IFY EAP Teaching Guide 21-22

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IFYEAP003 2021/22
ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC

PURPOSES (EAP) –
TEACHER GUIDE
INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION YEAR (IFY)
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................... 2
Extended Learning Outcomes ............................................................................................................................. 3

Reading .............................................................................................................................................................................. 3
Writing ............................................................................................................................................................................... 8
Listening ........................................................................................................................................................................... 13
Speaking ........................................................................................................................................................................... 18
Equivalency ......................................................................................................................................................... 23
Level Descriptors ............................................................................................................................................... 23
Further Resources .............................................................................................................................................. 27
Appendix A - Exemplar Teaching Plan ............................................................................................................. 30
Appendix B – Coursework Assessment Guidance .......................................................................................... 56
© NCUK Ltd. 2021 1

INTRODUCTION
This teacher guide is designed to assist teachers in the delivery of NCUK’s IFY English for Academic
Purposes (EAP) syllabus.
In this guide you will find extended learning outcome tasks, general descriptors of student ability at each
grade level as well as an Exemplar Teaching Guide (Appendix A) and Assessment Guidance for Reading-
into-Writing (Appendix B).
The suggested teaching and learning activities provided as part of the extended learning outcomes and
exemplar teaching guide are given to provide teachers with ideas on how to support learners develop
academic literacies and successfully meet the requirements of the summative assessment. The tasks and
resources suggested are exactly that, a suggestion. The guide should not be seen as prescriptive or as a
self-contained course but as a resource that will help teachers to better understand the syllabus. The
suggested teaching activities should be supplemented by teachers using resources they have developed
themselves or from other available resources e.g. textbooks, magazines, newspapers, journals, websites
etc. Teachers are also encouraged to use local examples to develop learners understanding of concep ts
being taught.
Teachers should take every opportunity to develop learners’ skills of synthesis and evaluation as they
progress through the module, as these are the skills that they need to display with some consistency if
they are to be awarded higher level marks and top grades in the subject.
It is recommended that where more than one teacher is teaching the same group, that the teachers meet
regularly to review students’ progress and decide on how best to complement each other’s work.
The module is designed to be delivered with approximately 8 hours contact time per week. It is expected
that this contact time will be broken down appropriately to cover productive, receptive and exam skills in
addition to language and vocabulary.
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EXTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES
The tables below detail the learning outcomes for EAP alongside some of the skills which learners should
become familiar with to meet each particular outcome. For additional support, there are also some
accompanying teaching and learning tasks which could be used to facilitate development of those skills.
The list of skills and teaching and learning tasks is suggestive and not exhaustive.
Teaching should be based on an academic literacies approach which supports learning and language
development through integrated tasks which reflect the demands of study in English at an NCUK
University. While the learning outcomes are separated into individual ‘skills’ for ease of access, the tasks
which students are guided through in the classroom should draw upon multiple outcomes rather than focus
on each individually.
READING
READING
R1 - READ A RANGE OF EXTENDED, ACADEMIC, SUBJECT-RELATED TEXTS WITH SPEED AND
UNDERSTANDING
SKILLS: As part of this learning outcome
RECOMMENDED TEACHING AND LEARNING TASKS
students should learn how to:
 Model a think aloud strategy to demonstrate the type Gain confidence in moving from reading
of actions and thinking which takes place as reading is short texts word-by-word to reading
done. longer texts.
 Explain and model strategies such as;
Develop strategies for reading longer texts
• Prediction of content from title, headings,
using headings, figures and titles to predict
abstract and introduction and the confirmation
content and vocabulary.
or alteration of prediction while reading.
• Skimming to establish general meaning. Read with speed and not focus on
• Close reading and re-reading of challenging translating unknown words.
text.
• Use of an online dictionary to confirm meanings
of new and important vocabulary.
(Every text used in class for any purpose is an
opportunity to model a reading strategy)
 Encourage students to bring in texts from their subject
classes and use these to practice reading skills
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READING
R2 - ESTABLISH A SPECIFIC PURPOSE FOR READING A TEXT

 Use sample assignments and texts to identify a purpose Explore reading for learning and to
for reading. respond to assignment tasks.
 Model different types of reading strategies and ask
Explore reading to prepare for a seminar.
students to complete a chart to compare and contrast
the strategies. You could use a think aloud strategy to Explore reading to collect information and
do this. Reading strategies may include: data.
• Skimming texts for general meaning and to Explore reading to understand a concept.
locate relevant sections for close reading.
• Close detailed reading of sections using Explore reading to provide evidence,
dictionary to check challenging vocabulary. examples, definitions, explanations.
• Re-reading of sections based on new Explore reading to develop a personal
information as understanding is developed. stance.
• Recording of relevant and useful vocabulary.
Explore reading to locate evidence to
 Match different types of reading strategies to different
support a personal stance.
purposes.
Explore reading to understand an author’s
stance and argument.
READING
R3 - READ FOR GENERAL MEANING TO ASSESS RELEVANCE AND EVALUATE TEXT

 Practise using contextual clues to scan a text for Establish the need to read for general
relevance: contents page, introduction, abstract, understanding rather than detailed
headings, topic sentences, graphics and data and meaning.
conclusions.
Evaluate an academic text.
 Practice using several different texts to scan for
location of sections that will need detailed reading.
 Practice rejecting irrelevant texts where the purpose
for reading is not met and give a reason for rejection.
 Compare different texts on the same topic and discuss
reasons why or why not they are appropriate.
 Explore what makes a text appropriate for the purpose:
(content, type of publication, date, reliability).
 Explore why a text may not be appropriate. For
example;
• A lack of reliability due to type of publication
e.g. blog or wiki depending on what it is being
used for.
• The type of website: explain why .org and .ac
are generally more reliable than .com.
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READING
R4 - EMPLOY EFFECTIVE READING STRATEGIES TO UNDERSTAND DETAILED MEANING

 Model strategies for close reading using a read aloud Understand when it is important to read
protocol. closely for detailed meaning.
 Give students multiple opportunities to practise
Use prediction and contextual clues to
reading strategies with different short texts. These can
understand detailed meaning.
be actual subject texts or NCUK past Reading exam
paper texts. Search read to identify key sections of text
 Focus on grammatical structures which cause difficulty or key ideas.
such as relative and subordinate clauses. Ask students Re-read parts of text which are
to rewrite complex sentences as two or three simple challenging.
sentences.
 Ask students to recognise pronoun referents and Use word knowledge to decode texts.
identify the subject of clauses. Using grammatical knowledge to decode
 Ask students to notice and classify a range of discourse complex sentences and passages.
markers used in texts according to function (e.g.,
Understand the meaning and function of
introducing examples, contrasting, emphasising,
discourse markers.
indicating similarity, giving a result etc.)
 Use sentence level practice activities like identifying Understand the meaning and function of
what reference words refer to. cohesive devices.
READING
R5 - EMPLOY A RANGE OF CRITICAL READING STRATEGIES AND RESPOND CRITICALLY TO IDEAS
IN THE TEXT
 Explain the difference between fact and opinion, Distinguish fact from opinion.
analyse language used to identify fact and opinion and
Recognise an author’s stance.
identify both in texts.
 Present language used to show stance and ask students Distinguish key points and supporting
to identify this in multiple texts. evidence.
 Explain that critical voice includes evaluating, analysing Respond critically to ideas in the text.
and applying ideas and the synthesis of these ideas
from different sources.
 Explore the language of criticality:
• Using set phrases to achieve the functions listed
above.
• Using adjectives to evaluate ideas and author’s
positions.
• Using reporting verbs which show criticality
when referring to sources.
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READING
R6 - UNDERSTAND HOW ORGANISATION, STRUCTURE AND LANGUAGE ARE USED TO ACHIEVE
A SPECIFIC PURPOSE
 Ensure students understand a range of different Identify different functions in text. For
functions found in text by close reading examples of instance;
each. These functions could include:  Describing a process.
• Describing a process,  Comparing and contrasting.
• Comparing and contrasting,  Evaluating.
• Evaluating,  Explaining.
• Explaining,  Defining.
• Defining,  Presenting an argument.
• Presenting an argument,  Describing problems and solutions.
• Describing problems and solutions.
 Analyse each example to ensure understanding. This LO
can be combined with R4.
 Ask students to identify these functions in different
texts.
 Ask students to notice the language used to construct
/ produce the functions.
 Encourage students to recycle these functions (and the
language used to construct them) in their own written
work.
READING
R7 - FOLLOW THE ORGANISATION AND STRUCTURE OF AN ARGUMENT IN TEXTS

 Scaffold tasks to allow students to follow arguments Follow arguments and presentation of
through matching introductions with thesis statements ideas and information in short and long
and body paragraphs. texts through general-to-specific structure
 Ask students to complete graphic organisers of texts. and given-to-new structures.
Start with heavily supported graphic organisers and
move to students creating their own.
 Present students with a thesis statement and evidence
for an argument and ask them to produce a graphic
organiser/ plan of an essay.
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READING
R8 - MAKE EFFECTIVE NOTES AND DEMONSTRATE UNDERSTANDING AND ENGAGEMENT WITH
ACADEMIC TEXTS
 Use samples of annotations to demonstrate each of the Use a range of strategies to demonstrate
different strategies. engagement with long and short academic
 Ask students why annotations might be useful and how texts in response to a set task, including to;
they would use them in academic work.  Highlight relevant sections,
 Demonstrate how this work leads into academic  Highlight main ideas,
writing.  Summarise key sections in own
 Ask students to annotate increasingly complex and words,
lengthier texts.  Number lists of information,
 Make comments on or ask questions
of the text.
Use a range of different notetaking

strategies.
READING
R9 - UTILISE A RANGE OF STRATEGIES FOR DEALING WITH UNKNOWN WORDS

 Demonstrate and discuss how to move away from Understand when the meaning of an
reading word-by-word. Initially choose simple texts to unknown word is important to understand
demonstrate how meaning can still be constructed even the text.
when skimming over unfamiliar words.
Understand why Google Translate and
 Demonstrate that not all parts of a text need to be
other electronic translators are limited in
closely read and understood. Review R3 and R4 and
effectiveness.
reiterate that only key passages need to be understood
in detail. Use electronic dictionaries effectively to
 To reduce reliance on translation tools, introduce understand meaning, usage and
students to an online dictionary which you and your collocation of new vocabulary.
students can easily access. Record new and key vocabulary in a
 Demonstrate how to move beyond the first meaning of helpful manner.
a word in dictionary and explore how the word is used
in the context found. Recycle new vocabulary as often as
 Demonstrate how sample sentences in a dictionary and possible using vocabulary records.
common collocations can help students use the word
accurately in their spoken and written work.
 Present and explore a range of strategies for students
to record new vocabulary.
 Nominate two students each week to record new
vocabulary and share the records with peers.
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WRITING
WRITING
W1 - UNDERSTAND AND USE A RANGE OF RELEVANT SENTENCE STRUCTURES, CLAUSE TYPES,
MOODS, VOICES, AND TENSES
 Analyse texts to highlight grammatical choices. Gain confidence in recognising and making
 Provide practice in a range of grammar tasks. grammatical choices.
 Select reading texts which exemplify relevant
Write simple, compound, complex, and
grammatical structures.
compound-complex sentences.
 Analyse texts to recognise these structures.
 Exemplify how decisions about grammar are Distinguish between clauses and
determined by a writer’s knowledge, choice and sentences.
judgment and ask students to explain why a present Differentiate clause types, such as noun,
tense, complex sentence, passive or active voice was adverb, relative, and participle.
used.
Recognise and choose relevant moods
 Ask students to explain how meaning changes when
different grammatical choices are made. (e.g., indicative, declarative, etc.) and
voices (e.g., active and passive).
 Encourage students to bring in texts from their subject
classes and to analyse these. Control tenses.
 Encourage students to consult their vocabulary records
when writing and preparing to speak.
WRITING
W2 - UNDERSTAND PARAGRAPH AND ESSAY STRUCTURE TO ORGANISE WRITING EFFECTIVELY

 Analyse a range of paragraphs from textbooks and Identify a range of paragraph structures
authentic texts to highlight similarities and differences. (e.g., inductive, deductive, abductive,
 Practise writing a range of paragraphs, asking students length and organisation).
to explain choice of structure.
Understand the need for topic sentences
 Highlight the subtle relationship between cohesion and
(i.e. to provide the reader with a focus).
coherence in order to avoid collapsing one into the
other. Distinguish between cohesion and
 Provide opportunities for students to recognise coherence.
coherence and cohesion when reading so that they
become aware of the choices they can make as writers.
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WRITING
W3 - WRITE DIFFERENT TYPES OF ACADEMIC TEXTS

 Highlight that academic writing requirements and Recognise that there is a range of
purposes vary. There are case studies, reports, academic writing texts (or genres).
expository, cause-effect, comparison-contrast,
Identify the purpose of each genre.
argumentative, discussion essays, dissertations, theses,
subject-specific essays, literature reviews, lab reports, Develop confidence in writing some of
research proposal, blogs, research proposal, outlines, these genres.
reflections, slides, and so.
 Clarify what is expected of students for NCUK
assignments.
 Differentiate between generic advice (e.g. online and in
textbooks) and NCUK expectations.
 Practise writing a relevant range of academic writing.
WRITING
W4 - PLAN, DRAFT, WRITE, EDIT, PROOFREAD, AND RE-WRITE

