Abstract:
Teaching English for Academic Purposes (EAP) requires specific qualifications on the part of teachers for which reconstruction of cognitions on EAP is a prerequisite. Previous studies have largely taken the quality of teachers' EAP cognitions for granted and few studies, if any, have sought to examine in-service teachers' tacitly-held cognitions on EAP. This study aimed to examine in-service teachers' cognitions on key EAP issues including EAP goals, distinction between EAP and English for General Purposes (EGP), and EAP teacher qualifications as well as roles. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and life-history narratives from nine EAP practitioners at a state university in Iran. Results showed that the teachers' cognitions were mainly incongruent with the EAP principles. A close relationship was also found among individual teachers' cognitions on different key issues. It is concluded that despite their past practical experience, in-service EAP teachers' cognitions might be limited and in need of reconstruction. The findings may promise some implications for EAP teacher education and research.
Machine summary:
EAP Teacher Cognition: A Qualitative Study of Iranian In-Service EAP Teachers' Cognitions1 Mahmood Reza Atai2 Esmat Babaii3 Behruz Lotfi Gaskaree*4 Received: 2017/04/25 | Revised: 2017/09/15 | Accepted: 2018/02/17 Abstract Teaching English for Academic Purposes (EAP) requires specific qualifi- cations on the part of teachers for which reconstruction of cognitions on EAP is a prerequisite.
This study aimed to examine in-service teachers' cognitions on key EAP issues in- cluding EAP goals, distinction between EAP and English for General Pur- poses (EGP), and EAP teacher qualifications as well as roles.
Introduction English for academic purposes (EAP), as a distinct area of English language teaching (ELT) requires teachers to assume distinctive status, identities and responsibilities (Campion, 2016; Hyland, 2006).
35); second, it is the first study which uses and integrates two data col- lection instruments of semi-structured interview and narrative inquiry; and finally, it promises practical implications for EAP teacher education.
EAP missions and goals Results showed that the participating teachers’ understandings of the EAP goals did not agree with the very mission of EAP which is giving students the oppor- tunity to professionalize into their desired communities through understanding and learning community-based communicative practices, discourse features, language uses and identities (Hyland, 2006 & 2015).
Example 19 …I think English teachers should take part in ESP in the field of humanities… (Fateh) Despite recognizing the significance of discourse features in EAP teaching, Arya took the sensitivity of content instructors for granted.