EGAP vs ESAP? exploring the EAP instructors' perceptions
According to Hyland (2006), one key issue in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) is related to the notion of specificity, which has been discussed in two approaches in EAP: ‘English for General Academic Purposes’ (EGAP) and ‘English for Specific Academic Purposes’ (ESAP). The knowledge of these two...
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| Format: | Proceeding Paper |
| Language: | en |
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Global Academic Excellence (M) Sdn Bhd
2020
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| Online Access: | http://irep.iium.edu.my/86708/1/5th_ICSHT_2020_Full%20version_V2_Proceeding_edited.pdf http://irep.iium.edu.my/86708/ https://submit.confbay.com/conf/ictem2 |
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| Summary: | According to Hyland (2006), one key issue in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) is related to the notion of specificity, which has been discussed in two approaches in EAP: ‘English for General Academic Purposes’ (EGAP) and ‘English for Specific Academic Purposes’ (ESAP). The knowledge of these two approaches is deemed important for EAP instructors, as it has been discussed by many EAP practitioners in the context of EAP course design and best approaches (e.g., Basturkmen, 2003 & 2006; Hutchinson & Waters, 1987; Jordan, 1997; Hyland, 2006; Spack, 1988; Widdowson, 1983). This study investigated EAP instructors’ perceptions of EGAP and ESAP approaches for an EAP writing course at a language centre. Using purposive sampling, 15 EAP instructors were interviewed. The interview data were analysed qualitatively using the thematic analysis. Initial responses from all instructors revealed that none of them knew about the two approaches at all. Their understanding of the differences between EGAP and ESAP is important to understand the kind of approach they believed was used in the academic writing course. More than half of the instructors perceived the EAP writing course as using EGAP as its approach, with some believed that the course should remain with this approach and some thought that the course should adopt the ESAP approach. The findings revealed that academic writing at the language centre has used the mainstream approach in EAP – the EGAP approach. In spite of its advantages, it is proposed that the EAP writing course should take initiatives to incorporate at least some concepts from other models or approaches, which are deemed appropriate to improve the pedagogical approaches in the course. |
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