 Provide as much opportunity as possible for students to Recognise that writing is a process.
write within non-high-stakes contexts.
Learn to understand and respond to
 Provide opportunities for feedback, feedforward, and
feedback on drafts.
revision.
 Provide both peer-to-peer feedback as well as teacher- Learn to plan an outline in preparation for
led feedback on drafts. writing.
 Introduce and follow a process approach to writing Distinguish between proofreading and
within class so that students become familiar with it. editing.
 Wikis and other online writing tools e.g. OneNote can
be used to develop draft-writing and provide Take ownership of texts by proofreading
collaborative feedback. them.
 Encourage students to proofread their writing for
superficial mistakes such as subject-verb agreement,
plurals and singulars, spelling, punctuation, formatting,
referencing (e.g. matching in-text items with list of
references).
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WRITING
W5 - USE DICTIONARIES, GRAMMAR REFERENCES, THESAURUSES, SPELL AND GRAMMAR
CHECKERS AS WELL AS TEACHER AND PEER FEEDBACK TO EDIT AND REDRAFT A DOCUMENT
 Link this Learning Outcome with W4 and R9. Recognise that writing is a process
 Share strategies on how resources like dictionaries,
Develop a range of strategies to create a
grammar references and thesauruses can be used.
finished product.
 Encourage students to share their resources and
strategies (including online tools). Draw on a range of resources.
 Guide students in learning to discriminate between
effective and non-effective strategies (e.g.
spellcheckers won’t distinguish between homophones
such as ‘won’ and ‘one’).
 Encourage the use of monolingual (English) dictionaries
to develop students’ lexical range.
WRITING
W6 - PARAPHRASE AND SYNTHESISE TEXTS TO SUPPORT ACADEMIC WRITING

 Model as much synthesising and paraphrasing as Develop a range of synonyms.
possible.
Develop a range of linking works to show
 Provide as much opportunity as possible for students to
relationships between ideas.
paraphrase and synthesise what they read.
 Highlight that the ability to paraphrase and synthesise Identify thematic links across texts.
is way of demonstrating understanding of source Recognise relationships between ideas.
material: this understanding can be demonstrated
through writing tasks, but in classroom practice, it can Build confidence in writing using your own
also be demonstrated by speaking, drawing, and words.
composing in range of multimodal ways.
 Make explicit the link between paraphrasing and
synthesising with W10 (avoiding plagiarism).
 Teach the language of linking words, create opportunity
to develop synonyms, practise a range of sentence
structures to develop students’ confidence in writing ‘in
their own words’
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WRITING
W7 - USE NOTES TO SUMMARISE ACCURATELY

 Encourage students to select texts which are relevant Extract main ideas.
to their interests and subject areas.
Identify supporting ideas.
 Provide opportunities for students to summarise for a
range of audiences (e.g., teacher, peers, siblings to Recognise exemplification and explanation
highlight that word choice and level of detail will be as being illustrative of a main idea.
different depending on the audience. Develop a range of effective annotation
 Model effective note-making and the transition to strategies.
prose summary writing.
 Highlight and exemplify effective paraphrasing at the Recognise that highlighting a text is not
note-making stage and show how this allows for a the same as notetaking.
summary to be written in ‘your own words’. Develop the habit of paraphrasing whilst
taking notes.
WRITING
W8 - DEVELOP AN ARGUMENT IN A TEXT

 Provide a range of examples of how writers develop Recognise that what counts as an
their argument. ‘argument’ varies across disciplines.
 Focus on the use of evidence, exemplification,
Learn to follow the task specification.
explanation, causal links, and support for claims.
 Highlight the importance of coherence in making the Answer the essay question.
steps of an argument clear to the reader. Provide evidence for claims.
 Practise language which signals argumentative prose
(e.g. this illustrates that; because of this; however; Focus on coherence.
similarly, etc.).
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WRITING
W9 - DEVELOP AN INFORMED CRITICAL AND REFLECTIVE VOICE/RESPONSE IN WRITTEN WORK

 Explain that academic writing involves simultaneously Recognise that ‘voice’ is important in
demonstrating an understanding of sources and the academic writing.
ability to make use of these sources to an answer an
Demonstrate understanding of source
essay question.
texts by evaluating and critiquing.
 Use a range of texts, exemplify how writers do this.
 Highlight the language needed to display a critical and
reflective ‘voice’, for example:
• Reporting verbs,
• Evaluative adjectives and adverbs,
• Modality,
• Speculations,
• Passive and active voice.
WRITING
W10 - CITE AND REFERENCE TEXTS CORRECTLY, UNDERSTAND PLAGIARISM AND HOW IT CAN
BE AVOIDED
 Model the skills of paraphrasing, synthesising, Acquire confidence and ability in
referencing and critical voice by providing exemplars to outcomes W1-10 to avoid plagiarism.
illustrate good practice or by demonstrating this
Learn to cite and reference correctly.
yourself.
 With consent, model student writing which exemplifies Learn to discriminate between software
good practice. tools which claim to detect plagiarism.
 Work with students in analysing plagiarism detection Recognise that plagiarism is a complex,
software reports (such as Turnitin) as part of their multifaceted phenomenon.
formative learning: in other words, use Turnitin reports
as developmental tools rather than for policing Understand that plagiarism is one example
misconduct. of the broader phenomenon of academic
 Highlight that academic misconduct refers to a broad misconduct.
range of malpractice, including the use of essay mills
and ghost-writers.
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LISTENING
LISTENING
L1 - UNDERSTAND HOW CONNECTED SPEECH DIFFERS FROM WRITTEN TEXT AND BE ABLE TO
EXTRACT MEANING FROM EXTENDED CONNECTED SPEECH
 Diagnose any difficulties students may have with Recognise features of connected speech
connected speech by dictating a short lecture. Students related to stress.
should write exactly what they hear. Afterwards,
Recognise features of connected speech
present a sample student dictation and the transcript of
related to rhythm.
lecture. Compare the two texts to identify differences.
Next diagnose the causes of the differences, e.g. weak Recognise features of connected speech
stress on syllables, changes to consonant sounds when related to intonation.
words are linked, (See https://www.eslbase.com/tefl- Restate the key ideas in a lecture.
a-z/connected-speech). Ask students to conduct the
same analysis with their own texts and make a list of
any problems encountered. Use this information to
provide focused bottom up listening practice as a pre-
listening task. Repeat with different text types and
speaker voices.
 Provide students with notes of key ideas from a lecture
they have listened to. Students should work in small
groups to co-construct a recap of the lecture using
these notes. Compare recaps with other groups.
Identify strengths and weaknesses of each.
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LISTENING
L2 - PREPARE FOR A LECTURE OR TUTORIAL BY PRE-READING AND PREDICTING KEY CONTENT
AND VOCABULARY
 Identify reading texts which address the same topic as Understand sufficient content to allow for
a planned lecture topic. Ideally texts should provide engagement with the lecture topic.
some foundational knowledge.
Prepare for listening to a different
• After reading, model how to use
perspective on the same topic.
ideas/information from the text to predict
content for listening. Identify key vocabulary associated with
• Encourage students to look up challenging discussing the lecture topic.
ideas/information from the texts in sources
which provide more user-friendly explanations
(e.g. textbooks, Wikipedia, online
encyclopaedias and fact sheets).
• After listening, compare the ideas/information
covered in the reading and lecture
 Identify reading texts which take a different
perspective on the same topic as your planned lecture
topic.
• Before listening, identify key concepts and
areas where there is scope for taking different
perspectives on the topic.
• While listening, listen out for different
perspectives
 Model how to identify academic and discipline specific
vocabulary in texts.
• Focus on words and phrases which are markers
of academic register or disciplinary approaches
to referring to ideas/information/processes.
• Identify high frequency “everyday” words which
are being used with a lower frequency meaning
sense.
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LISTENING
L3 - EXTRACT KEY INFORMATION FROM A LECTURE AND DISTINGUISH IT FROM SUPPORTING
AND UNNECESSARY INFORMATION
 Provide students with a set of lecture transcripts from Map the structure of a lecture to identify
different disciplines. Use one to model how to create a key and supporting points.
graphic organisation of the lecture which highlights the
Identify ‘big’ ideas, dismiss less relevant
macro and micro level ideas and the overall structure of
detail.
the lecture. In small groups, have students create a
graphic organiser for one of the remaining transcripts. Identify the language and prosodic
Compare organisational patterns across the features lecturers use to distinguish
lectures/disciplines to determine whether they follow between key ideas and supporting points.
similar or different patterns for presenting information. Distinguish between key lecture content
 Listen to a lecture with a transcript, students underline and anecdotes and asides.
words and phrases which are emphasised and match
changes of emphasis to main ideas and details
 Student groups reconstruct main points of a lecture and
check against the transcript, noting the location of key
information. Replay the lecture to identify any language
or changes in intonation and speed which signal the
importance of information.
 Exemplify why/how lecturers might introduce recent
events into their lectures (using lecture extracts).
 Play a selection of lectures in which the speakers make
jokes, tells stories, go off on tangents. Have students
notice when this happens and when the speaker returns
to the main topic.
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LISTENING
L4 - MAKE ACCURATE AND EFFECTIVE NOTES ON A LECTURE USING SYMBOLS, ABBREVIATIONS,
HEADINGS, LINEAR NOTES, PATTERNS, SPIDERGRAMS, MIND MAPS, TABLES, ETC.
 Introduce students to a range of notetaking Manage the cognitive load of listening,
approaches, encourage them to evaluate their reading PPT slides or board notes, and
effectiveness in relation to the type of content, their taking notes.
notetaking speed, and their personal approach to
Use notes to monitor ongoing
studying and reviewing lecture notes.
comprehension of the lecture.
 Play a lecture, stopping at several points to allow
students to check their comprehension up to that point. Select a form of notetaking which best
 Provide a series of listening extracts where students are suits the content of the lecture.
required to take notes or not take notes and reflect on Select a form of notetaking which best
how this affects comprehension suits personal preference for organising
 Provide a series of tasks which require listening with ideas and information effectively for
different purposes. Students should decide if review and remembering.
notetaking is appropriate, and if so, which approach is
better. Select a form of recording lecture content
for study and review which ensures they
can keep pace with the lecture content.
LISTENING
L5 - UNDERSTAND HOW A LECTURE CAN BE STRUCTURED, PARAPHRASED AND RECAPPED

 Provide students with lecture transcripts & PPTs. In Understand the structure and purpose of
small groups, students should make an outline or different parts of a lecture.
graphic organiser of the lecture to identify its structure.
Restate the key ideas in a lecture.
 Provide a selection of lecture extracts; students
identify lecturer’s purpose, e.g. information giving, Cope with different lecturing styles.
applying concepts, exemplifying ideas, moving to a new
topic.
 Provide a short article and a transcript of a short lecture
on the same/similar topic. Analyse the structure of
each. Consider the extent to which the structure of a
lecture is similar to or different from a written text.
Consider which strategies are required to summarize a
lecture. (Repeat this procedure with different lecture
styles – e.g. highly structured, interactive, lecture with
lots of digressions.)
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LISTENING
L6 - FOLLOW UP A LECTURE BY USING NOTES TO MAKE A SUMMARY AND ENGAGE IN FURTHER
READING OR DISCUSSION TO ESTABLISH KEY INFORMATION
 Introduce students to the summary genre. Transform notes into a format which
Demonstrate how a summary focuses on identify and better supports understanding and review.
reporting the purpose of the lecture as well as the main
Identify an overall purpose or argument
points and details. Contrast a summary with a retelling
for a lecture.
which simply repeats back the content of the lecture.
 Play a lecture, stopping at key points for students to Synthesise high level information from
make one or two sentence summaries of each section various parts of a lecture and “reduce” it to
of the lecture. a general principle, fact or argument.
 Provide a series of lectures to practise the summary Use lecture extension materials to support
writing skill, begin with straightforward content and understanding and build knowledge.
language at students’ current level of proficiency and
gradually increase the complexity of both the content Adopt a critical stance to information
and the language. provided in lectures.
 Provide students with additional reading texts related
to the topic of the lecture. Students should read these
with the aim of determining the relationship between
the ideas in the lecture and the ideas in the texts.
LISTENING
L7 – USE LISTENING STRATEGIES TO TAKE PART IN ACADEMIC GROUP DISCUSSION AND
SEMINARS
 Play a recording of a seminar discussion to model how Use information from lectures and
participants build on the ideas of others. readings to contribute to the
 Set up a jigsaw discussion activity where students need discussion/seminar.
to listen/read and report to a small group on one aspect
Listen actively to contributions by others
of the topic of discussion. This can be followed by
in the discussion/seminar.
clarification questions.
 Set up a staged seminar with prepared roles. Require Build on the ideas of others in the
students to refer to input from whole class lectures and discussion/seminar.
reading input as the basis for discussion of the topic. Synthesise and summarise ideas and
 Repeat the above activity without pre-assigning roles. information contributed by various
Encourage students to build on the ideas of others by participants in the discussion.
agreeing, disagreeing, and expanding on them.
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SPEAKING
SPEAKING
S1 - TAKE PART ACTIVELY AND EFFECTIVELY IN ACADEMIC GROUP DISCUSSIONS AND SEMINARS

