Inter Campus Academic English A CASE STUDY

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Inter CampusAcademic EnglishA CASE STUDY

• Suzanne Healey
• The University of Greenwich

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BECOMING TEACHABLE

• A businessman went to a Zen master in search of
  enlightenment. He went impatiently, tapping his
  feet, looking at his watch. The master finally
  walked in and offered him a cup of tea. The man
  took the cup and looked at the old man
  critically he wanted wisdom, not tea. The master
  started to pour the tea, and he poured, and he
  pouredThe cup overflowed, spilling tea. The man
  jumped up, angry Whats the matter with you,
  old man?
• The master smiled Your mind is like that cup,
  already full. Only an empty mind can be taught.
  (1)

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OVERVIEW OF LANGUAGE LEARNING PURPOSES

• Mid XXth to READ
• Late XXth to GET BY on holiday or to communicate
  verbally
• Early XXIst for SPECIFIC PURPOSES
• CAN ONE LEARN a LANGUAGE WITHOUT FACE-TO-FACE
  CONTACT?

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1, 2, 3

• 3 Campuses
• 162 students
• 2 x 10 week terms
• 40/60 hours face-to-face
• 9 9 availability of LC Mon-Fri
• Unlimited email access

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DEFINITIONS

• EAP is a branch of English for Specific Purposes
• Linguistic and non-linguistic Study Skills

• INTERNATIONAL
• Not educated in English
• Includes EU and Erasmus students

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LEARNING COMMUNICATIONLANGUAGE TEACHING
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SKILLS

• SPEAKING
• WRITING
• GRAMMAR
• CRITICAL THINKING

• LISTENING
• READING
• ENGLISH FOR THE INTERNET AGE
• LEARNER INDEPENDENCE STUDY SKILLS
• (4)

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ENGLISH LANGUAGE SUPPORT

• Pre-sessional EAP courses
• In-sessional EAP courses
• How is student success determined?
• When are students ready to enter academic
  departments?
• Study by Jayanti Banerjee Dianne Wall of
  Lancaster University, UK (2)

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COURSE DESIGN

• Approach aims to meet the needs of particular
  learners
• Design is based on Research, tutors experience
  and theoretical models
• I keep six honest serving-men.
• (They taught me all I knew)
• Their names are What and Why and When
• And How and Where and Who Kipling (3)

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AIMS

• IMPROVE CULTURAL AWARENESS
• DEVELOP ACADEMIC LANGUAGE SKILLS

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OBJECTIVES

• BRIDGING FACE TO FACE TUTORING AND LANGUAGE
  CENTRE SESSIONS
• KEEPING STUDENTS MOTIVATION BETWEEN FACE TO FACE
  SESSIONS
• HELPING ACHIEVE CONTINUOUS PROGRESS

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C.A.L.L. INSTRUCTIONS (COMPUTER ASSISTED
LANGUAGE LEARNING)

• EXIT the main login menu
• TYPE IN THE LETTERS win
• PRESS RETURN
• DOUBLE CLICK the symbol WIDA student programme
• DOUBLE CLICK THE yellow folder
• DOUBLE CLICK ON demodata
• CHOOSE one of the activities.

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LOW-LEVEL TECHNOLOGY

• COURSE DETAILS AVAILABLE IN INFORMATION PACKS
• LANGUAGE CENTRE MAKES CDROMS, DVDs, VIDEO AUDIO
  CASSETTES AVAILABLE for pronunciation and fluency
  practice

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E-MAIL AND PAPER COMMUNICATION

• JUNE INDIVIDUAL STUDENTS REQUESTS FOR HELP
• END OF JUNE GENERAL E-MAIL TO ALL STAFF AND
  STUDENTS GIVING DETAILS OF CLASSES
• AUGUST PRINTING LEAFLETS
• SEPTEMBER international orientation and
  INDUCTION PROGRAMME talks

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SAMPLES forms of address

• To whom it may concern
• Respected mam
• Dear Madam/Sir
• Dear Miss/Mrs Healey/Healy
• Dear Suzanne/Susan/Suzane
• Good afternoon, Suzane
• Hello
• Hi/ Hi, Prof
• No form of address

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SAMPLE CLOSING LINES

• I am wating for your reply
• Regards/ (with) Kind regards/ Best regards
• Thanking you, yours faithfully
• Many thanks/ Thank you (for your cooperation)
• Thanks for the information
• Thank you so much/ very much
• I will be thankful to you
• Yours sincerely
• Cheers

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EVALUATION 1

• WEEK NUMBER
• 1 16
• 2 19
• 3 22
• 4 14
• 5 18
• 6 17
• 7 12
• 8 12
• 9 10
• 10 9

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EVALUATION 2

• LANGUAGE CENTRE ATTENDANCE
• SELF-CORRECTED EXERCISES
• HOMEWORK HANDED IN FOR MARKING
• INDIVIDUAL E-MAILS

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EVALUATION 3

• CAN WE CLAIM EFFECTIVE PRACTICE?
• ARE WE REACHING ENOUGH STUDENTS?
• ARE MOST NEEDY LEARNERS LEFT OUT?
• IS ACADEMIC ENGLISH TOO GENERAL?
• WHAT ARE ALTERNATIVES?

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E-PORTFOLIOS

• A COLLECTION OF AUTHENTIC AND DIVERSE EVIDENCE,
  DRAWN FROM A LARGER ARCHIVE, THAT REPRESENTS WHAT
  A PERSON HAS LEARNED OVER TIME..
• a_at_simongrant.org (April 2006)

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REFERENCES

• THE TOLTEC WAY Susan Gregg, St Martins Griffin
  New York 2000.
• JOURNAL OF ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC PURPOSES VOL5 No
  1, Elsevier 2006
• ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES Tom Hutchinson and
  Alan Waters, C.U.P.1987
• ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC PURPOSES EAP NOW! Kathy Cox
  and David Hill, Pearson Longman 2004
• HOW TO USE THE INTERNET IN ELT Dede Teeler with
  Peta Gray, Longman 2005