English for Academic Purposes (EAP) involves teaching students to use language appropriately for study. It is a branch of ESP (English for Specific Purposes) which has expanded together with the growing number of international students undertaking tertiary studies in English. 

As EAP has the broad aim of helping learners to study or research in English, it covers a wide range of academic communicative practice including:

• Pre-university, undergraduate and postgraduate teaching (from materials design to lectures and classroom activities)

• Classroom interactions (tutorials, feedback, seminar discussions etc.)

• Research genres (journal articles, conference papers, grant proposals etc.)

• Student writing (assignments, exams, dissertations etc.). 

EAP is an educational approach and a set of beliefs that is often contrasted with general English courses:
The starting point for EAP is the learner and their situation rather than the language; Secondly, many EAP courses focus more on reading and writing, whereas many general English language courses concentrate on speaking and listening; EAP courses tend to teach formal, academic genres rather than the conversational and social genres taught on general English courses.

According to Gillett and Wray (2006), EAP is a practical branch of ELT in which "the role of the EAP lecturer is to find out what the students need, what they have to do in their academic courses, and help them to do this better in the time available."

Needs analysis is the starting point of EAP course design and teaching. On the basis of this the EAP lecturer or course designer can specify course objectives, which lead to an assessment of the resources available and the use of the appropriate syllabus and methodology. Implementation of the syllabus then leads to an evaluation of the course in terms of its effectiveness.

Many EAP courses are pre-sessional ones, which are taken by students before they start their main academic studies. Some foundation courses are designed to prepare lower level students for entry to higher education. In-sessional courses take place whilst the students' are taking their main academic course. EAP practitioners today often teach study skills as part of course programmes and need to take into account differences in educational culture.

In the rest of this section you will find information about resources which can help you to develop as an EAP practitioner through reading articles and books, attending workshops and courses, joining Special Interest Groups and professional associations participating in discussion forums.


Reference
Gillett, A & Wray, L (2006) ‘EAP and Success' in Assessing the Effectiveness of EAP Programmes, BALEAP.