SLIDE 1 Beyond the EAP Border into Graduate Studies: Cross-institutional Curricular Models
Jin Kim, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Nigel Caplan, University of Delaware English Language Institute
SLIDE 2 Agenda
- 1. Consortium on Graduate Communication (CGC)
- 2. Characteristics of major assignments and student needs
- 3. Recommendations for course designers
SLIDE 3
A professional community of graduate communication specialists Founded 2014 >450 members in 25+ countries Active email list http://gradconsortium.wordpress.com
SLIDE 4 Course Syllabus Project
21 universities Mostly U.S.
Cross- disciplinary Specific purposes (ESP) Total
Writing (W) 20 6 26 Speaking/Oral (S) 3 3 Integrated skills (W/S) 4 4 8
SLIDE 5 Overview of Major Assignments
1) Research-related (90%) 2) Source-based (48%) 3) Other short writing (57%)
- 2. Oral Assignments
- 3. Professionalization Assignments
Refer to your handout!
SLIDE 6
Assigned in 90% of all W and S/W courses 1.Research paper (48%) 2.Annotated bibliography (40%) 3.Literature review (22%) 4.Individualized (22%) 5.Research proposal (18.5%)
Top 5 Research-related Writing Assignments
SLIDE 7
Assigned in 48% of all W and S/W courses 1.Critique/article review (23%) 2.Summary (13%) 3.Argumentative paper (10%)
Top 3 Source-based Writing Assignments
SLIDE 8
Other Writing Assignments
Assigned in 57% of all W and S/W courses 1.Reflections (30%) 2.Blogging (13%) 3.Vocabulary journal (10%) 4.Project proposal (10%)
SLIDE 9
Student Needs: Top 1-5 Writing Tasks (UIUC data)
SLIDE 10
Student Needs: Top 6-10 Writing Tasks (UIUC data)
SLIDE 11
Top 5 Challenging Writing Tasks (UIUC)
SLIDE 12 Other Findings
Students in advanced stages of their degrees:
- Have more diverse writing experiences
- Find research papers and lit reviews more challenging
- Tend to be more satisfied with ESL courses
Compared to STEM, SSHA students write:
- Fewer research proposals, tech reports, and abstracts
- More reflective essays and case-based writing
SLIDE 13 Oral Assignments
Assigned in 41% out of all CGC courses (n=13 out of 32) 1.Oral presentation (100%)
- a. Topics: Research, culture, data commentary, definition of a
term, business communication, article review, design
- b. Format: Conference style, individual or group assignments,
whole-class and/or poster
- 2. Elevator speech (6.5%)
3.Other: debate, leading a discussion
SLIDE 14
Top 5 Speaking Tasks (UIUC) Data)
SLIDE 15
Top 5 Speaking Challenges
(UIUC Data)
Giving presentations at conferences 45% Asking and answering questions in a job interview 44% Leading discussions 42% Participating in whole-class discussions 42% Giving presentations in class 36%
SLIDE 16 Professionalization Assignments
- Interview with scholars/mentors (6)
- CV (3)
- Application letters (3)
- Bio (2)
Other: Digital story telling, department seminar analysis, memo, professional development activity report
SLIDE 17
A Case (Study) in Point: MBA
Faculty survey, n = 28 University of Delaware Lerner School of Business 23 tasks 1 = not important ←→ 5 very important
SLIDE 18
MBA: Importance of Skills
Rank Domain Rating (s.d.) 1 Listening 4.58 (.48) 2 Reading 4.17 (1.04) 3 Speaking 4.14 (.92) 4 Culture 3.71 (1.12) 5 Writing 3.69 (1.37)
SLIDE 19 Implications
- 1. Meeting diverse students’ needs across disciplines by
a. Having students choose final projects (e.g., a paper for another course, publication, thesis)
- b. Requiring interviews/meetings with mentors in their
field c. Having Ss Collect writing models from their field
- d. Aligning assignments with their identified needs
SLIDE 20 Implications
- 2. Making our communication classes more relevant
- a. Integrate professionalization assignments
- b. Create authentic assignments/environments for
communication
- c. Take advantage of the cross-disciplinary course setting
SLIDE 21 Implications
- 3. Support oral communication as well as writing
79% of CGC universities offer writing classes 49% offer oral communication classes (Caplan & Cox, 2016)
- 4. Differentiate support (Caplan & Cox, 2016)
PhD vs Master’s Pre-matriculation, coursework, proposal, thesis
SLIDE 22 Coming soon …!
University of Michigan Press May 2016 Summer Institute 2016 “Bridging English Language Teaching and Writing Studies in Supporting All Graduate Writers” June 9 - 11 Yale University http://gradconsortium.wordpress.com
SLIDE 23
Questions?
SLIDE 24 [Extra Slide] Student Needs: Writing skills (UIUC)
Logical development of ideas and arguments 37% Synthesizing ideas from different sources or data 30% Developing research questions or thesis 29% Using appropriate vocabulary 29% Reading and understanding sources 23%
