Teaching English for Academic Purposes Through Project-Based Learning Method and Process Writing Approach

Abstract

English for Academic Purposes (EAP) has gained more prominence in the field of English Language Teaching (ELT) since its initiation in the 1980s. In Malaysia, a country where English is its second language, EAP is widely taught in many tertiary institutions. This is due to its main aim which is to focus on the communicative skills needed for academic purposes in formal educational settings to accomplish academic tasks such as delivering presentations, participating in academic discussions as well as writing academic and research essays. At USIM, EAP BIA3012 is a compulsory course introduced with the aim to develop students’ English proficiency and provide students with appropriate skills demanded in completing academic tasks at the tertiary level. The EAP course conducted at USIM employs the project-based learning (PBL) method, coupled with the process writing approach. This paper describes the application of both approaches in the implementation of EAP. The research project assigned to students will be explicated through its anatomy or structure according to PBL. Additionally, process writing, an approach to teaching writing that allows the students to undergo a journey of co-constructing texts under the guidance of the teachers, will also be clearly explained.  In particular, this paper will outline the complicated and non-linear nature of writing shown through these elements—generating ideas, focusing, reviewing, evaluating, structuring, drafting—which are taught and completed through a project assigned to students.