Introduction to Part II

Summary

This second part of the book provides readers with an overview of a representative selection of the numerous issues and research methodologies that are involved in curriculum design and the teaching of EAP as an international discipline. Broadly speaking, this part represents a model of the EAP curriculum and aims to describe and review the wide range of approaches to EAP syllabus design and to the teaching of EAP from the viewpoint of both practitioners and researchers. The aim is to highlight the various key issues in the field of EAP curriculum design and delivery and to provide case studies of the ways these issues can be researched.

This part falls naturally into two sections – the first covers curriculum design per se, and the second methodologies for the teaching of the different skills needed by the EAP student. The majority of the fourteen original chapters in Part II present empirical research from one EAP situation and describe the pedagogical and research implications of the findings. Topics covered include the following: needs analysis; course design and syllabus renewal; language and subject specialist team teaching; the place of grammar in content-based instruction; language learning strategies; student assessment; separate chapters on the teaching of reading, speaking, listening, writing, vocabulary, study skills; and finally, learner autonomy. The collection represents a variety of research methodologies including discourse analysis, ethnography, experimental research, survey research and action research. The geographical scope of the contributions is wide, reflecting the world scope of EAP today.