ELT English for Specific Purposes

Those who teach English for specific purposes have their work cut out for them. Already a hard language to master, English requires wide swathes of complicated knowledge, as well as awareness of the many idiosyncrasies of both the written and spoken versions of the language.

Teachers offering lessons and courses in these subject areas can access help in the form of academic guides and books. Here on Booktopia, we stock a variety of ELT English books, from EAP course design and academic writing instruction, to EAP materials development and assessment methods.

EAP course design
Building courses is a challenge, but structuring a course well can be the difference between students who progress and enjoy the process, and students who get stuck and confused.

Designing Learning with Multimodality in English Medium of Education (EME) Classrooms Across Asia is an advanced guide for teachers. It includes evidence-based analyses of a range of multimodal resources to scaffold learning for English Medium Education (EME). In particular, it is designed for those teaching across Asia for primary and secondary levels, with a specific focus on STEM subjects.

Communicative Syllabus Design is another great resource in EAP course design. It offers a sociolinguistic model for designing content for languages programmes with specific purposes. Teachers will find a needs-based, learner-centred approach to syllabus design, with clear examples at every stage of the explanation, as well as two detailed studies of how it works in practice.

Academic English skills
One topic on many teachers’ minds lately is AI, and how it will impact English Language Training. In Rethinking Language Education in the Age of Generative AI, authors Chaoran Wang and Zhongfeng Tian explore the theory, research, and practice in AI and language education. They cover studies and practical applications, offering insights and implications for those working in English education.

All teachers in this field will need to start with foundational skills. Teaching Academic Writing for EAP is a great place to start. This tool serves to bridge the gap between theory and practice, focusing on key issues of theoretical frameworks, textural organisation, formative feedback on writing, and much more. It uses examples from student and expert writing, and includes common myths and controversies in the teaching of academic writing, giving readers a broad base of knowledge to use in any context.

If you’re unsure where to start, be sure to filter your search by ‘bestsellers’ to see which titles are most popular amongst other English language teachers right now.