English for Academic Purposes at Udine University: An Ends Approach

Abstract

English for Academic Purposes (EAP) has become a major field of teaching and research in recent years. Traditionally, EAP courses have based their curricula on needs analyses to determine beforehand what specific students want to learn from them. It is, however, argued here that it is often more constructive to start from an ends analysis as this tends to encourage an experiential rather than merely technical learning process. This article focuses on the EAP courses at Udine University. In a typical module, an initial reading on a topic leads, via a variety of skill and language work, to close questioning of basic concepts and a final role play applying such ideas in practice. Feedback from students suggests that – with some fine-tuning of grammar and skills – such an approach helps them develop their own ideas while acquiring the academic skills they need on the way. EAP thus avoids being a mere technical exercise, becoming instead a lived experience.

DOI: 10.4424/lam52016-6