ Cai， 2012）. However， EAP courses are not widely accepted by Chinese universities. Instead， students learn English for general purpose （EGP）. This article will analyze from theoretical perspective towards the EAP course setting in China.

2. Differences between EGP and EAP

Differ from the English for general purpose （EGP）， EAP possess different principals and content.

EAP courses have some distinctive features. EAP courses are designed to meet the specific needs of highly-motivated students， courses are goal-driven rather than level-driven （Alexander， Argent， Spencer， 2008）. On the contrary， general English language teaching mainly focus on what level of language proficiency language learners should get.

Meanwhile， teaching materials and contents are related to the corresponding discipline of students. EAP courses emphasis on the English teaching aspects like vocabulary， grammar found in academic communication （Alexander， Argent， Spencer， 2008）. For example， teachers will choose a financial news report for listening training for students whose major are finance. Strevens （1988a） also mentioned that ‘EAP emphasizes on the language appropriate to those activities in syntax， lexis， discourse， semantic etc and analysis of the discourse. For example， in EAP courses for students in medical school， medical academic vocabulary will be taught. EAP course has different teaching priorities. The priority of the EAP course is that reading and writing skills are particularly emphasized compared to listening and speaking.

3. EAP Course

Many scholars research into the field of syllabus design like Jordan （1997）， Robinson （1991） and Nunan （1988）. Need analysis need to be used before the implement of EAP course.

Needs analysis. Before the design of the curriculum， it is essential to figure out the learning needs because learning needs play a decisive role in the syllabus design. Learning needs vary due to different learners. Correspondingly， needs analysis as a scientific method to collect data related to learning needs should be the starting step for course design. Needs analysis demonstrates the ‘present situation and ‘target situation of the learners （Dudley-Evans & St John， 1998）. Present situation refers to the present language level and needs while target situation means what skills learner need to acquire in the future study （Dudley-Evans & St John， 1998）.

By conducting needs analysis， objectives of the courses are deduced. EAP courses are constructed around the learning objectives. Richards （1992） explains that needs analysis focus on two aspects， namely， determining and arranging the needs according to priorities. EAP needs analysis considers subjective needs from students like what they want to learn from the class and objective needs like proficiency level required by universities and sponsor. Usually， needs analysis is performed by teachers or researcher. Various techniques can be adopted for data collection. Jordan （1997） summarized 14 methods. By analyzing the data collected， all the learning needs can sequence according to the extent of significance and a balance will be stroke between subjective and objective needs.

4. Chinese EAP course

College English is a compulsory course in Chinese universities， students spend two years on the English study for general purpose （EGP）. College English curriculum has been developed for decades but the study efficiency is questioned by many scholars （Dai，2001； Cai，2013）. Scholars learn from universities in Hong Kong and Taiwan about the course setting and explore the possibility of EAP course in Chinese universities. After the collaboration of Chinese scholars， A Framework of Reference for EFL Teaching at Tertiary Level in Shanghai is carried out in 2012. This is the very first draft for EAP course in China. In this part， the article will discuss the necessity of EAP course and the development of EAP course in China.

4.1 Necessity of EAP course

Chinese scholars have argued about the adoption of EGP or EAP in tertiary education （Wen， 2014）. Several perspectives will be used to demonstrate that EAP course is needed under the current circumstances.

College English is one fundamental course which occupies 8-10 credits and more than 160 academic hours. And its the unstoppable tendency to shorten the study time on College English by the Education Ministry. Reasons behind this tendency reveal the necessity of EAP course. One reason is the time students spend doesnt match learning outcome. According to Suns investigation， among two years study， students just learn to acquire the certificate of CET-4 （College English Test） and CET-6. When they need to do their final dissertation， student still lack the ability to search the English reference and write the English essay. Therefore， students are not satisfied by this course setting. According to Long Yuns survey about students attitude towards to their English course， 54.5% of the students arent satisfied or just barely contented. Moreover， 61.8% of the students think their English abilities remain the same or even decline compared to their original level when they just enter the college. Because in their mind， the purpose of English course is to pass the CET-4 or CET-6 and some students can get the certificate during the first year. Then they are demotivated for the English learning （Cai， 2015）. Meanwhile， students should reach the CET-4 level after the high school study， then what is the point of college English course？ Eventually， college English courses are decreased in many universities.

Besides reasons mentioned above， EGP courses no longer meet the challenge of current circumstances. On the aspect of universities， EGP course doesnt fit the ‘Double Top instruction. On the one hand， more and more international students demand the lectures in English. Universities in Taiwan implement the transform from EGP to EAP due to this reason （Cai，2013）. Another aspect is to help students improve their academic ability to communicate globally. For many majors， many journals， books relating to the latest study are in English. In order to get access to the latest information， their academic reading ability is needed. Moreover， academic writing ability is the main reason hindering the publish of our students essays in foreign journals （Cai， 2015）.

4.2 EAP course in China

As scholars realize the importance of students academic competence， course reform is conducted in many universities. The first university in China which use EAP course to replace EGA is University of Nottingham Ningbo. As one Sino-foreign cooperative university， they adopt EAP course thoroughly. From the university website， its obvious that their course organization aims at the foster of students reading， writing， listening and oral report ability in academic contexts. In this way， prepare students for further study in their own field.

Moreover， top universities like Tsinghua University， Fudan University， CUPL （China University of Political Science and Law） （Cai， 2012）. These Universities all set EAP course as compulsory course. They differ in the teaching organization， Fudan University further divide EAP course based on the major like EAP （science and engineering）， EAP （literature and history）， EAP （medical science） etc. CUPL organizes courses into two levels： EAP course I and EAP course II. Tsinghua University organizes the course based on specific ability， University sets academic listening and speaking ability as one course and another course covers academic reading and writing ability.

While in Shanghai， the publish of A Framework of Reference for EFL Teaching at Tertiary Level in Shanghai aims to instruct the GAP reform of universities in Shanghai. According to this framework， it explicitly points out the development of students academic abilities through EGAP and then followed by ESAP courses to foster their academic knowledge in their major field. Not just these abilities but also develop their autonomy and critical-thinking way. Students should be able to carry out individual study， gather and analyze information to deal with their problems. By doing that， their inter-culture communication competence shall develop gradually.

For the specific curriculum setting， the framework points out three parts. Transitional EGP course is still needed for those students whose English ability is at lower level. students still take ordinary courses like comprehensive English， listening and reading course. Its selective and occupies 0-5% of the whole course credits. Once students are prepared， they can take the core course EGAP （55% of the whole course credits） and ESAP （30% of the whole course credits） which is also the compulsory course. Using various academic material like journals， conference report to enable students to start research of their major fields. The third part is elective course （10% of the whole course credits） including courses like western culture， critical thinking， cross-culture communication etc.

5. Conclusion

This article wants to let readers know better about EAP through the systematical explanation. Also， readers can have the distinction between EGP course and EAP course. Under the close connection in academic field， more and more universities realize the urgency to employ EAP course to enable students better prepare for the communication and career development.

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