Teachers' practices in EAP writing instruction: Use of models and modeling

This paper presents findings from an exploratory study into the practices of teachers of EAP writing. Its aim was to learn about how writing instruction is organised, the kinds of instructional strategies teachers employ, and how they account for their choices. Data were collected from seven experienced practitioners in five tertiary institutions over 10–12 class hours through observations supported by post-lesson interviews and analysis of teaching materials and course documents. Findings revealed repeated use of a number of instructional strategies that can be termed “modeling”. Teachers presented flawed or exemplary text products for analysis and discussion, focused on the processes involved in creating a particular text by demonstrating and discussing cognitive processes with the class, led whole-class collaborations that produced jointly constructed texts, and facilitated cooperative pair or group composing and editing activities. Their practices blended textual, cognitive, and interactional components in order to advance students' skill across a range of academic text types. The study highlights the importance and value of explicit instructional conversations and social interactions that blend planned and responsive teaching to generate learning opportunities in the L2 writing classroom. Possibilities for further investigations in this under-researched area are suggested.