 Listen to recordings where a clear point of view is Listen to other people’s point of view.
expressed and orally summarise that point of view.
Use strategies for agreeing and
 Practise a range of ways of expressing agreement and
disagreeing with others.
disagreement, including agreeing partially and
disagreeing partially. Explain ideas and viewpoints clearly.
 Practise trying to persuade someone to change their Attempt to make others change their
mind. minds.
 Look at written statements and orally attempt to make
those statements clearer. Ask others for clarification and provide
clarification of own ideas.
SPEAKING
S2 - PRESENT THE RESULTS OF ACADEMIC READING AND LISTENING AND USE NOTES TO
PRESENT IDEAS ORALLY IN A PRESENTATION, SEMINAR OR DISCUSSION
 Present students with an example of how a model Structure an academic presentation.
presentation should be structured and facilitate
Present information, ideas and opinions in
discussion on the main features. Discuss the
a logical and cohesive way.
presentation in terms of the question: What are the
elements which make this a good presentation? Use appropriate functional language and a
 Encourage students to consider the importance of range of cohesive devices to signpost
planning through a focus on the important elements of information to the audience.
aim, audience and method. Use the model structure as Produce notes or cue cards.
an exemplar.
 Provide students with a series of statements and ask
them to order the statements as they occurred in the
model presentation.
 Ask students to listen again to the model presentation
and – using a transcript of the presentation – highlight
any cohesive language features they hear. Discuss the
significance/importance/effect of these cohesive
devices.
 Explore different ways of constructing notes or cue
cards.
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SPEAKING
S3 - SUMMARISE AND REFORMULATE IDEAS IN SEMINARS AND/OR DISCUSSIONS

 Give students (in groups) cards which contain a short Develop a range of ways of expressing an
paragraph. Students deconstruct the main points and idea.
reconstruct the argument using differed words and
Paraphrase and reformulate ideas orally
phrases.
from reading.
 Give out a worksheet with a range of words likely to
appear in a presentation on, for example, modern Paraphrase and reformulate ideas orally
slavery. Students find synonyms for the words in the from listening.
worksheet.
 Present the students with a short listening text along
with a possible summary of its content. In groups
students discuss the accuracy of the summary and how
any inaccuracies could be amended.
SPEAKING
S4 – CONTRIBUTE TO A GROUP DISCUSSION OF IDEAS AND CONCEPTS

 Allow students to engage in group discussions on topics Respond to the ideas and suggestions of
which they feel comfortable discussing or have a pre- others.
existing knowledge / opinion on.
Build on the ideas and suggestions of
 Record students in discussion before asking them to
others.
transcribe the content of their discussion. Use this to
encourage learners to notice the structure and Refute the ideas and suggestions of
direction of their discussion. others.
 Introduce functional language and discourse markers Draw connections to what is being said
which can be used for responding, building upon or and what they have heard and / or read in
refuting the ideas of others. Keep this accessible to different contexts.
learners throughout their discussions and ask them to
mark of which they are using.
 Show video of others engaged in group discussions
without sound. Ask learners to recreate the dialogue by
noticing the speakers body language and facial
expressions.
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SPEAKING
S5 – NEGOTIATE MEANING AND OUTCOMES THROUGH PARTICIPATION IN A GROUP DISCUSSION

 Encourage students to work through cause-and-effect Make concessions to reach outcomes
chains using modals and hypothetical clauses. For during discussion.
instance, ask students what the implications of ‘a tax on
Talk about possible outcomes or
sugar drinks’ could be in 10 years-time by working
consequences as a result of decisions
through a series of knock-on consequences.
made in discussions.
 Use timers and time-limits to help students control the
pace of their discussions. For example, when asking
students to order or rank ideas, give them definitive
limits to narrow the scope of their ideas such as 2
minutes to choose the 2 least useful items and so forth.
SPEAKING
S6 - USE ACCURATE GRAMMAR, VOCABULARY AND APPROPRIATE EYE CONTACT AND GESTURES
TO PRODUCE COMPREHENSIBLE SPEECH
 Present students with a range of topic-related mini Produce utterances which are
presentations which contain grammatical errors. Ask grammatically correct and suitable to the
them (in pairs) to discuss the errors in the presentations level of the presentation and the ability of
and to correct the transcripts they have been given. the audience to understand.
 Deliver a short presentation exploiting a range of
Exploit accurate and appropriate grammar
supportive paralinguistic features. Students identify
in order to effectively communicate ideas,
what each of the examples of body language etc. are
feelings and opinions orally.
designed to achieve. Record this so that students can
refer to it later. Exploit a good and appropriate level of
 Provide students with practice in exploiting more vocabulary capable of expressing quite
sophisticated vocabulary and set up a task in which that complex ideas.
vocabulary (both single words and phrases) moves from Use a range of paralinguistic features -
being passive to active vocabulary. including eye contact with the audience
 Encourage students to keep vocabulary notebooks (or and body language - to support and
the digital equivalent) and to use these new words enhance the ideas being presented.
when they deliver/practise mini presentations.
 Encourage students to introduce more complex
grammatical structures etc, into their work e.g.
conditionals, hedging devices, and provide them with
examples, and opportunities to use the examples, of
complex or compound sentences.
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SPEAKING
S7 - USE PRONUNCIATION, STRESS AND INTONATION TO PRODUCE COMPREHENSIBLE SPEECH

 Make sure that the students fully understand the Use accurate pronunciation to avoid
difference between stress, intonation and rhythm. audience uncertainty and confusion.
 Indicate intonation patterns by raising your hand at
Understand the importance of word and
appropriate times in a pre-recorded 200-word text.
sentence stress.
 Clap your hands to indicate or emphasise a stress beat.
 Use the whiteboard to display the text and ask students Exploit intonation to help to get a message
to come to the board and indicate through differently across to the audience.
coloured arrows where rises and falls occur. Develop a good level of pronunciation so
 Exploit songs (or poems) to help students develop as to be able to be understood by most
appropriate stress patterns. listeners. (Note that the aim here is not to
 Getting students to raise their heads as they listen to a work towards sounding like a native
short presentation to indicate where intonation rises speaker).
can be useful and fun.
Ensure that oral communication is not
 Make sure you understand the pronunciation issues
impeded by weak grammar, a limited store
associated with the first language(s) of the members of
of vocabulary and by a limited range of
your group.
supportive paralinguistic features.
 Provide your students with a worksheet with a number
of sentences. Their task is to work out which word is
stressed purely based on context.
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VOCABULARY
VOCABULARY
V1 – DEVELOP THEIR VOCABULARY INCLUDING TECHNICAL, SEMI-TECHNICAL AND GENERAL
ACADEMIC VOCABULARY

 Provide students with familiar words attached to Alternate between academic and informal
unfamiliar affixes and ask them to deduce the meaning language.
before attempting to make their own new words.
Recognise lexical chunks when recording
 Ask students to rewrite simplified sections of academic
new vocabulary.
texts in groups using collocation dictionaries /
collections and thesauruses. Ask students to compare Understand how vocabulary can be
these versions to the unedited original and discuss how developed through use of:
language the learners have selected may have changed • Collocations,
the original meaning. • Word families,
 Use colour and markings consistently when boarding • Synonyms and antonyms,
new language to help learners identify lexical chunks • Word formation.
which they can reuse. Use monolingual dictionaries.
VOCABULARY
V2 – USE INDEPENDENT LEARNING SKILLS TO SELECT, RECORD AND USE NEW VOCABULARY.

 Introduce learners to academic work lists such as those Decide which lexis is worth for current or
by the EAP foundation to help them determine how future use.
useful an unknown word may be. This could be
Use word lists to identify key academic
determined by criteria such as:
vocabulary.
• If an unknown word/phrase occurs with high
frequency in most academic texts, Record lexis in an appropriate and useful
• the word/phrase occurs with high frequency in manner.
the subject area they are studying, Recycle new lexis.
• the word/phrase occurs with high or mid-
frequency in general texts. Use monolingual dictionaries.
 Introduce learners to lexical notebooks and explore
other ways that lexis can be recorded such as through
group or individual Quizlets.
 Keep a record of new lexis for each class that can be
shared with subject teachers and recycled
© NCUK Ltd. 2021 22

EQUIVALENCY
English for Academic Purposes is recognised by NCUK’s university partners on the following equivalencies:
Common European
NCUK EAP
NCUK EAP % Framework of Reference IELTS
Grade
for Languages (CEFR)
80%+ A* C1 7.5
70-79% A C1 7.0
60-69% B B2 6.5
50-59% C B2 6.0
40-49% D B2 5.5
35-39% E B1 5.0
<35% U B1 4.5
LEVEL DESCRIPTORS
The following descriptors broadly highlight the level of ability a student can be expected to possess once
awarded a particular EAP grade. While these descriptors are not exhaustive, they should give an indication
of the current level a student may be working at or what is needed to demonstrate ability at a higher level.
These descriptors should not be used for formative or summative assessment.
A* Grade Descriptor
Reading Can confidently understand longer, academic texts that have some relation to their chosen subjects
although they may need to re-read difficult sections. Can use reference tools to decipher highly
specialised or low-frequency lexis. Can identify finer points of detail including attitudes and implied as
well as stated opinions.
Writing Can produce clear, well-structured essays in an academic style, which highlight the relevant key issues
with a degree of originality. Can produce an introduction with a clear and relevant thesis statement,
expand and support points of view at length with subsidiary points, reasons and relevant examples and
conclude appropriately with relevant reflection. Can employ a suitable academic tone, style and register.
Can synthesise information and arguments from a number of sources.
Listening Can follow and understand an extended discourse on more abstract and complex topics which are related
to their chosen subjects, though they may need to confirm details with additional research, especially if
the lexis is unfamiliar. Is starting to recognise a wider range of subject specific lexis which may be
unfamiliar. Can follow an extended discourse even when it may lack a clear structure and when
relationships are only implied and not signalled explicitly.
Speaking Can give clear well-structured presentations on topics which are related to their chosen subjects, which
also includes a degree of critical response to key ideas, a clear development of points and an appropriate
conclusion. Can express themselves fluently and spontaneously with very little effort. Has a broad lexical
repertoire allowing gaps to be readily overcome particularly when discussing topics related to their
chosen subjects. There is little obvious searching for expressions or avoidance strategies.
Language Can use a broad range of complex grammatical structures appropriately and with considerable flexibility
within an academic context. Can select appropriate formulation from a broad range of language to express
themselves clearly, without having to restrict what they want to say when discussing a topic they are
familiar on. When writing layout, paragraphing and punctuation are consistent and helpful. Spelling is
accurate.
© NCUK Ltd. 2021 23

A Grade Descriptor
Reading Can understand longer, academic texts, which are related to their chosen subjects although they may
need to re-read difficult sections. Can use reference tools to decipher highly specialised or low -frequency
lexis with a good deal of accuracy. Can mostly identify finer points of detail includin g attitudes and implied
as well as stated opinions when familiar with the topic.
Writing Can produce clear, well-structured essays in an academic style, which highlight the relevant key issues.
Can produce an introduction with a clear and relevant thesis statement, expand and support points of
view at some length with subsidiary points, reasons and relevant examples and conclude appropriately
with relevant reflection. Can employ a suitable academic tone, style and register. Can synthesise
information and arguments from a number of sources.
Listening Can follow and understand an extended discourse on complex topics which are related to their chosen
subjects, though they may need to confirm details with additional research, especially if the topic is more
abstract or unfamiliar to them and contains a great deal of unfamiliar lexis. Is starting to recognise a wider
range of subject specific lexis within longer discourse. Can follow an extended discourse even when it
may lack a clear structure and when relationships are only implied and not signalled explicitly.
Speaking Can give well-structured presentations on topics which are related to their chosen subjects, which also
includes a degree of critical response to key ideas, the development of points and an appropriate
conclusion. Can frequently express themselves with a great deal of fluency and spontaneity with little
effort. Has a broad lexical repertoire allowing gaps to be overcome when discussing topics related to
their chosen subjects. There may be some searching for expressions or avoidance strategies.
Language Can use a range of complex grammatical structures appropriately and with considerable flexibility within
an academic context. Can select an appropriate formulation from a broad range of language to express
themselves clearly, without having to restrict what they want to say when discussing a topic they are
familiar on. When writing layout, paragraphing and punctuation are consistent and helpful. Spelling is
accurate.
B Grade Descriptor
Reading Can read with a large degree of independence and adapt the style and speed of their reading to the
different texts and purposes they are likely to encounter in their chosen subject. Can use appropriate
reference tools to support understanding. Has a broad active reading vocabulary but ma y experience
some difficulty low-frequency lexis. Can understand academic texts concerned with problems in their
field of study in which stances or viewpoints are adopted. Can recognise when a text provides information
and when it seeks to convince readers of something. Can recognise different structures in text such as
contrasting arguments, problem–solution presentation and cause–effect relationships.
Writing Can produce mostly clear, and largely well-structured essays in an academic style which develops an
argument, giving reasons in support of or against a particular point of view and explaining the advantages
and disadvantages of various options. Can employ a suitable academic tone, style and register with some
minor errors. Can synthesise information and arguments from several sources with some accuracy.
Listening Can follow and understand the main ideas of a discourse on complex topics which are related to their
chosen subjects when delivered in standard language or a familiar variety, including technical discussions.
Can follow an extended discourse and complex lines of argument, provided the topic is reasonably
familiar, and the direction of the argument is signposted by explicit markers.
Speaking Can give clear, detailed descriptions and presentations on a range of topics which are related to their
chosen subjects, expanding and supporting ideas with subsidiary points and relevant examples. Can
interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction, and susta ined
relationships with users of the target language, quite possible without imposing strain on either party.
Can vary formulation to avoid frequent repetition, but lexical gaps can still cause hesitation and
circumlocution. Can account for and sustain views clearly by providing relevant explanations and
arguments.
Language Has a sufficient range of language to be able to express viewpoints and develop arguments without much
conspicuous searching for words/signs, using some complex sentence forms to do so . Has a good range
of vocabulary for matters connected to their subject. Can understand and use subject specific vocabulary
of their chosen subjects but has problems with specialist lexis outside it. Can produce clearly intelligible,
continuous writing which follows standard layout and paragraphing conventions. Spelling and
punctuation are reasonably accurate but may show signs of mother -tongue influence.
© NCUK Ltd. 2021 24

