English for Academic Purposes (EAP) in UK higher education: examining the impact of EAP’s position within the academy on service delivery, identity and quality.
This paper will outline a forthcoming PhD project exploring the provision of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) services in UK higher education institutions. Neoliberalism in UK universities has contributed to the extent and importance of EAP, but has also led to many challenges for staff and service delivery, including where EAP is located in HE structures. The study will examine EAP’s position, focusing on questions relating to its role, how EAP practitioners operate, the impact of the position of EAP, and improvement strategies. Three EAP units in different structural positions in higher education will be examined and data will be considered in the light of Bourdieu’s theories of ‘field’, ‘habitus’, ‘capital’ and 'symbolic violence'. It is hoped that the study will shed light on why EAP services are positioned as they are, how this impacts on quality, and how they can reposition to provide more benefit to the academy
