This article examines the language-related challenges that first-year students face when adjusting to the demands of English-medium higher education in Hong Kong. The article is based on the findings of a longitudinal study which tracked the university careers of 28 students from a range of backgrounds via in-depth, semi-structured interviews…

An increasing number of European students are taking advantage of Erasmus mobility programs to study in a foreign country. This has brought to the forefront their special needs as L2 learners, which presents some unique challenges for EAP/ESP researchers and practitioners working in European universities. A case in point is represented by problems…

Demonstrates the difficulty that English-as-a-second-language students experience in comprehending academic lectures, explores the lexical phrases that occur in several representative academic lectures and categorizes them in terms of the discourse functions they perform, and suggests ways of teaching such lexical phrases and functional categories…

Considers the role of interactive lecturing styles within the context of the Edinburgh University MBA program. Examples show a variety of ways of including student oral participation within the lecture framework. (Author/VWL)

Reports findings of ethnographic research into second-language lectures conducted at a university in Hong Kong. Six sociocultural features of second-language lectures are discussed: purposes of lectures, roles of lecturers, styles of lecturing, simplification, listener behavior, and humor. (31 references) (Author/CK)

Reports on a study exploring patterns of discourse organization in seminar-type discussions. Analysis was made of patterns of sequential organization in discussions between English for academic purposes students in university seminars in the United Kingdom. Analysis revealed two patterns of organization: simple exchanges of pre-formed ideas and…

Presents a range of insights that can be gained for English for Academic Purposes (EAP) listening comprehension pedagogy from the analysis of an authentic lecture. Notes that the salient features identified in the lecture are absent from academic listening textbooks surveyed and argues that EAP listening instructors need to supplement their texts…