Exploring teacher beliefs in teaching EAP at low proficiency levels

Teaching English for Academic Purposes (EAP) requires teachers experienced in Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) to acquire additional skills, abilities and approaches. Beliefs about CLT teaching may not be appropriate for teaching EAP, especially to low level learners. Making teachers aware of their beliefs is the first step in helping them to change. This study explored the beliefs of two teachers as they piloted and evaluated a new coursebook for low level EAP, which is based on a functional syllabus and supports students to perform beyond their current level of competence. The teachers were interviewed about their experiences of using the coursebook and from these interviews, 23 pairs of contrasting belief statements were interpreted. Informed by the literature and the BALEAP Competency framework for Teachers of EAP, these statements were categorised as barriers to or success factors for successful EAP teaching. They were compiled into a reflective questionnaire, which was completed online by 124 teachers. The results highlighted two key aspects where CLT and EAP approaches differ: the description of the language system within which teachers frame their talk and the approach to scaffolding student performance.

► Teacher beliefs can create success factors or barriers for teaching low level EAP.
► Success factors: low level learners can study EAP and engage with difficult concepts.
► Barriers: grammar talk and scaffolding students to perform beyond their competence.