Should Undergraduate Students be Introduced to a Greater Range of Written Genres in EAP Courses? A Pilot Study from a Malaysian University

This study set out to determine whether the current EAP programme conducted at Universiti Malaysia Sabah introduces students to a sufficient range of written academic genres (e.g. experiment write ups, test reports, reflective writing) for them to be able to cope with the specific coursework demands of their undergraduate programmes. Focusing on the School of Science & Technology, the researcher investigated 10 science programmes and their syllabus requirements to establish the suitability of the writing formats and genres being currently taught in the EAP classroom. Questionnaires were distributed to the co- coordinators of each science subject programme. The study concludes that greater emphasis should be placed on science- specific genre writing and suggests that previously too much importance has been placed on teaching the components and the rhetorical moves associated with general academic essay types.