C Grade Descriptor
Reading Can read with a fairly large degree of independence and understands the need to adapt the style and
speed of their reading to the different texts and purposes they are likely to encounter in their chosen
subject. Can use appropriate reference tools to support understanding with some accuracy. Has an active
reading vocabulary but may experience some difficulty with low-frequency lexis. Can understand
academic texts concerned with problems in their field of study in which stances or viewpoints are adopted
although may miss some indiscrete points. Can largely recognise when a text provides information and
when it seeks to convince readers of something. Can mostly recognise different structures in text such
as contrasting arguments, problem–solution presentation and cause–effect relationships.
Writing Can produce structured essays in an academic style in which arguments are somewhat developed and
where reasons given to support or refute a particular view or advantages and disadvantages of various
options are somewhat explained, although these essays may lac k clarity in some places. Attempts to
produce a suitable academic tone, style and register with some errors. Attempts to synthesise information
and arguments from several sources are made but not always accurately.
Listening Can follow and understand most main ideas of a discourse on topics which are related to their chosen
subjects when delivered in standard language or a familiar variety, including technical discussions. Can
mostly follow an extended discourse and lines of an argument, pro vided the topic is reasonably familiar,
and the direction of the argument is signposted by explicit and understood markers.
Speaking Can give clear descriptions and presentations on topics which are related to their chosen subjects. Can
generally organise key ideas when presenting although the expansion and support of these ideas is not
always effective. Can interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity on familiar topics. Repetition may
be used for correction and lexical gaps can cause hesitation and circumlocution. Can account for and
sustain views by providing generally relevant explanations and arguments.
Language Has a range of language to be able to express viewpoints and develop arguments although may need to
search for words/signs and use simple sentence forms to do so. Has a generally good range of vocabulary
for matters connected to their subject. Can understand and use subject specific vocabulary of their
chosen subjects but has problems with specialist lexis outside it. Can produce intelligible, continuous
writing which generally follows standard layout and paragraphing conventions. Spelling and punctuation
are mostly accurate, but errors can compromise comprehension.
D Grade Descriptor
Reading Can understand straightforward factual texts on their chosen subjects with a satisfactory level of
comprehension. Can understand short texts on their chosen subjects in which people give their points of
view although may be missed points when reading extended texts. Can identify the main conclusions in
clearly signalled argumentative texts. Can scan longer texts in order to locate desired information with
some accuracy, and gather information from different parts of a text, or from different texts in order to
fulfil a specific task.
Writing Can produce short, simple essays on known topics in their chosen subject using simple language to list
advantages, disadvantages and give and justify their opinion. More detailed arguments may be unclear or
under-developed. Can summarise, report and give their opinion about factual information within their
chosen subject with some confidence. Can identify and use sources which may be used to support a view
point and include these through quotation.
Listening Can follow a discourse on topics which are related to their chosen subjects when delivered in standard
language or a familiar variety, although may miss key points in favour of more minor ones. Can mostly
follow an extended discourse provided the topic is reasonably familiar, although may not be able to
consistently summarise the speaker’s line of argument afterwards. Can recognise some frequent and
explicit signposting.
Speaking Can give clear descriptions and presentations on topics which are related to the ir chosen subjects. Can
generally organise key ideas when presenting although the expansion and support of these ideas is not
always effective. Can interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity on familiar topics. Repetition may
be used for correction and lexical gaps can cause hesitation and circumlocution. Can account for and
sustain views by providing generally relevant explanations and arguments.
Language Has a range of language to be able to express viewpoints and develop arguments although may n eed to
search for words/signs and use simple sentence forms to do so. Has a generally good range of vocabulary
for matters connected to their subject. Can understand and use subject specific vocabulary of their
chosen subjects but has problems with specialist lexis outside it. Can produce intelligible, continuous
writing which generally follows standard layout and paragraphing conventions. Spelling and punctuation
are mostly accurate but errors can compromise comprehension.
© NCUK Ltd. 2021 25

E Grade Descriptor
Reading Can understand straightforward factual texts on their chosen subjects with a satisfactory level of
comprehension with adequate time for rereading. Can understand short texts on their chosen subjects in
which people give their points of view. Can identify the main conclusions in clearly signalled
argumentative texts. Can scan texts to locate desired information with some accuracy given adequate
time and support with unknown lexis.
Writing Can produce short, simple passages on known topics in their chosen subject using simple language to list
advantages, disadvantages and give and justify their opinion although this may be unclear or under -
developed in places. Can summarise and give their opinion about information within their chosen subject
with some success.
Listening Can understand straightforward factual information about common subject topics, identifying some
general messages, provided people articulate clearly in a generally familiar variety.
Speaking Can reasonably sustain a straightforward description of one of a variety of subjects within their chosen
subjects presenting it as a linear sequence of points. Can exchange, check and confirm information and
explain why something is a problem. Can express thoughts on topics in th eir chosen subjects.
Language Has enough language to get by, with sufficient vocabulary to express themselves with some hesitation
and circumlocutions on straightforward, but lexical limitations cause repetition and difficulty with
formulation at times. Spelling, punctuation and layout are accurate enough to be followed most of the
time.
© NCUK Ltd. 2021 26

FURTHER RESOURCES
Here you can find a list of further teaching resources to complement those set in the EAP syllabus.
De Chazal, E. & Moore, J. (2013), Oxford EAP: Advanced/C1: Teacher's Book, Oxford
University Press
ISBN: 9780194001823 (print)
Additional resources available via the ‘Oxford Teachers’ Club’, sign up for a free
account here
Eickhoff, L. Frazier, L. and Vosters, M. (2020) University Success: Reading, Pearson
ISBN: 9780137249893 (Print)

ISBN: 9780134652696 (eBook)
Fletcher, C. (2013). Skills for Study Level 3 with Downloadable Audio. Cambridge
University Press.
ISBN: 9781107686144 (print)
The downloadable audio is available at:

Skills and Language for Study | Academic English | Cambridge University Press
Additional
Coursebooks
Norloff, C. & Moore, R. (2020) University Success: Writing, Pearson
ISBN: 9780134652702 (Print)

ISBN: 9780137249916 (eBook)
Read, S.H. (2018), Academic Writing Skills for International Students. 1 st Ed. Macmillan
Education UK
ISBN: 9781352003758 (print)

ISBN: 9781352003765 (eBook)
Rogers, L. & Zemach, D. (2018) Skillful 4: Reading & Writing. 2 nd Ed., Macmillan
Education
ISBN: 9781380010889 (Print)

ISBN: 9781380066640 (eBook)
© NCUK Ltd. 2021 27

Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 10th edition (2020). Oxford: Oxford University
Press.
ISBN: 9780194798488 (Print)

ISBN: 9780194798730 (Online Access for 1 year)
A reduced online version is available at:

https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/
Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 4th edition (2013). Cambridge:

Recommended
Cambridge University Press.
Dictionaries
ISBN: 9781107685499 (Print)
ISBN: 9781107619500 (Print + CD)
An online version is available free at
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/
Alexander, O. Argent, S. and Spencer, J. (2019) EAP Essentials: A Teacher’s Guide to

Principles and Practice. 2 nd Edition Garnet Education
ISBN: 9781782606666 (Print)

ISBN: 9781782606673 (eBook)
Bailey, S. (2018) Academic Writing: A Handbook for International Students, 5 th Ed.,

London and New York: Routledge.
ISBN: 9781138048744 (Print)

ISBN: 9781315169996 (eBook)
Godfrey, J. (2018) How to Use Your Reading in Your Essays. Basingstoke: Palgrave
Macmillan.
ISBN: 9781352002973 (Print)

Additional ISBN: 9781352002980 (eBook)
Resources
Godfrey, J. (2014) Reading and Making Notes. 2 nd Ed., Basingstoke: Palgrave

Macmillan.
ISBN: 9781137402585 (Print)

ISBN: 9781137402608 (eBook)
Godfrey, J. (2016), Writing for University, 2nd Ed. Palgrave
ISBN: 9781137531865 (print)

ISBN: 9781137531889 (eBook)
© NCUK Ltd. 2021 28

Hyland, K. Shaw, P. (2020) The Routledge Handbook of English for Academic Purposes.
Routledge
ISBN: 9780367468163 (Print)

ISBN: 9781317328094 (eBook)
McCormack, J. & Watkins, S. (2021) English for Academic Study: Speaking. Garnet
ISBN: 9781908614414 (Print)

ISBN: 9781782603603 (eBook)
McCormack, J. & Watkins, S. (2020) English for Academic Study: Writing. Garnet
ISBN: 9781908614391 (Print)

ISBN: 9781782603627 (eBook)
Paterson, K. (2013) Oxford grammar for EAP. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
ISBN: 9780194329996 (Print)

ISBN: 9781782603627 (eBook)
Schmitt, D. and Schmitt, N. (2011) Focus on Vocabulary 2: Mastering the Academic

Word list. White Plains, NY: Pearson Education.
ISBN: 9780131376175 (Print)
Vicary, A. (2020) English for Academic Study: Grammar for Writing. Garnet
ISBN: 9781782600701 (Print)

ISBN: 9781782608301 (eBook)
Williams, K. & Davis M. (2017), Referencing and Understanding Plagiarism, 2nd Ed.
Red Globe Press.
ISBN: 9781137530714 (print)

ISBN: 9781137530721 (eBook)
© NCUK Ltd. 2021 29

APPENDIX A - EXEMPLAR
TEACHING PLAN
This exemplar teaching plan aims to provide teachers with ideas for organising the content of EAP.
Each set of activities aims to provide the foundational language and skills needed to successfully complete
the EAP summative assessment tasks.
Some of the suggested teaching activities are quite specific and others are more general. In either case, they
offer a template for you to use exactly or to adapt by selecting your own texts and activities. A range of
links have been provided to online materials that can support your planning. The regular references to the
recommended core textbook Oxford EAP that appear throughout the plan refer to: de Chazal, E. and
McCarter, S. (2012). Oxford EAP Upper Intermediate. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
In Semester 1, the plan is divided into one, two and three-week blocks. A recommended task is included at
the end of each block that brings together the language and skills students have been working with
throughout the block. A key element of the teaching plan is repetition and recycling. The summative EAP
assessments are quite complex. They require students to bring together a number of sub-skills and language
knowledge. The teaching plan introduces skills and language in smaller units so that there is plenty of
opportunity for focused instruction and discussion. It then recycles these by building up into increasingly
larger units of language use.
At the end of Semester 1, you are required to administer a series of formative assessments. These must
include a mock exam and coursework task for each skill.
For Semester 2, we have not provided a weekly teaching plan. Instead, we recommend that centres revisit
and recycle the language and skills introduced in Semester 1 at increasingly deeper and higher levels. We
have added three ‘mini-units’ that illustrate this type of recycling. Semester 2 should also provide targeted
revision based on the outcomes of the formative assessment.
© NCUK Ltd. 2021 30

Weeks 1-2 Focus: Getting to Know Your Students
The overall focus of this unit is to collect diagnostic samples of students’ ability across each of the skills and introduce how learning to use
English for academic purposes at university differs from studying general English as a Foreign Language. A series of diagnostic tasks is outlined
below for teachers and students to benchmark students’ levels and support goal setting.
Suggested Activities Suggested Resources
Reading Introduction to EAP – How is it different from general EFL taught in school? https://learnenglish.britishcounc
 Compare and contrast a General English activity with a sample academic task. In GE reading lessons, il.org/skills/reading
LOs: R2 students can normally forget about the text content after they complete the questions, in EAP,
students need to learn the content so they can apply their new knowledge to an academic task. https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/lals/res
• GE: Read a short text and answer comprehension questions (You can find a sample in most GE ources/paul-nations-
textbooks.) publications/paul-nations-
• EAP: Read a short text and apply content from the reading to complete an academic task. publications/publications/Speed
-reading-whole.pdf
 Read a text about News Values and use the ideas to analyse the front page of a newspaper or an
internet news site.
• http://mediaknowall.com/gcse/news/news.php?pageID=values
• https://www.owenspencer-thomas.com/journalism/newsvalues/
 Model the task and then assign it for homework. Students should plan to report back on their
findings.
 Note any challenges students face with reading the text (e.g. sentence structure, vocabulary,
organisation) and use these notes for goal setting and lesson planning.
Reading loads at university are heavy. Students need to read fluently to keep up with required reading.
 Reading Fluency Check - Timed reading:
• Choose a short text with only high frequency vocabulary – approximately 500 words and
create 8-10 comprehension questions
• Instruct students to read the text quickly and then answer the questions without referring
back to the text. Set a timer so students can record the amount of time it takes them to read
• The goal is to achieve comprehension of 70% or better while reading at a speed o f 250 words
per minute or faster
• Do the activity a second time with a new text. Students normally do better the second time
because they understand the task better.
© NCUK Ltd. 2021 31

