English is often called the language of opportunities as it is one of the most widely spoken languages. Learning the English language can provide a host of great professional and personal opportunities. Individuals choose to learn a language for various purposes. While some learn English for their international trips, international students often look towards improving their English to advance their careers and make better career prospects. For various reasons, many universities offer specially designed language courses, such as English for Academic Purposes, especially for students to facilitate their admission into foreign universities.
English for Academic Purposes is different from casual English as it involves grammar, writing norms, and vocabulary. These might be challenging for some learners. The challenges or obstacles can be overcome with experts’ and certified instructors’ help and support. Keep reading this article as we discuss ways to overcome the 4 biggest obstacles of English for Academic Purposes:
1. In formulating complex sentence structure in EAP
The first thing that appears complex about academic writing is the complex sentence structure that makes up most papers, articles, and essays. The simple reason behind it is that academic English prefers and favors lengthy sentences that can effectively convey a complex idea.
Practicing is the best way to get hold of writing complex but meaningful sentences. Using clauses can help you write long sentences, but you must know how to use punctuation to separate your clause. If you find writing long sentences challenging, you must check the common syntax mistakes that impede long sentence formations.
2. Building intricate vocabulary
Vocabulary in English for academic purposes is not only complex but very particular with individual areas of study. Biology, physics, linguistics, and physiology have their terms and abbreviations. Students learning English might find this tricky to understand. To overcome this obstacle, you can start with books that help you increase your vocabulary. But, reading books in your discipline can help you improve the vocabulary of your particular domain, which will help you professionally.
3. Conjuction is omnipresent
Academic speakers and writers are experts in using conjunctions because without using them, writing long sentences is nearly impossible. If you find it difficult to use conjunctions in your sentences, you can prepare a list of conjunctions for ready reference and use it while constructing long sentences.
Practicing writing long sentences using conjunctions is an excellent way to learn to add conjunction without stuffing the sentence. Using conjunction is an indispensable writing skill, especially in English for Academic Purposes.
4. Producing logical argument structures
The purpose of English for Academic Purposes is to present a thesis or an argument formally and convincingly. It is one thing common in papers, presentations, lectures, essays, and even in books. They typically rely on logical and clear writing to support theories, present ideas and offer solutions to the problem they intend to address in a paper.
This is one of the biggest obstacles EAP students encounter. To overcome this obstacle, students can practice these things:
- Before starting the essay, think about the essay as a whole and then narrow it down into several clear ideas;
- Writing an outline before doing the final draft often offers you a structure that allows you to cover all ideas while checking if the arguments flow logically;
- Adding an introduction and conclusion is often the best way to summarize your ideas. It also adds flow to your work;
Conclusion
The English for Academic Purposes program, also popularly known as the EAP program, is as simple as they sound. It is a tailor-made course for non-native English speakers and individuals who find the language difficult to comprehend. EAP programs are prevalent in countries like Canada, where English is the language of instruction in higher education. Canada also hosts the nearly largest number of international students every year. Thus, the EAP course facilitates non-English-speaking students an opportunity to develop their language proficiency. So, hurry up and enroll in an EAP program in a top-notch Canadian institution!
