Whether you’re an experienced practitioner or just moving into the field, our Teaching English for Academic Purposes (TEAP) courses can help you develop your knowledge, engage with sector peers, and prepare for further accreditation.

We are currently offering two TEAP courses:

• Moving into English for Academic Purposes – an intensive one-week professional development course that will take place on campus in June 2024.
• Leading in English for Academic Purposes – a flexible, low-commitment course that will take place online and in person between February and November 2024.

Moving into English for Academic Purposes (EAP)

This intensive, week-long course is designed to help teachers deepen their knowledge of English for Academic Purposes (EAP). Our expert staff will help course participants to understand the key teaching and learning principles of EAP. Participants will be able to share ideas, reflect and ask questions.

The course is aimed at people who have some teaching experience, such as:

• ‘English as a foreign language’ teachers who are looking to work on UK pre-sessional courses
• EAP practitioners operating outside the UK who are looking to explore alternative approaches
• EAP practitioners who are in the early stages of their careers
• further education and secondary school teachers
• librarians and teachers of study skills.

Course content

On this course, you will be immersed in core EAP theory and discourse. You will learn practical approaches to teaching and materials design, and will develop ideas for planning and delivery in your specific context.

You will explore various approaches to academic text analysis and discover how to apply these in your own work. You will review research-based EAP teaching practices, and try them out in peer-observed ‘micro-teaching’ activities. You will also learn about key differences between teaching English for ‘general academic purposes’ and ‘specific academic purposes’.

During this course, you will have many opportunities to share and test ideas with peers. Our course tutors, who are experienced EAP practitioners and course designers themselves, will also be on hand to offer insight and guidance.

Time commitment, structure and dates

This one-week, full-time course will take place on the University of Bristol campus. You will need to attend in person from 10 to 14 June 2024. The days will start at 9.30 am and end at 4.30 pm.

Assessment and accreditation

This course is not assessed or formally accredited. However, the course maps onto Associate Fellow level BALEAP TEAP accreditation. As such, it can help you make progress towards Associate Fellow accreditation, if that is something you are pursuing.

Class size

We will keep the class size to between 10 and 16, to maximise discussion between participants and interactions with staff.

We will need a minimum of 10 people in order to run this course. We will let applicants know whether the course will be running by 17 May 2024.

Eligibility

To be eligible for this course, you will need some form of teaching experience – for instance, ‘English as a foreign language’ teaching, workshop delivery, or secondary school teaching.

How and when to apply

We will be accepting applications from 10 April 2024 until 12 noon on 17 May 2024. Please complete our Moving into EAP application form.

Costs

This course costs £499. For individual BALEAP members, we are offering a 20% discount (institutional members are not eligible).

We are unable to offer any accommodation for this TEAP course. Tutors who will be teaching on our summer pre-sessional cannot arrive at their University accommodation early. You will need to pay for your own travel to and private accommodation in Bristol. Please do not book your accommodation or travel tickets until we have confirmed your course is running.

We won’t ask you to print or buy any books for this course.

Leading in English for Academic Purposes (EAP)

Applications for this course are currently closed.

This is a structured but highly flexible course for leaders in the EAP field. It will give you a rare opportunity to engage deeply with peers and build a community of practice, sharing expertise on the four areas of TEAP criteria. Through online and on-campus interactions, you will work together in personalised ‘constructive alignment’ (Biggs, 1999) on prompts of your collective choosing.

The course is aimed at people who have a great deal of EAP experience and day-to-day responsibility. Perhaps you occupy a demanding leadership role and do not have time for a full-time course, but would benefit greatly from the opportunity to develop your practice with a cohort of peers.

This course will provide structure, accountability and motivation, guiding you on an exploration of your chosen prompts. Your learning from the course will feed into your work at your institution and your work will feed into your learning. In the spirit of a socio-constructivist approach, you will benefit from both the expertise of your peers and the expertise of facilitating staff.

Course content

The course will consist of four cycles, each corresponding to one of the four areas of BALEAP TEAP criteria: planning and design, teaching and learning, assessment and feedback, and scholarship and development.

During each cycle, our staff will orient everyone to the relevant area of BALEAP TEAP criteria, providing resources and a roadmap for engagement. Participants will form small groups, negotiating 'prompts' that will guide their learning. You will be encouraged to tailor your own journey, aligning both structure and subject to your needs.

Time commitment, structure and dates

This course is designed with busy EAP practitioners in mind and has a low minimum time-commitment. You will be expected to attend:

• two full-day sessions on the University of Bristol campus
• six two-hour online sessions.

However, beyond this minimum requirement, your group can tailor the level of engagement to suit the needs and time-constraints of its members.

The course will begin with an in-person session on 1 March 2024 and end with an in-person session on 15 November 2024. The six online sessions will take place at regular intervals in between. Both in-person and online sessions will be facilitated by a senior member of our teaching staff.

Assessment and accreditation

Assessment will be dialogic and ongoing, driven by you as participants. You will receive constructive feedback from expert peers, thereby gaining insight into how to continue developing your EAP practices.

This course is not formally accredited. However, you will gain professional insights and a deeper understanding of TEAP criteria. You will also build a community of practice with respected peers. All this will help you on the path towards BALEAP TEAP accreditation, if this is something you are pursuing.

Group size

In total, the number of people on the course will be between 16 and 20. However, you will usually be working in smaller groups of four or five people. These smaller groups may rotate throughout the year.

We will need a minimum of 12 people in order to run this course. We will let applicants know whether the course will be running by 31 January 2024.

Eligibility

This course relies on all participants being able to contribute with a high level of expertise. For this reason, we will only accept people who are working at Senior Fellow level (HEA or TEAP). While you do not need to have a formal qualification, you must be able to demonstrate a suitable level of experience.

For more information on the requirements of Senior Fellow level, please consult the BALEAP TEAP handbook.

How and when to apply

We will be accepting applications from December 2023 to 12 noon on 31 January 2024. Applications for this course are currently closed. 

Costs

This course will be offered at a special discount rate of £299 for this year only.

We will not be able to offer you University accommodation for the two in-person sessions. You will need to pay for your own travel to and private accommodation in Bristol. Please do not book your accommodation or travel tickets until we have confirmed your course is running.

We won’t ask you to print or buy any books for this course.