• Repeat this activity regularly, move to more challenging readings when students have met th e
goals for easy texts. (See the resource by Nation et al below)
Writing Students write a letter to the teacher which fills out any oral introductions students have provided and
reports on students’ goals for studying at an NCUK university.
LOs: W1, W2  Model the letter by writing one of your own to your students.
 Set a specific length and be clear about your expectations for accuracy and complexity
 Provide feedback on the content and formative feedback based on language use.
Reflection and goal setting:

 Model the process of reflecting on one’s own performance in class.
 Demonstrate how the results of reflection can be used for goal setting.
 Assign a one-page written reflection on students’ experiences of using English during the first
week(s) of their NCUK programme. Provide prompts to encourage them to reflect on areas where
their abilities exceeded their expectations and on challenges they faced. e.g.
• listening for a long time
• reading long(er) texts
• speaking in front of the whole class and in smaller groups
• writing texts (rather than just sentences or gap fills)
Encourage goal-setting:
 as an addendum to the written reflection
 through discussion with peers in small groups
 through short one-to-one tutorials with the teacher
 Relate goals to the NCUK Summative Tasks – set long-term and short-term goals.
 Keep the reflections and goals for review mid-way through the semester and at the end of the
semester.
Listening Identify a short text (or an extract) on an academic related topic, e.g. studying overseas, important study British Council https://study-
skills and carry out a discovery dictation task to diagnose students’ bottom up listening skills. uk.britishcouncil.org/
LOs: L1  Discovery listening has three phases:
• Listening - in this phase, students: UKCISA Info and Advice
 Listen to a short text spoken at normal speed, https://www.ukcisa.org.uk/
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 Self-assess their comprehension level,
 Listen two more times while taking notes. Prepare for Success
• Reconstructing – in this phase, students: https://www.prepareforsuccess.
 Form small groups and use their notes to attempt to reconstruct the text. org.uk/
• Discovering – in this phase, students:
British Council Learn English
 Compare their text with the original, attempt to classify the causes of mistakes,
https://learnenglish.britishcounc
 Assess the relative importance of their errors,
il.org/skills/listening
 Listen again without reading the text and assess their performance.
 Review the bottom-up problems reported by students, (e.g. unknown vocabulary, unfamiliar
pronunciation of known words, difficulty segmenting connected speech) and use these to plan
bottom up pre- and post-listening activities for future listening tasks.
 Encourage students to listen extensively to get accustomed to the rhythm of English and to practice
bottom up listening skills. Short texts that are at or just below students’ current proficiency level
and have a transcript available are ideal for this.
Speaking: Students give a short oral introduction and report back their findings from the EAP reading task.
 Follow the presentation with a discussion of students’ findings. Encourage students to use the
LOs: S2, S6 information and key terms from the reading text in their discussion.
 Monitor students’ performance on the following criteria:
• Confidence
• Fluency
• Pronunciation
• Participation (in the discussion)
 Note students’ strengths and weaknesses and use these notes for goal setting and lesson planning.
Integrated Provide an overview of the NCUK EAP assessments. Consider the skills and language needed to complete
Task each assessment.
 Students create a class poster for each assessment.
• Use mind maps, flow charts, graphic organiser to break down each task.
• Throughout the semester use and further develop the posters to make links between daily
tasks and activities and the overall summative tasks.
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Weeks 3-4 Focus: Vocabulary
During this block students will learn about different types of vocabulary and about the various aspects of word knowledge. Th ey will learn
how to identify definitions in texts and make good use of dictionaries for both receptive and productive use. Activities will focus on pushing
receptive vocabulary into productive use and creating a vocabulary notebook to develop vocabulary size and depth and to suppo rt long-term
retention of vocabulary.
Reading Administer a vocabulary size or levels test to determine students’ receptive vocabulary size to guide Oxford EAP Upper Intermediate
learning activities and text selection. 1B pp. 012-015, 022.
LOs: V1, V2,
R9
Provide students with sample texts from introductory textbooks. (Use assigned textbooks for NCUK These sites have a wealth of
subject modules). vocabulary resources.
 Students should skim through the text highlighting words they don’t know. https://www.norbertschmitt.co.
 Using ideas from the listening lecture, classify the words into General, Academic and Technical uk/vocabulary-resources
vocabulary. Use the context around the word to aid classification.
 Point out when items are multi-word units rather than single-word items. https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/lals/res
ources
Technical words
 Identify how textbook writers teach new disciplinary vocabulary. https://www.lextutor.ca/
• Look for textual features that highlight important vocabulary - bold, italics, underlining,
marginal glosses, end of chapter or book glossaries. https://www.edu.uwo.ca/faculty
• Identify in-text definitions, focus on the format of definitions. -profiles/stuart-webb.html
• Provide instruction on identifying the key elements of a definition.
• Encourage students to notice both short formal definitions and extended definitions of key
disciplinary vocabulary.
Usefulness
 Elicit how many of the unknown words highlighted by students are technical
 Elicit what features make vocabulary useful (fill in gaps), e.g. high frequency in general or in the
subject, useful for defining other words, synonyms, lower frequency meaning of an already known
word, new part of speech for an already known word
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 Return to the list and guide students in selecting other non-technical vocabulary that is useful for
further study
Categorise words into those that are useful for understanding one particular text and those that will be
useful for other texts and future study.
Writing Learners normally have a larger receptive vocabulary and need a strong incentive to push partially kn own Lee, S.Y. (2003). ESL learners’
and new words to the productive level. vocabulary use in writing and
LOs: W1, W2, the effects of explicit vocabulary
W6
Encourage productive use of known and new vocabulary. instruction. System, 31, 537-
 Choose a reading text of about 400-600 words with a clear structure e.g. a description of a process, 561. (Available as a PDF on
place, concept GoogleScholar)
 Select 20 words from the text as target words (these should be a mix of new words and words you
expect students to know receptively)
 Create a short test of the target words
 Create a short comprehension activity
Pre-writing – Reading for Input

Students read the text paying attention to content, structure and language.
 Provide focused instruction on the target vocabulary, give particular attention to aspects of word
knowledge needed for productive use
 Writing – Students write a new text following the same structure on a similar topic. Enco urage
students to use the target words. Encourage active dictionary use
 Share examples of student texts to show appropriate use of target words, uses that need revision,
and occasions where target words could have been used.
 Provide positive formative feedback on appropriate use and non-use of the target vocabulary
 Provide students with the opportunity to revise and provide feedback on the revision.
(Repeat this activity type regularly throughout the term.)
Listening Provide an interactive mini-lecture to introduce key information about learning vocabulary. Include the Focus on Vocabulary 1 or 2
following elements: (Pearson) - Introduction
LOs: L1, V1,  Introduce the concept of word knowledge, include: Principles for vocabulary
V2
• Meaning learning, see: Schmitt, N. and
• Form (spelling & pronunciation) Schmitt, D. (1995).
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• Word families (parts of speech)
• Collocation Vocabulary notebooks:
• Frequency Theoretical underpinnings and
• Register (formality) practical suggestions. English
Language Teaching Journal, 49, 2:
• Connotation
133-143. Available as a PDF at:
 Emphasise the importance of exposure and repetition for learning.
https://www.norbertschmitt.co.
 Academic Vocabulary - What is it and how should I study it?
uk/articles
• General
• Academic (e.g. AWL) Ten Best Ideas for Teaching
• Technical/disciplinary Vocabulary
 Introduce each type of vocabulary and show how academic texts use each type. https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/lals/res
 Use examples from the previous weeks and this week’s reading texts. Follow this up with the ources/paul-nations-
activities listed under Reading and introduce the integrated task - create a vocabulary notebook. publications/paul-nations-
 Introduce multi-word units and formulaic language – point out that not all lexical items are single publications/publications/2005-
words. Ten-best-ideas.pdf
Speaking: Dictionary reviews - consumer style reviews. http://global.longmandictionarie

 Select and/or elicit a list of around 20 words. Select words with the following features: s.com/
LOs: S1, S7
• Multiple meaning senses
• Difficult spelling and/or pronunciation https://www.oxfordlearnersdicti
• High and low frequency onaries.com/
• Multiple word family members
https://www.dictionary.com/
• Specific grammatical patterning (e.g. transitive/intransitive)
https://www.merriam-
• Useful collocations
webster.com/
• Restrictions on use – formal, technical, taboo
• Positive or negative connotations Local bilingual dictionaries
• Multi-word lexical items Dictionary apps
 In pairs or small groups, students should work with two dictionaries (different pairs sh ould use
different dictionaries).
 Provide students (or create together) a rating table for dictionaries – include categories related to
the features above as well as: Does the dictionary include sample sentences, sound files for
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pronunciation, list of synonyms or links to a thesaurus, links to a corpus/concordance lines, word
tips.
 This type of consumer review activity could also be repeated with vocabulary learning apps.
Integrated Task Descriptions: Vocabulary Notebooks

Task  Prepare and deliver poster presentations reporting on the findings of the dictionary consumer Walters, J., & Bozkurt, N. (2009).
reviews. The effect of keeping vocabulary
 Create a vocabulary learning log/notebook. notebooks on vocabulary
• (Regularly review student notebooks to provide guidance and create classroom activities that acquisition. Language Teaching
require students to use vocabulary from their notebooks.) Research, 13, 2, 403–423.
(Available as a PDF on
GoogleScholar)
Oxford EAP 12E
Weeks 5-6 Focus: Reading & Listening – Text Structure, Annotations, Notetaking, Summarising, Paraphrasing
During this block students will learn how to take notes and summarise reading and listening texts. Students will benefit from multiple practice
of this skill with texts of increasing lengths and complexity. With longer texts, it is important to remember that they will rarely need to
summarise whole texts but rather parts of text which relate to a specific task, usually written but which may be spoken. The Oxford EAP
textbook provides several short practice activities on notetaking and listening.
Reading  Start by reading one or two source texts which feature heavily in a student essay. Ensure students Oxford EAP 1B reading p. 015,
can identify and understand the content through the use of a graphic organiser (a plan of the 12B
LOs: R8 content: see suggested resources).
 Read the short academic essay that includes references to sources. http://aeo.sllf.qmul.ac.uk/Files/
• Discuss why and how sources have been used. Summarizing/Summarising.html
• Discuss how ideas have been paraphrased or quoted. The aim here is for students to
understand the concept of using source material as the basis for writing. https://www.academic-
 Ask students to identify direct quoting, paraphrasing and summarising in the essay . englishuk.com/paraphrasing-
 Model the steps of skimming the text for ideas and then annotating the text to ensure close reading . writing
 Provide the annotations to the text and allow students to identify the types of annotation.
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 Provide the class with other sample texts and allow students to practice annotations and https://www.teachingenglish.or
summaries. g.uk/article/graphic-organisers
 Students will require significant instruction in paraphrasing and how to avoid plagiarism. The
concept can be introduced here but will need regularly revisited throughout the course .
Writing  Practice writing summaries using the appropriate style and language i.e. 3rd person ‘the author https://www.eapfoundation.com
explained, described, defined etc.’ /reading/summarising/
LOs: W8  Understand that academic writing involves writing about the ideas of others that you have read or
listened to but that these ideas have to be acknowledged, giving the source of all information http://www.uefap.net/writing/w
through in-text citations and references. This will be dealt with in more detail in the next block. riting-reporting/writing-
reporting-summary
https://www.academic-
englishuk.com/summary-skills
Listening  Start by preparing students to listen to a short talk or lecture. Oxford EAP, Listening Units 1-5
 Students listen and complete a guided summary or guided notes. https://www.eapfoundation.com
LOs: L6 /listening/notetaking/
 Compare their notes to a model of lecture notes and a summary. Elicit from students how the
author produced the notes and summary.
 Develop students’ ability to take notes on lectures by starting with heavily guided notes on short
texts on known topics and gradually increase the complexity and length of texts whilst also reducing
the amount of guidance.
 Through extensive practice, work towards students making their own notes and developing their
own style for this.
 Mirroring the work done on reading students can then use their notes to writ e summaries of
lectures or parts of lectures.
 Student can listen, take notes and summarise their peers’ mini presentations.
Speaking:  Students can use their notes to present orally on a lecture or reading, as they might be required to Oxford EAP, 7C, p. 114, 7D pp.
do in an academic seminar. 116-117
LOs: S2, S3  Encourage students to practice speaking by preparing mini lectures on a topic they are studying to
allow their peers to make notes and summarise. They could do this as a whole class or in groups or
pairs.
 Create a feedback checklist to enable peer review of notes.
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Integrated The skills practised in this block feature in both the formative and summative coursework assessments. As Previous examples of the
Task their output task students can complete individual sections of the coursework tasks. Reading / Listening Task in the
 Students can then use the appropriate grading criteria to peer grade each other's work. document library. Previous
Integrated Skills Task: Students can work individually or in groups to research a subject specific topic based exams will include summaries of
on a reading text and a lecture. They can make a presentation of the results of this research. lectures from notes in Part 3.
Weeks 7-8 Focus: Speaking & Writing – Understanding and Using Sources, Oral Reporting, Planning Writing, Referencing & Citation, Language for
Citing
Reading Review the purpose of using external sources in one’s own writing. Google Scholar allows you to find
 Using reading texts from the previous block, review how sources are used – focus on the format of the original source and also see
the sources. other texts that have cited that
Using your reading in an essay, selecting appropriate ideas and information: source.
 Provide students with 2 or 3 short texts on a shared theme. Provide comprehension questions to
ensure students clearly understand the content of the texts Oxford EAP Unit 8
 Provide students with a short essay question linked to the reading texts.
• Model how to select ideas or information from the reading texts that could be used to answer
the essay question.
• Students work in groups to practice following your model and discuss findings.
 Repeat the activity using the same reading texts with a different essay question.
 Discuss the extent to which the information selected from the texts is the same or different and
why.
 Repeat the activity again. All students have the same essay question, but different texts.
 Consider the extent to which the information and the resulting essay would be the same or
different depending on the external sources consulted.
 Discuss how one’s selection of source material contributes to the originality of one’s essay.
 Point out how source selection is also a demonstration of criticality in writing .
Writing Focus on in-text citations - Using in-text citations to make a text more effective. Oxford EAP Unit 8 (all), 9E, 10E
 Prepare a set of paragraph frames by removing all of the in-text citations. Provide students with
the gapped paragraphs and a list of in-text citations to insert into the gaps. Paragraphs that use a
mix of quotation, paraphrase and summary are best, but you may want to build up to that slowly.
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 Discuss what content features helped them to fill in the gaps. What linguistic clues helped them to
fill in the gaps?
 For each of the gaps, consider why the author chose to cite an external source. How did it make the
text more effective?
 Then consider why the author chose the format of the source – quotation, paraphrase or summary?
To what extent was this a content decision or a text cohesion decision?
• This works even better if you have the original sources for the citations to hand. Consider
reusing the texts from the weeks 5-6 reading activities.
Formats for citing other sources:

