EAP

Materials
• Cover both texts and tasks designed
for language learning purposes.
for teachers
EAP
materials supply examples of
language for teaching along
with explanations and tasks.
Types of
materials
1. commercial
2. self-developed
Authenticity
of materials
- what counts as “authentic”?
- how important is it to use
authentic materials in the
EAP classroom?
Authenticity
of the text
- refers to language ‘produced
by real speaker or writer for a
real audience and designed to
convey a real message’.
(Morrow, 1977,p.13)
Examples of
authentic texts
• Research article
• Video of a lecture given to master’s students
• Undergraduate essay
• Recording of student chat before a class
• Email apologizing for arriving late for a seminar
• Instructions for an examination
• Twitter feed from an academic conference
• Article from a science journal for non-specialists
• Blog post on a specialist subject by a well-known
and respected academic professor
 Why use authentic text?
There can be substantial differences in linguistic, pragmatic, and discoursal features between the
language of specially constructed texts and that used in examples of real academic discourse.

1. Without a basis in authentic texts, there

is a high risk that the materials will fail to
meet the real-world communicative needs
of the audience.
Critics: Authenticity alone does not
guarantee suitability for teaching purposes.
Texts need to be contextualized. Finding
appropriate authentic materials can be
extremely difficult and time-consuming.
Why use authentic text?
2. They are considered to be intrinsically
motivating.
Critics: Many authentic texts are neither
interesting nor engaging in themselves and
they are often too difficult for lower-level
learners.
Solution to arguments:
Vary the tasks
rather than the text.
Assign a less demanding task on a difficult text and vice
versa.
For example, a reading text that is beyond the vocabulary
level of students can be read for gist, encouraging the
students to guess the meaning of the unfamiliar words and
focus primarily on grasping the main points of the
argument.
Authenticity of the
learner, teacher and task
Learner and teacher
authenticity refer to the ability
of learners and teachers to
authenticate materials through
their cognitive and affective
engagement with them.
Authenticity of the
learner, teacher and task
An authentic task is one
which has a communicative
purpose, involving the learner
in a meaningful interaction
with the text and/or others in
the class.
Arguments for and against
EAP textbooks:
Anti-textbook:
the language taught in
textbooks does not reflect the
authentic language
of academic work
Arguments for and against
EAP textbooks:
Anti-textbook:
Textbooks are ‘officially
sanctioned knowledge’.
Arguments for and against
EAP textbooks:
Anti-textbook:
Textbook writers lack the
necessary theoretical and
practical background in
linguistics and pedagogy
Arguments for and against
EAP textbooks:
Anti-textbook:
Textbooks are commercial
products, more concerned
with marketing success than
with pedagogical validity.
Arguments for and against
EAP textbooks:
Pro-textbook:
Textbooks are the product of
extensive research and
consultation with teachers
and publishers.
Arguments for and against
EAP textbooks:
Pro-textbook:
Textbooks save time by easing
the burden of preparation for
teachers.
Arguments for and against
EAP textbooks:
Pro-textbook:
Textbooks provide a
systematic syllabus and
structure.
Stages of evaluating and
selecting published materials
1. Initial evaluation
quick reading of the
introduction, table of
contents, and publisher’s
description of the materials.
Stages of evaluating and
selecting published materials
1. Initial evaluation
descriptive
What are the materials like?
Evaluative
Are they suitable?
Stages of evaluating and
selecting published materials
2. In-depth evaluation.
involves a close analysis of
at least two units of the
materials.
Ways of adapting materials

1. Adding
2. Deleting
3. Modifying
4. Simplifying
5. Reordering
Teachers’ and learners’ attitudes
to and use of textbooks
Teachers saw their textbook in terms of
four different functions:

1. guidance (map)
2. support (walking stick)
3. resource(supermarket)
4. constraint (road block).
Stages of developing your
own materials
1. Decide general approach
2. Plan materials
3. Research the area
4. Construct the material
5. Pilot and evaluate the material
 Advantages and disadvantages
of writing your own materials
1. Producing your own materials ensures the
availability of suitable tasks to address the
specific needs of your students.
2. Tailor-made tasks can also be interesting,
motivating, and effective.
3. The process of materials writing itself can be
professionally rewarding.
4. Requires a huge investment of time and effort
involved in writing your own materials and the
possibility that they may not be of high quality.
Technology and materials
1. New technologies provide a
means of discovering and
accessing content
- podcasts from university websites, massive open
online courses (MOOCs), and other open-access
academic resources. – TED talk
 Technology and materials
2. New technologies provide
means of producing and
practising language.
- the opportunity for students to create, share and respond to
content has become more widespread through the use of
virtual learning environments (VLEs), email, social media, blogs
and other forms of computer-mediated communication (CMC).
- CALL (Computer-assisted language learning) is composed of student-
centred materials that allow learners to work on their own
- MALL (Mobile-assisted language learning)
 Profiles of practice
Saeed
My college isn’t well-resourced in terms of technology,
but almost all my students have smartphones. I used
to ask them not to use their phones in class, but then I
realized that Internet access was an advantage.
Sometimes I divide the class into groups and get each
group to choose a different website on the same topic.
They have to introduce their website to the other
groups and explain why they chose it. Then the class
chooses the best one. This helps them think about
what makes a website suitable for academic work.
 Profiles of practice
Mitsuko
I have just finished my PhD using corpus analysis
to investigate disciplinary differences in master’s
dissertations. I’ve got a job as an EAP instructor
at a university where I have the opportunity to
turn my research results into materials for my
class. It does take time, but the students really
appreciate the authentic texts and corpus results
I give them and I can re-use the materials next
year.
 Profiles of practice
Felicia
I teach at a university where I have a large group of
undergraduate engineering students (about 80). They
are lower intermediate level and not at all interested
in English. As I don’t know much about engineering, I
follow the textbook. The students seem to like this,
because they know what to expect. I am not
confident enough to create my own materials and I
don’t think it should be the job of the teacher.
Authors and publishers are specialists in that.
Profiles of practice

Patrice
I’ve taught EFL at a private school for about 10 years,
but I have also had to teach in a presessional EAP
course for the last two years To be honest, I can’t see
what all the fuss is about. For grammar, I just use the
general language materials that I’ve always used,
although for reading I sometimes take a scientific
report from the newspaper. There’s no point in
looking for authentic materials; they’ll get that from