A Study of a Teacher''s Beliefs in a Course of English for Academic Purposes

• Main Authors: Chung-hsien Wu, 吳忠憲
• Other Authors: Chuan-hsiu Hung
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2008
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/08213984812079114426

碩士 === 雲林科技大學 === 應用外語系碩士班 === 96 === This study describes a teacher’s beliefs in a course of English for academic purposes (EAP), with a focus on elucidating the elements that evolve as a result of the curriculum design and the students’ interpretations of the classroom interactions in an EAP course. By using the qualitative method of purposeful sampling, one teacher participant, along with seven student participants in a course entitled Senior Thesis Writing offered in a general university located in central Taiwan, were selected to participate in this study. In order to capture a holistic understanding of the teacher’s beliefs, qualitative procedures were employed to analyze the collected data, including classroom observations, ethnographic interviewing, and archives of documents. The analysis of the data was mainly centered upon (1) the nature and instructional framework of the teaching practice in an EAP course, (2) the primary components that constituted the teacher participant’s beliefs in an EAP course, (3) the major elements that evolved as a result of the teacher’s curriculum design in an EAP course, and (4) student participants’ interpretations towards the classroom interactions in an EAP course. Major findings derived and developed from these aforementioned foci were provided as follows. The first finding of the study was identified as the “Framework of the EAP Teaching Practice”, whose embedded conceptualizations were to account for the wide range of perspectives relevant to this EAP course. Secondly, three primary components that constituted the teacher’s beliefs in an EAP course were respectively identified: (1) pedagogical underpinnings, (2) teacher’s mindset, and (3) classroom interactions. Next, three major elements that evolved as a result of the curriculum design of this EAP course referred to: (1) teacher’s professional traits, (2) teacher’s roles, and (3) constraints. In this study, dynamic classroom interactions took place in this EAP course. Both positive and negative aspects of student participants’ viewpoints were revealed. The positive aspects included (1) knowledge construction, (2) social interactions, (3) genuine improvement in critical thinking, reading, and writing, (4) efficacy of corrective feedback, and (5) overt advances in presentation skills, while the negative counterparts were (1) unparalleled grouping and participation, (2) less lecturing on supplementary handouts, and (3) language medium and covert distractions. Lastly, a conceptual map entitled the “Circular Model of the Instructions in a Course of English for Academic Purposes” was constructed to illustrate the complex features and all the integrated working elements relevant to the teacher participant’s beliefs as well as the teaching practice of this EAP course. Overall, the findings shed the light on future English teachers hosting a course of English for Academic Purposes. Recommendations of the study thus focus on: (1) an EAP teacher’s expertise and proficiency help conquer the challenges in an EAP course, (2) the optimal teaching materials for an EAP course lie in the hands of the teacher, (3) instantaneous modifications of the teacher’s role are essentially significant to the success of an EAP course, (4) productive classroom interactions in an EAP course successfully facilitate academic writing.