EAP curriculum development in the context of Australia: Voices from stakeholders

Abstract

Courses in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) play an important part in higher education in Australia, which has a large international student population. While researchers have investigated the needs and perceptions of students taking EAP courses at Australian universities, they rarely take account of the perspectives of stakeholders at all levels. In this lecture, I present the preliminary findings from a study investigating an EAP curriculum redevelopment project undertaken by an Australian university. The study involves a range of data sources, including interviews with members of the management, faculty members, course writers, teachers and students, together with various types of documentation and curriculum artifacts. Using concepts from activity theory, it will be shown that curriculum development in an institutional setting is a complex and dynamic activity which needs to respond to a number of economic, political, technological and pedagogical considerations. I discuss also some implications of these findings for EAP research and pedagogy.