 Provide more examples of quotations, paraphrases and summaries. Focus on the format, e.g. ,
• Sentence structure,
• Vocabulary choices,
• Grammar.
 Take each type of citation in turn and provide practice on each.
 Although some decontextualised practice may be needed. Providing paragraph starters for students
to complete with a citation highlights the importance of cohesion when citing. Choices are about
sentence structure and vocabulary must take account of the language of the text that comes before
the citation.
Introduce your students to a thesaurus. Introduce the concept that synonyms are not equal. Although the
words may have a similar meaning, they may differ according to grammatical patterning, collocations,
register, connotation or precision of meaning.
 Provide focused feedback on synonym choices in paraphrases and summaries.
 Point out that technical vocabulary should not be changed.
Listening Provide a lecture on the same theme as the readings. Cite Them Right
 Practice the notetaking skills introduced in the previous block
 Provide a series of comprehension questions for discussion to ensure understanding and to provide NCUK Referencing Guide
feedback on the effectiveness of students’ notes
 Replay excerpts from the lecture, where the speaker cites external sources of ideas and information http://www.uefap.com/writing/
– identify the purpose and format of these citations writfram.htm
 Compare oral citations in a formal lecture format with those in written texts. Identify the
similarities and differences University Library websites
© NCUK Ltd. 2021 40

Give a mini lecture introducing the Harvard Referencing system. Model how to find bibliographic Wette, R. (2010). Evaluating
information and how to format it into end of text references. Work in a computer room or as k students to student learning in a university-
bring laptops for this activity. level EAP unit on writing using
 Spiral this activity so that at first students work with 1 or 2 types of sources (e.g. a single authored sources,
book and a journal article). Repeat with different source types – single authored books, edited Journal of Second Language
books, journal articles, magazines, materials from websites. Writing, 9 (30), 158-177.
 Students practice creating a List of References. (Available as a PDF on
 Show a model List of References using the texts given to the students. Students should compare GoogleScholar)
with their own.
 Elicit challenges students faced in creating their own Lists of References. Discuss and review where
to find and how to format required information.
Speaking: Knowledge building: Use a jigsaw reading task to teach and practice orally reporting on ideas from texts.
 Provide 3 or 4 readings on a related topic. Distribute these for homework (these could be Texts 2-5
from the reading activity).
 Students should practice the close reading skills introduced in weeks 5-6.
 In small groups, students should discuss their one shared text and agree a summary. Group
students: Text AAAA, Text BBBB, Text CCCC, Text DDDD.
 Re-organise groups so students take turns orally summarising their texts for other students in the
group – Group 1 – Texts ABCD, Group 2 - Texts ABCD, etc. - students should be encouraged to ask
for clarification when summaries are not clear.
 Students discuss the ideas in the texts in groups. Consider how the ideas in the texts relate to each
other. Do they support, refute or build on the ideas of the other texts?
Integrated Task Description: Build knowledge about a topic to answer a question in presentation or essay form.
Task  Choose a theme for this 2-week block. All of the texts selected for the block’s skills-based activities
should be either closely or loosely related to the theme.
 Create a set of essay/presentation style questions that can be answered using the information and
ideas in the texts.
 Assign each group a different question on the same theme. Choose one of the options below:
• All groups write a collaborative short essay.
© NCUK Ltd. 2021 41

• All groups give a short presentation.
• Half of the groups give a presentation and half write an essay.
 Reflect on the process. Consider the extent to which responses to the different questions required
different uses of the ideas and information in the source texts.
• If you chose the third option, reflect on the similarities and differences of preparing for an
essay and a presentation. Compare how sources were used in each.
Week 9 Focus: Criticality in Academic Study

The focus here is on introducing students to the concept of criticality. Academic criticality begins with being informed. Through reading and
listening students learn about concepts and ideas which they can use to respond critically to additional reading and listenin g texts. Students
will need to develop the skills of evaluating and questioning ideas and information and applying ideas and information appropriately in novel
contexts.
Reading Understand the difference between descriptive and critical writing. Williams, K. (2014) Getting
 Show examples first of descriptive writing where information is presented without criticality. Stress Critical (2nd ed.) Basingstoke:
LOs: R5 that this is an important aspect of academic writing but that students need to move b eyond only Palgrave Macmillan. Chapter 3
description.
 Now show another text and ask students to identify where the author’s critical voice has been
added by:
• Synthesising sources,
• Using adjectives, adverbs and reporting verbs to citations,
• Giving examples and/or applying a concept,
• Evaluating an idea or viewpoint,
 Continue to highlight these features in subsequent reading tasks.
Writing Critical Voice Williams, K. (2014) Getting

 Take a sample of student writing which is descriptive. Work as a class to add the author’s critical Critical (2nd ed.) Basingstoke:
LOs: W8, W9 voice. Teacher can prompt and elicit or provide language. Palgrave Macmillan. Ch. 11
 Examine the layout of a good academic paragraph with a topic sentence, description of ideas based
on sources, critical voice responding to ideas and a concluding sentence. Ask students to analyse https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/upl
further paragraphs noting the type of criticality and the language used. Refer to the academic oads/production/document/pat
phrase bank below to identify appropriate language and functions.
h/1/1710/Critical_Thinking.pdf
© NCUK Ltd. 2021 42

 Now ask students to go back to a piece of their own writing and try to rewrite by adding a critical
voice. Swap with a partner who then tries to identify the critical voice in the text. https://www.phrasebank.manch
ester.ac.uk/being-critical/
http://www.uefap.com/writing/
citation/citefram.htm
https://www.kent.ac.uk/learning
/documents/student-
support/value-
map/valuemap1516/criticalthink
ingandwriting171015alg.pdf
https://www.bangor.ac.uk/study
skills/study-guides/critical-
writing.php.en
Listening  Identify a podcast style interview where the speakers discuss a complex topic, e.g., Gillett, A., Hammond, A. and
• the “pink tax” or the role of exercise in weight loss. Martala, M. (2009). Inside Track:
 Create and deliver a short lecture which provides foundational knowledge about the interview Successful Academic Writing.
topic, e.g., Harlow: Pearson.
• The economics of pricing policies, How exercise affects metabolism.
 Check comprehension to ensure that students have understood the ideas and information in the Alexander, O., Argent, S. and
lecture. Spencer, J. (2008). EAP Essentials.
 Play the interview and ask students to listen out for how the foundational knowledge can be used Reading: Garnet. Chapter 8
to develop criteria to evaluate the points made in the interview.
 Listen to the interview again, ideally with a transcript, identify the strength of speakers claims and
the language or intonation used to signal that strength.
Speaking:  Introduce the idea of criticality in everyday life and contrast it with examples of criticality in Alexander, O., Argent, S. and
academic study, e.g. use consumer websites such as TripAdvisor or consumer comparison sites to Spencer, J. (2008). EAP Essentials.
illustrate the types of criteria and evidence used to evaluate services and products. Reading: Garnet. Chapter 8
 In small groups, students should carry out a consumer style comparison (e.g. the dictionary exercise
in Weeks 3-4). They should report their criteria and how these guided their choice of product or
service.
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 Next, use samples from literature reviews to demonstrate the types of criteria that academics use to
evaluate ideas and information.
 In small groups, give students new reading texts and ask them to identify the criteria used to
evaluate ideas and information. You may wish to recycle reading texts from earlier activities in
Semester 1.
Integrated  Select a theme for the week.

Task  Provide a set of texts (reading and listening) that provide background knowledge on the theme.
 Next, put students in pairs and give each pair a different text or set of texts that approach your
chosen theme from different angles – use a mix of academic, trade or practitioner texts and
journalism texts.
 Students should use ideas and information from the background texts to critique the ideas and
information in the new texts. Each pair should collaborate to write up their critique taking care to
use the language that clearly distinguishes between the voices of the original authors and the
students’ own voices.
 Pairs should swap texts to provide feedback on the use of critical voice .
 If time permits, hold a class discussion on the different viewpoints expressed in the texts used for
the pair work task.
Weeks Focus: Academic Tone, Language and Vocabulary - Noun Phrases, Cohesion, Vocabulary & Formulaic Phrases– Analysis of a Spoken and
10-11 Written Text
The focus in this block is on academic language and how to achieve an academic tone through the use of appropriate vocabulary, grammatical
structures and formulaic phrases.
Reading  Begin with analysis and comparison of successful and unsuccessful writing to allow students to Use reading texts from past
notice ‘academic tone’ and the component parts. Elicit the following: Reading tasks, texts on the
LOs: R5, R6,
• Noun phrases, NCUK document library and the
R7
• Discourse markers, reading texts included in the
• Language to achieve cohesion, Oxford EAP course book.
• Writing effective topic sentences,
• Active and passive forms,
• Hedging language,
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 Students can read several model texts to record examples of academic language as well as reading
for comprehension.
 Text analysis for the aforementioned linguistic features. This can be followed up with direct
instruction in the writing classes.
Writing Direct instruction of the linguistic features listed in reading above.: Oxford EAP 2B p.031, 3B p. 045,
 Students need the opportunity to write in a supported environment and receive feedback on p.046, 6B p .094, 11B p. 175
LOs: W1, W4 aspects of their writing. This can be peer evaluation, self-evaluation or teacher feedback.
 Whilst short language practice activities have their place in the EAP cla ssroom, language should be http://www.uefap.net/writing/w
contextualised and integrated with other skills where possible. riting-features/writing-features-
formality
Listening  Compare spoken with written academic texts to demonstrate that reading and rote memorisation of Oxford EAP 1C, 2C, 3C, 4C
written texts is not usually appropriate. Examples of short well
LOs: V1  Listen to academic lectures and presentations first for comprehension and then again to ‘notice’ signposted lectures can be
aspects of academic language. found in past Listening exam
papers (Part 3) in the document
library.
Speaking:  Direct instruction on academic features of spoken academic texts followed by the opportunity to
listen to texts and find examples of:
LOs: S5, S6, • Set phrases for introducing, concluding, introducing sections, introducing supporting evidence
V1 and referring to visuals,
• Signposting language for transitions,
• Noun phrases.
 Allowing students to record their own speaking, self-correct and re-record is an important activity.
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Integrated This is a good time for students to develop an integrated piece of writing which can be used as an
Task opportunity to give students detailed feedback on the use of sources, academic language and vocabulary.
 At this stage the task should be short and highly scaffolded with a good deal of teacher support.
Students could work in pairs to share the research.
 Use the NCUK criteria for writing to give detailed feedback.
 Use past reading and listening tasks on the document library to provide source material and top ics.
Weeks 12 Focus: Academic Speaking – Mini Presentation

