This project explores students' views on English for Specific Academic Purposes and identifies strengths and areas for improvement in the curriculum design and delivery of the module.
Department: Erasmus & Study Abroad Office
Supervised by: Laura Connolly
The ESAP (English for Specific Academic Purposes) modules have been designed to equip students with the lexical knowledge and communication skills that students need to learn their specific subject at university level. In addition, it provides students with the tools and techniques that students can use to develop their linguistic knowledge and competence throughout their university careers. Students from NUIST Reading Academy normally study these modules in Part 1 of their degree programme before they attend the University of Reading in their final year. Despite the clear aims of the course, students often struggle to see the benefits of developing their skills in this manner. There are currently NUIST Reading Academy students from different fields completing the final year of their degree here at the University of Reading. There is limited research reflecting students' attitudes to English for Specific Academic Purposes and what has been written varies considerably depending on the pedagogical approach adopted by various educational Institutions. This study would follow up the initial research that had been completed by a UROP project in June 2023.
1. Induction (approx. 4 hours) Update ethical approval for Interviewing purposes, familiarise themselves with interview procedure and writing Interview questions. 2. Interview NUIST Reading Academy students. 3. Analyse data. 4. Identify and highlight key findings for (a) ISLI (b) NUIST Reading Academy and (c) the University. 5. Present findings in a report.
• Good communication skills • Good IT Skills • Good written skills • Critical thinker • Analytical • Independent worker
The successful candidate will develop an understanding of how to generate and work with qualitative data. • By preparing appropriate interview questions • Conduct interviews • Code interview transcriptions • Analyse data • Present data in a suitable format.
ISLI and UoR
30-35 hours per week
Monday 10 June 2024 - Friday 19 July 2024
The deadline to apply for this project is 5pm on Friday 10th May 2024. To make an application, please go to the following link and complete the application form: https://forms.office.com/e/LDxskffW5H. Please remember the title of the project (listed at the top of the page) as you will need this to locate the project on the application form.