English for Specific Academic Purposes: Proceedings of the 2009 BALEAP Conference

This volume consists of a selection of papers from the Biennial Conference of the British Association of Lecturers in English for Academic Purposes (BALEAP), held at the University of Reading in the Uk in 2009. The papers reflect various aspects of the conference theme, 'English for Specific Academic Purposes'. The three plenary papers each provide a differing research perspective on specificity, a notion described here by Ken Hyland as 'the most central concept in language teaching and discourse analysis today'. Within the conference papers, some writers consider specificity of language use within particular subject disciplines and text types; others describe working with subject tutors to develop teaching materials; a further group focuses on aspects of specificity within EAP assessment. The papers together provide an insightful picture of current issues relating to the teaching, learning and assessment of English for Specific Academic Purposes.

Contents

Introduction by Sian Etherington

Section 1: Plenary papers

• Discipline and divergence: evidence of specificity in EAP by Ken Hyland
• Swimming with the sharks: helping students in infested waters by Hilary Nesi
• Culture shock? Genre shock? by Christine B. Feak

Section 2: Specificity in language use

• Modal verbs in business case reports by Philip Nathan
• Specificity in clusters: profiling the discourse of the financial services industry in Hong Kong by David D. Qian and Yongyan Li
• The role of reusable phrases in postgraduate writing: multidimensional perspectives by Mary Davis and John Morley

Section 3: Specificity and course design

• Researching and implementing a pedagogical genre: the short answer by Benet Vincent and Mujde Sener Nordling
• Authenticity and complexity of task: still a role for ESAP? by Sarah Horrod
• Pre-Master's course design: what can we learn from assessment? by Andy Gillett and Angela Hammond

Section 4: Specificity and assessment

• Preparation for English-medium study = academic English test preparation? by Bruce Howell
• Towards guided learning: assessing the impact of Language Advisory Services by Dorothy Adams-Metaxopoulou and Phil Morris
• Managing assessed group projects in a UK foundation programme by Ann Smith and John Hall
• Lead role or supporting act? The status of computer-based testing in EAP Assessment by John Slaght
• Teacher! How can I improve my writing? by Jane Nolan and Elizabeth Poynter