The focus of this unit is introducing the principles of giving an academic presentation. Students will need to consider how these principles
apply in both face to face and on-line presentations which may or may not be live.
Reading Students can practice reading skills by taking ideas from sources to use in a speaking presentation.
 There are a large number of reading texts in the NCUK past exams stored in the document library.
 Students' textbooks from their subject study can also be used as sources.
Writing Students can look at examples of effective visual support for both live and recorded presentations. Use Speaking familiarisation and
standardisation samples stored
on the document library.
Listening Students can practice listening to lectures to take notes and record the information they will need to There are a large number of
prepare for a presentation. listening texts in the NCUK past
 Students can listen to each other and peer assess their presentations. exams stored in the document
 Use the NCUK speaking grading criteria to allow students to become familiar with them. library.
Speaking: In order to prepare for a practice presentation, students will benefit from a focus on speed of delivery,
https://www.youtube.com/watc
stress and intonation. h?v=kIapQVNq3D4
 They can be introduced to this through noticing activities based on authentic or teaching spoken
texts.
 Comparing good examples with poor examples will help to highlight issues you want to focus on.
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 Learning how to check on correct pronunciation of core vocabulary is also a useful skill to teach.
Integrated Similar to the last block, where students worked on a written text based on sources, it is a good idea to
Task allow students to repeat the process but produce a spoken text in the form of a mini presentation. Through
repeated practice of using sources, students can revisit these core skills but also understand how they can
build towards a spoken output. Again, students could work in pairs. It is important that students learn to
keep practising until they feel prepared and to learn to self-correct and improve their speaking through
reviewing their output by peer review or teacher feedback.
Weeks 13-14 Focus: Formal Formative Coursework
The focus for this block is to bring all the skills learned so far together and allow students the opportunity There are examples of past task
to receive feedback through formal formative assessment. completion in the NCUK
document library but these will
Prior to students working on the coursework, teachers should spend time going through the tasks, and need to be adapted to the new
answering questions on skills and tasks. It is important at this stage that students can see how their prior tasks. All student task guides
learning has prepared them for their assessments. and grading criteria should be
shared with students to make
Students also need the opportunity to receive feedback on their skills and proficiency as t his will enable the assessment process as
them to reflect on their progress so far as well as being able to identify what areas they need to develop transparent as possible.
before their summative assessments. It is strongly recommended that teachers meet individually with each
student to discuss their progress and give them individual feedback on their performance. This will not
only help students but will also lead back into the teaching and learning cycle by allowing teachers time
for reflection and to plan the next semester’s work based on student needs .
This is a suggested block when the formal formative coursework could be set. It may be more appropriate
to set the coursework sooner within the semester. Talk to other subject teachers at the start of the
academic year to decide when may be best for assessments to be set.
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Weeks 15 Focus: Practice Exam & Reflection/Goal Setting Feedback and Individual Tutorials
Integrated The focus for this block is to familiarise students with the format of the NCUK skills exams and to allow
Task students the opportunity to undertake a mock exam. You find it more appropriate to schedule mock exams
in semester 2 rather than at the end of semester 1.
Familiarisation activities should:

 Introduce the various items types used in the different sections of the exam.
 Consider the type of language knowledge or skills knowledge required to complete various items
types - (you should all be able to answer the question - What is this item testing?)
 Give students practice working under timed conditions.
 Provide feedback on performance - (focus on the nature of the student response, rather than the
correct answer as each version of the test will use different input texts and questions).
Use information from the mock exam to provide formative feedback to students and as data for goal setting
for revision and progress in Semester 2.
Semester 2 Using the Outcomes from the Formative Assessment Tasks

The focus of Semester 2 is to consolidate and build on language and skills developed in Semester 1. However, before you can c ontinue to
build, you must first assess the strength of your students' foundational skills. Instruction to address any weakne sses or gaps in language or
skills should be prioritised to ensure that students can benefit from the extension activities recommended in the units that follow.
Review  Review the formative assessment tasks and identify the key skills needed to complete each task,
e.g.,
• Understanding text structure,
• Identifying main ideas in reading/listening texts,
• Synthesising information from multiple texts,
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• Using referencing conventions.
 Review the feedback given to students on the formative coursework tasks via:
• Handwritten feedback,
• Oral feedback in class,
• One-to-one tutorials.
 Identify gaps or weaknesses in language and skills.
 Identify whole class, sub-group and individual needs and use these to plan Semester 2 teaching.
Draw on activities from Semester 1 that you may not have completed or recycle the activities using
different texts.
Extension Use the formative tasks to identify student strengths.

 Review the SLOs targeted in the summative assessment tasks and provide instruction that works
toward achieving those at the highest levels.
 Identify areas where students would benefit from being stretched in Semester 2 to move them into
the next grade bands.
 Work with students to use their performances in the Formative Assessment Tassk to revise or set
new learning goals for Semester 2.
Semester 2 Focus: Organising Writing and Developing an Argument

This block allows students to understand how good writing goes beyond sentence level accuracy and that academic writing requires
preparation and planning to be effective and score the higher grades. Students will require extensive practice in:
 noticing organisation and how it can structure and develop an argument
 using different linguistic devices for achieving this
 planning written texts to address question prompts
 creating detailed plans to address essay prompts
 if time allows, writing parts of or whole texts
 self and peer reviewing of plans or written texts using the NCUK writing criteria
Reading In this block, model essays can be used to model the development of argument in writing: Oxford EAP Units 9A, 5A,
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 First students read the model text for comprehension and to revisit core reading and vocabulary
skills.
 Students then reread the model texts to identify a position and how the supporting evidence is
presented to understand how the argument is developed.
 Students can complete graphic organisers to highlight the development of an argument through the
text.
 Students’ attention should be drawn to the thesis statement and position statement and how this
links to ideas presented throughout the essay.
 Students’ attention should be drawn to the topic sentences and how they are used to d evelop the
argument and link back to the thesis statement.
 Students can identify persuasive language.
 Students read the conclusion to identify the summary of ideas which provide the argument and
match the thesis statement.
 Focus at paragraph level to show how information from different sources is synthesised to create
one body paragraph and identify how sources are referred to.
Writing Suggested activities: Oxford EAP Units 9, 3B, 4B, 5B

 Cut up essays and allow students to order the paragraphs. Ask them what clues they used to
complete this task. Elicit:
• Set phrases e.g., firstly, the second point, next I will,
• Topic sentences which connect paragraphs.
• Thesis statement which sets out the plan e.g. I will examine the factors causing problems then I
will propose recommendations.
 Provide students with an essay and ask students to make a graphic organiser to show how it is
organised
 Ask students to identify the position and argument from model essays or possibly just introductions
 Cut up paragraphs and allow students to order the paragraph. Ask them what clues they used to
complete this task. Elicit:
• Set phrases to:
 Order information,
 Provide examples and supporting evidence,
• Cohesive devices such as:
 Referents: Pronouns and noun phrases using 'this +noun',
 Examine essay conclusions and match to introductions and graphic organisers of the body text .
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 Practice writing conclusions to short essays.
 Take a poorly organised essay and work together as a class to improve the organisation by using the
devices above. This could be done by cutting up the text into segments to reorder and link together
through the linguistic devices practised in this block.
 Practice examining essay/task prompts and writing thesis statements/ graphic organisers to address
the prompt. Discuss how important it is to address all components in a prompt.
 Examine the NCUK writing marking criteria and identify where addressing the tasks is assessed .
 Practice writing topic sentences which develop a position set out in the thesis statement .
 Examine the NCUK criteria for writing and ask students to identify where organisation is assessed .
 Use the NCUK writing marking criteria to assess essays and reports for organisation .
 Introduce persuasive language and set phrases for developing a more persuasive argument.
 Finally, either set students a whole essay task or a prewriting task. Ask them to provide an
introduction, graphic organiser for the body paragraphs and a conclusion. This can be done in pairs
or groups depending on how much time you have. Alternatively, students can organise an actual
writing task they have for a subject.
Semester 2 Focus: Interactive Speaking

Interactive speaking is an important skill which will prepare students for seminars and tutorials at university as well as th e Speaking exam. In
this block, which can be done over 1 or 2 weeks depending on how much research, reading and listening you want students to engage in,
students should receive direct instruction in interactive speaking skills and they can then prepare, practice and take part i n a prepared
academic discussion.
This block would follow on well from the previous writing block where they develop an argument through writing. You could use the same
source materials if you don’t have time for students to research again.
Use of  Students will need to prepare for a tutorial discussion or seminar by researching for information by Subject texts or student
Listening and reading and or/listening. researched texts.
Reading Texts
 Depending on which receptive skills your students need to focus on, you can provide source
material to practice these skills or you can ask them to research their own information.
 Students can practice researching and summarising key ideas and viewpoints as well as building up
supporting evidence to support students’ own positions.
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Oral Skills In order to successfully engage in interactive speaking students will need to practice the following discrete Oxford EAP Units 1A, 2D, 3D, 7D,
Development skills: 9C
 Asking and answering questions,
 Summarising key ideas (their own and others),
 Presenting a main argument and supporting evidence,
 Listening carefully to the contributions of others,
 Acknowledging the position of others,
 Opposing the views of others with supporting evidence,
 Maintaining an academic tone through set phrases and academic vocabulary.
Students will first need to listen and notice how this is done either by teacher modelling or through
watching and listening to good examples.
Integrated  Start by choosing a topic or topics. These can be general academic topics but pr eferably topics
Task: based on or around subject study. They should allow for a position to be taken so that students can
Prepared argue their position and use sources to provide evidence.
Academic  Students can work in pairs to conduct the research but take part in different grou p discussions.
Discussion
 Students will need to read and listen and take notes and summarise to prepare for a discussion. A
good strategy is to assign positions on topics to students to force them to consider the different
positions. In this way you can ensure when the discussion takes place, there are equal number of
viewpoints.
 Produce criteria for peer or teacher review which include:
• Spoken language accuracy, fluency and pronunciation,
• Ability to listen and respond accurately,
• Ability to agree or disagree with viewpoints giving supporting evidence,
• Ability to support position with evidence,
• Academic tone and vocabulary use.
 Tell students they can take notes to the discussion, but they cannot read from their notes.
 Put students into groups of not more than 5-6 to allow all students ample time for speaking and
responding.
 Allow students to record or video their discussion if they want to self-assess their performance.
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Semester 2 Focus: Understanding and Using Sources in Writing
This block introduces students to how the use of external sources improves the effectiveness of a piece of writing. It also considers:
 The variety of purposes writers have for using sources.
 How these different purposes impact on the format of in-text citations.
 The linguistic challenges of integrating information, ideas and language from source texts into one’s own text.
The following tasks are best carried out using shared texts, where everyone has read and understood the content of the source texts. It is
difficult to provide feedback on students’ use of sources that you have not read and understood yourself.
Reading Introduce the purpose of using external sources in one’s own writing. Introduce (or review) in-text citation Oxford EAP Units 9A, 5A
formats and link these to purpose. Model the following activity and then provide another set of readings
for students to practice in small groups.
 Provide students with a shared reading text (Text 1) with comprehension questions to ensure
understanding.
 Provide 3-4 additional texts (Texts 2-5) that cite the shared text.
 Students should skim these texts to get the overall gist.
 Identify where in Texts 2-5 ideas or information from Text 1 have been used.
 Read around each citation to explore why the authors of Texts 2-5 chose to use ideas or
information from Text 1 in their own text.
• Consider how the inclusion of this source made Texts 2-5 more effective.
• Answer the question: what were the authors of Texts 2-5 purposes for using Text 1?
 For each citation, make a note of the format (direct quote, paraphrase, summary) and (integral or
non-integral citation). For integral citations make a note of the reporting verbs used.
 Discuss the relationship between the purposes for citing Text 1 and the different formats used by
the authors of Texts 2-5.
Writing Reporting verbs Oxford EAP Units 9, 3B, 4B, 5B

