A Snapshot of an Effective EAP Classroom in Higher Education

Teaching involves not only the ability to teach English courses but also understanding needs, expectations and culture of the classroom given that students may have different personality characteristics and backgrounds (Decker... [ view full abstract ]

Teaching involves not only the ability to teach English courses but also understanding needs, expectations and culture of the classroom given that students may have different personality characteristics and backgrounds (Decker & Rimm-Kaufman, 2008; Hyland & Hamp-Lyons, 2002). This longitudinal case study aimed to shed light into characteristics of a successful EAP classroom (i.e., learning words in different context in collaboration) of an effective EAP teacher (i.e., style of interaction and personality) (Zehm & Kottler, 1993) that led to 100% ‘success and satisfaction’ among preparatory programme students during consecutive six years. The data was collected through observation, written feedback and also interviews (n=33). Students assessed the English language learning process for fruitfulness with educational for: (i) English course content, (ii) learning and teaching process, (iii) interaction among EAP teacher and students, and (iv) personality of the EAP teacher that were supposed to have an effect on the students’ success in English preparatory programme.
During our presentation, in light of the literature, we will provide quotations from the EAP teacher and students’ written comments in the chain of evidence to make our research context alive.

References
Decker, L. E., & Rimm-Kaufman, S. E. (2008). Personality characteristics and teacher beliefs among pre-service teachers. Teacher Education Quarterly, 35(2), 45-64.
Hyland, K., & Hamp-Lyons, L. (2002). EAP: Issues and directions. Journal of English for academic purposes, 1(1), 1-12.
Zehm, S. J., & Kottler, J. A. (1993). On being a teacher: The human dimension. Corwin Press:Newbury.

This study aimed to investigate the characteristics of a successful, efficient EAP classroom with 100% ‘success and satisfaction’ among preparatory classroom students during consecutive six years. The data was collected... [ view full abstract ]

This study aimed to investigate the characteristics of a successful, efficient EAP classroom with 100% ‘success and satisfaction’ among preparatory classroom students during consecutive six years. The data was collected through observation and written feedback (n=33). Students assessed EAP course from content, process, interaction and personality of the EAP teacher.