EAP

Abstract

EAP is a discipline that is famously needs-driven, centrally focused on meeting the needs of students seeking to study or undertake research in English-medium university contexts. However, a significant lacuna in the theoretical and research literature of the field is a comprehensive understanding of practitioner need, specifically in relation to the knowledge base required both for EAP pedagogy and wider professional practice. In response to the questions posed for this symposium, this paper is a brief evaluation of the research streams that currently aim to inform the EAP practitioner knowledge base. My discussion is framed by a social realist theory of knowledge (Moore, 2013; Young, 2008, 2010). ‘Social realism’ distinguishes between knowledge and experience, theoretical and everyday knowledge, and it acknowledges that theoretical knowledge exists in particular domains or disciplines. As a basis for this brief review of the EAP practitioner knowledge base, I begin by defining the domain of EAP and proposing what I see as the overall goal of EAP courses.