 Review the list of reporting verbs identified in the reading task.
 Elicit additional reporting verbs that students have come across in other readings (for EAP or their https://www.monash.edu/rlo/re
subjects). search-writing-
 Demonstrate that the choice of reporting verb can indicate: assignments/writing/features-
• How the source author positions herself in relation to the ideas or information in her text,
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• Whether the source user agrees, disagrees or takes a neutral position about the ideas or of-academic-writing/writing-in-
information in the source. your-own-voice
Synthesising ideas and information from external sources with student’s own voice. Simpson-Vlach, R., Ellis, N.
 Demonstrate that effective use of sources requires much more than simply listing ideas and (2010). An Academic Formulas
information from external sources. List: New Methods in
 Provide students with examples of well and poorly synthesised sources. Phraseology Research, Applied
 Demonstrate how to provide clear commentary on the sources they use (how to insert their voice). Linguistics, 31, 4, 487–512.
 Focus on the language used to critically evaluate sources. (Available as a PDF on
GoogleScholar)
Introduce (or review) the following aspects of effective source use:
 The accuracy of the information or ideas borrowed from source texts.
 The effectiveness of the choice of citation format (integral or non-integral).
 The choice of reporting verbs for integral citations (do these accurately reflect the source author’s
stance or attitude towards ideas or information).
 The cohesiveness of the external ideas or information with the rest of the text.
 Evidence of the student’s voice in the text.
 Clear signalling of which content in the text is from a source text and which is original to the
student.
 The grammaticality of quotations, paraphrases or summaries.
 The appropriacy of word/phrase choices to rephrase ideas and information.
Use the above categories to review student texts and provide feedback. Spiral writing activities allow you
to reuse the same texts for multiple purposes and provide opportunities for students to revise texts based
on feedback.
Referencing This activity aims to provide additional practice with the skills learned in Weeks 7 -9 and requires students NCUK Referencing Guide
to have access to a computer.
 The aims are to: http://www.uefap.com/writing/
• Review the purpose of referencing, writfram.htm
• Review the Harvard Referencing system,
• Demonstrate how to format a list of references, University Library websites
• How to find bibliographic information for source texts,
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• How to format bibliographic information into end of text references.
 Prepare a set of source texts representing a range of source types:
• Single authored books,
• Edited books,
• Journal articles,
• Magazines,
• Materials from websites.
 Put the sources in a pile at the front of the classroom. Provide enough sources, so that wo rking in
pairs, students can take turns creating an end of text reference and then returning the source to the
pile.
 At the end of the activity each pair should have created an identical reference list. For a large class,
have two sets to ensure enough sources for all students to work simultaneously
 Show a model List of References using the texts given to the students. Students should compare
with their own.
 Elicit challenges students faced in creating their own Lists of References. Discuss and review where
to find and how to format required information.
 If you have students from different subject streams, it is also useful to bring in texts from different
disciplines (Business, Humanities, Engineering and Science Streams) and compare the use of sources
in different disciplines. Identify what is similar and what is different .
 Discuss why different disciplines take different approaches to source use .
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APPENDIX B – COURSEWORK
ASSESSMENT GUIDANCE
In this appendix you will find additional guidance on aspects of the formative and summative assessments
for EAP.
READING-INTO-WRITING
The Formative Reading Task
The formative reading task focuses on the demonstration of critical reading through the annotation of texts.
This will allow students to show how they can approach decoding and critically responding to an extended
academic text. The summary task is where students can show their understanding of the text as well as the
critical skill of assessing which parts of the text are relevant for their essay question. The synthesis section
is where students demonstrate the critical skill of synthesising different sources. In this section students
should both identify the links across the texts as well as being able to identify the nature of the relationship
of ideas between the texts.
Annotations
There are several types of annotations that are useful to teach students which will help them show
engagement with the text:
 It is important that solid vocabulary work is a feature of students’ annotations. Understanding text
starts with the bottom-up approach of understanding words. It is important that students move beyond
translation and that they also ‘notice’ and research how a word collocates and how it is used in the
context of the text. They can include information from a dictionary as part of their annotations. It is
also important that students are able to recognise when a word is important and therefore to give it
attention and when a word is low-frequency, and it is not appropriate to spend time on.
 When annotating and clarifying vocabulary, it is critical that students do not simply translate unknown
words but can rather clarify a chunk in their own words. For instance, how ‘emerging is captured in this
example:
 It is extremely useful for students to summarise and paraphrase ideas and information in the text as
they work through it. This will help them to follow the text while also helping to scaffold their effective
use of the source in their final writing.
 Comments on the text should ideally take the form of a conversation with the ideas in the text. Here
students can express their response to the ideas in the text e.g. agreement or di sagreement with ideas,
surprise, recognition and understanding. For example:
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The reflection/response within the Summary and Synthesis table is key to students being able to eventually
answer the ‘evaluate’ essay question. Once students have understood the texts by annotating, summarising,
and synthesising them, they can make notes on what they think about the ideas by drawing on their own
experiences and knowledge. This part of the table is not assessed for reading but is a scaffold for the w riting.
The Formative Writing Task

This task aims to follow on from the scaffolded reading task to model to students how to approach a piece
of academic writing based on information from source material. If students have successfully highlighted and
summarised/paraphrased key ideas from the reading texts and made successful links between the texts, they
have an appropriate basis from which to write a successful short expository response to the essay topic.
It is important that the mechanics of writing from sources and producing an effective short essay are focused
on. This will require teaching on the following aspects:
 Citations and references:
• Using sources to support information and ideas through paraphrase, quotation and summary
(they should have the information in the summary and synthesis table).
• Correctly citing sources in the text.
• Producing accurate references.
• Producing a correctly formatted reference list.
 Adding a ‘critical voice’ to their writing by:
• Evaluating sources.
• Synthesising sources (they should have the information in the summary and synthesis table).
• Using evaluative reporting verbs.
• Bringing in relevant reflections from experience and knowledge.
 Writing an effective introduction with a clear thesis statement.
 Using topic sentences to provide a focus for paragraphs.
 Writing an effective conclusion which is consistent with the evidence presented in the body
paragraphs and clearly answers the question.
Feedback to students
One of the aims of the formative task is to provide feedback to students on how well they have met the
learning outcomes. Comments on the grading sheet should therefore include a clear indication of what
students can do to improve these skills, as well as comments on the performance in this task.
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The Summative Reading Task
The Reading task focuses on demonstration of critical reading through a relevant summary, synthesis, and
response to the texts. This will allow students to show how they approach decoding and criticall y responding
to extended academic reading. Some aspects of the Reading Task are assessed, some are not.
Assessed
The Selective Summary Table is where students can show their understanding of the texts in relation to
specific themes and to their essay question. Although a brief summary of the main idea of each text has been
given, this does not replace the detailed summaries that each student needs to produce in order to
demonstrate a full understanding of relevant ideas in each text. The summary table has been pre-populated
to indicate the themes that each text addresses, but students will need to actively summarise each theme.
Their summaries are opportunities to demonstrate the critical skill of selecting parts of a text relevant for
their essay question.
The Essay Plan is where students demonstrate the critical skill of synthesising different sources. In this
section students should demonstrate links across the texts as well as identify the relationship of ideas in the
texts (for example, are two texts making the same, a different or extended point about a particular theme?).
As the essay plan is part of the summative assessment, students must not be given feedback on what they
have written. Give students plenty of opportunity before this assessment to practice producing plans and
feedback on them.
Not Assessed
Annotations: students should be expected to annotate the three provided texts to help them complete their
Selective Summary Table. Based on their formative assessment and their feedback, they should be aware
that the purpose of annotations is to ensure memory recall, understanding, and active reading. Annotations
are not assessed in the summative reading coursework because they are a means to an end; to decode and
critically engage with their understanding of the three source texts.
The reflection/response is key to students being able to eventually answer the ‘evaluate’ and ‘suggest’ essay
question. Once students have understood the texts by annotating, summarising, and synthesising them, they
can make notes on what they think about the ideas by drawing on their informed evaluations, experiences
and knowledge.
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LISTENING-INTO-SPEAKING
The Formative Listening-into-Speaking Task
The formative listening-into-speaking task focuses on the demonstration of listening comprehension through
the production of an oral summary of a lecture and by the response to a specific question. Speaking ability
is measured by providing students with the opportunity to talk clearly and effectively about what they have
heard in a presentation format.
Notetaking
Effective notetaking is essential part of undergraduate study. Within the formative and summative listening-
into-speaking assessments, the ability to take relevant and useful notes will allow students to summarise,
synthesise and respond to questions with a fuller understanding of the texts involved. Students should have
ample opportunities to practice notetaking throughout their study when both reading and listening. Several
key points to consider when looking at note taking with students in class:
 Develop an awareness of lecture cues and signposting language to help learners follow the ideas and
organisation of lectures, conversations and podcasts. This will also help them when revisiting audio
material to identify sections of importance. Give learners the opportunity to hear and investigate these
cues in context with a focus on how the language is pronounced (stress, elision, etc.) to aid in
recognition when listening.
 Ensure students feel confident when taking notes in their preferred style. This will help them focus on
what they are listening to (or reading) rather than the process of taking notes in itself.
 Support learners with the organisation and formatting of their notes. While the re are many styles and
approaches that could be used, students must also ensure that they are understandable when they
come to revisit them. Simple techniques could include:
• Recording notes on the left page of a notebook, leaving the right page blank for corrections,
clarifications or additional thoughts.
• Leaving space between lines.
• Consistent use of colour when highlighting information.
 Encourage students to re-listen to lectures and audio materials and to go back to their notes, adding
further detail as required. Students may need support in reflecting upon their initial notes to identify
areas where further information is needed.
Presentation
Students should be given opportunity to build up their presentation abilities throughout the course with a
gradual increase in the length and complexity of what they are being asked to present. Guidance, practice
and feedback on the logistics and delivery of presentations will allow for greater clarity and coherence in
the delivery of ideas. Support students by:
 Investigating the use of slides and how to make them effective:
• The use of limited and precise text to highlight ideas.
• The restricted use of visuals to support key points.
• Overall format, design and layout of slides.
 Looking at the physical delivery of the presentation, particularly the differences involved in video and
face-to-face presentations. This could include:
• Body language and facial expressions when addressing the audience.
• The use of voice (speed, volume and enunciation) to articulate points in addition to general
pronunciation.
• The use of effective notes and cue cards.
 Practising the pacing and timings of delivery.
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The PechaKucha approach to presentations can be a useful tool in introducing students to the restrictions
of time and structure they may be dealing with the first time.
Feedback to students
One of the aims of the formative task is to provide feedback to students on how well they have met the
learning outcomes. Use the recordings of students’ presentations as a way to introduce feedback which is
led by the reflections of the student. Although initially awkward, helping students to feel comfortable with
self-evaluation (and the self-evaluation of their recorded selves) will give help build independence and
support overall noticing of areas where improvement is needed.
The Summative Listening-into-Speaking Task

The summative listening-into-speaking task focuses on the demonstration of listening comprehension
through the production of an oral summary of a lecture and by the synthesis of two audio and one written
text in response to a specific topic. Speaking ability is measured by providing students with the opportunity
to talk clearly and effectively about what they have heard in a presentation format.
Synthesis
Synthesis is another key skill demanded by undergraduate study and will arise in various contexts (essays,
discussions, lectures etc) as is required by both the listening-into-speaking and reading-into-writing
assessments. While the ability to synthesise ideas will take time for students to develop, they can be made
aware of it early into the course. One way that students can be made more of aware of synthesis is by
investigating what synthesis is not.
Command words
The following command words are used in both the formative and the summative tasks. These are specific
to NCUK assessments and expectations.
Define: give the meaning of a word, distinguishing it from closely related subjects, sometimes by examples
and illustrations or by providing some context and background.
Discuss: investigate, present, and reflect on the different aspects of a problem or subject, usually in support
of a position or argument.
Evaluate: appraise or estimate the worth or extent of something, judge or calculate the quality, importance,
amount or value of something. To some extent, this involves an informed personal opinion.
Explain: account for a subject's character, causes, results, implications etc., by clearly stating and interpreting
the relevant details.
Identify: list, state, name, select, recognise.
Outline: give the main features or general principles of a subject leaving out minor details.
Show: demonstrate by example or evidence or implication.
Suggest: recommend or propose based on evidence. Apply knowledge and understanding to situations where
there are a range of valid responses to make proposals/put forward considerations.
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Syllabus Update History:
NCUK International Foundation Year
English for Academic Purposes Teacher Guide
Release Version Summary of Main Changes Author

Date No.
June 2021 1.0 • New document to support V3.0 of the IFY EAP syllabus Product Team
This syllabus is valid for the 2021-22 academic year only.
© NCUK Ltd. 2021 61

NCUK – The University Consortium
76 King Street, Manchester, M2 4NH, United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)161 549 9220
www.ncuk.ac.uk
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ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC

Extended Learning Outcomes ............................................................................................................................. 3

Level Descriptors ............................................................................................................................................... 23

Further Resources .............................................................................................................................................. 27

Appendix A - Exemplar Teaching Plan ............................................................................................................. 30

Appendix B – Coursework Assessment Guidance .......................................................................................... 56

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R2 - ESTABLISH A SPECIFIC PURPOSE FOR READING A TEXT

SKILLS: As part of this learning outcome

R3 - READ FOR GENERAL MEANING TO ASSESS RELEVANCE AND EVALUATE TEXT

SKILLS: As part of this learning outcome

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R4 - EMPLOY EFFECTIVE READING STRATEGIES TO UNDERSTAND DETAILED MEANING

SKILLS: As part of this learning outcome

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R7 - FOLLOW THE ORGANISATION AND STRUCTURE OF AN ARGUMENT IN TEXTS

SKILLS: As part of this learning outcome

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Use a range of different notetaking

R9 - UTILISE A RANGE OF STRATEGIES FOR DEALING WITH UNKNOWN WORDS

SKILLS: As part of this learning outcome

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W2 - UNDERSTAND PARAGRAPH AND ESSAY STRUCTURE TO ORGANISE WRITING EFFECTIVELY

SKILLS: As part of this learning outcome

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W3 - WRITE DIFFERENT TYPES OF ACADEMIC TEXTS

SKILLS: As part of this learning outcome

W4 - PLAN, DRAFT, WRITE, EDIT, PROOFREAD, AND RE-WRITE

SKILLS: As part of this learning outcome

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W6 - PARAPHRASE AND SYNTHESISE TEXTS TO SUPPORT ACADEMIC WRITING

SKILLS: As part of this learning outcome

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W7 - USE NOTES TO SUMMARISE ACCURATELY

SKILLS: As part of this learning outcome

W8 - DEVELOP AN ARGUMENT IN A TEXT

SKILLS: As part of this learning outcome

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W9 - DEVELOP AN INFORMED CRITICAL AND REFLECTIVE VOICE/RESPONSE IN WRITTEN WORK

SKILLS: As part of this learning outcome

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L5 - UNDERSTAND HOW A LECTURE CAN BE STRUCTURED, PARAPHRASED AND RECAPPED

SKILLS: As part of this learning outcome

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SKILLS: As part of this learning outcome

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S3 - SUMMARISE AND REFORMULATE IDEAS IN SEMINARS AND/OR DISCUSSIONS

SKILLS: As part of this learning outcome

S4 – CONTRIBUTE TO A GROUP DISCUSSION OF IDEAS AND CONCEPTS

SKILLS: As part of this learning outcome

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S5 – NEGOTIATE MEANING AND OUTCOMES THROUGH PARTICIPATION IN A GROUP DISCUSSION

SKILLS: As part of this learning outcome

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S7 - USE PRONUNCIATION, STRESS AND INTONATION TO PRODUCE COMPREHENSIBLE SPEECH

SKILLS: As part of this learning outcome

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