July 9, 2009 – An amazing jump of 50 per cent in enrollment in the Faculty of Education’s English for Academic Purposes (EAP) program is the result of a three-year overhaul to the program.

"We are continually growing and changing to meet the needs of U of C students," explains Interim Director Dr. Anuradha Sengupta.

Among these changes were the introduction of a new curriculum, an exemption to the Effective Writing Test for students earning a final grade of B+, and the hiring of instructors possessing both graduate degrees in language education and years of post-secondary teaching experience.

Consisting of three tiers each running thirteen weeks, EAP helps students gain fluency in the English language in an academic environment while preparing them to satisfy the English Language Proficiency (ELP) requirements for admission to both undergraduate and graduate programs.

But don’t get the idea that EAP is simply English as a Second Language training by another name.

"There was a gap between English as a Second Language programs and this program; a gap between functional and academic English," says Sengupta.

EAP bridges this gap, teaching students to compose university level papers, improve their reading and listening comprehension and apply critical thinking skills through such techniques as formal academic compositions, observing undergraduate or graduate lectures in other faculties and oral presentations.

"I definitely would not be so successful if I had not studied in EAP," says former student Dr. Yulia Mochalova who enrolled in the program at the urging of her son after immigrating to Canada.

"EAP is not only about English; it also teaches international students how to survive at the university," she adds.

The difference between EAP and ESL is most apparent in this commitment to preparing students to pursue post-secondary degrees through its use of an inquiry based approach which fosters research skills and initiative.

Dr. Mochalova, a medical doctor in her home country of Russia, was with the program for three months before successfully applying to the Faculty of Nursing.

Kohei Tanaka is another student who benefitted from this approach.

Kohei Tanaka

"I was shy to speak English," he says, "but after the EAP course I have more confidence."

Confidence enough to become the first EAP graduate to present a research paper at an international conference this past October; a far cry from the student who had to ask classmates to explain his professors instructions when he first arrived at the U of C.

Originally from Nagoya, Japan, Tanaka, an Earth Science major, came to Alberta to study the evolution and extinction of dinosaurs.

Having now satisfied the ELP, Tanaka hopes to get his PhD in Calgary but before that he will again present his research at a conference in Montana.

Maybe the dinosaurs did not survive but thanks to the people at EAP, international students like Dr. Mochalova and Tanaka surely will.