English for Academic Purposes - A seminar with the University of Hertfordshire (UH), UK
Oslo University College, 14th - 15th June, 2007
English for Academic Purposes (EAP) is a discipline in growth in Norway. Courses for students at all levels who need to be able to communicate in English for professional purposes have been offered at Oslo University College (OUC) for many years.
However, with the ever increasing pressure to publish and be confident in international professional fora, as part of the academic imperative of English as lingua franca, EAP courses for staff are now being developed and taught in many different areas, from courses for front line personnel to advanced courses in academic writing.
Internationalisation at home is a priority at OUC and staff need to be able to cope with an increasing influx of students and staff visiting from abroad as well as being able to travel on staff exchanges themselves, to partner institutions abroad.
Through research-based course development, EAP is thus emerging as a research field also in Norway. This seminar, held in collaboration with the School of Combined Studies at the University of Hertfordshire, a centre of EAP excellence, is intended to provide necessary input to EAP teachers in tertiary education so that the discipline develops in a direction most suited to college, university and national priorities in Norway.
The seminar will be brought to a close with the founding of a Norwegian Forum for English for Academic Purposes (NFEAP), a forum for teaching staff and researchers with regular meetings and seminars to further develop the discipline of EAP in Norway.