Program Overview

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In-Sessional English for Academic Purposes CoA

Overview

Our In-Sessional English for Academic Purposes (EAP) short courses are free to students already registered on a course at the University. If you are an applicant and are interested in studying for a course before you start university, you will require our pre-sessional EAP short courses.

The In-Sessional EAP short courses offer two types of modules:

• EAP: General English for Academic Purposes
  These modules are for students from any subject. Most modules are aimed at students who have studied English as a second or foreign language, but we also have courses for students who have been educated in English or for whom English is their first language.
• EBS: English for Business Studies
  These courses are tailored to the needs of students in business-related subjects whose first language is not English.

The EAP and EBS courses will help you develop your English and academic skills to be more successful in your main course. Classes are divided into different levels and skills so that you can choose what you would like to focus on.

Semesters in EAP are divided into two five-week teaching blocks. You will be able to choose up to two courses per block each semester.

Please note, this course is taken in addition to your main course. It is unaccredited, therefore it does not have credits that count towards your main course.

Why us?

• Improving your English and academic skills will help you to be more successful in your main course
• You will be able to access the support you need in a flexible way: short courses, tutorials with EAP experts, drop-in sessions
• You can access one-to-one tutorial time with tutors
• You will meet other international students

Course structure

Our language classes are all interactive and flexible. Each session ranges from whole-class activities to group work, pair work, and individual tasks. You may be involved in discussions and debates, activities using the Sanako language learning software and other online tools, giving and listening to presentations, producing written work, analysing texts, and participating in grammar and vocabulary review activities. Several different types of activity are usually present in each session.

Sessions are fully supported by Canvas, where you will have access to key information and resources, as well as the ability to practise activities and submit work for feedback.

When signing up for an online class, you will have access to Sanako Connect, a web-based language teaching hub. In addition, you may be directed to the Language Centre for homework and self-directed study. Here, you'll have access to a range of language learning materials and the support of the Language Technician.

Each course requires you to attend two hours per week, plus an additional 30 minutes is available to students for tutorials. In each of our teaching blocks, courses last five weeks with an additional week offered for formative feedback and additional tutorials. You are allowed to take one or two courses per block and you can take EAP courses in each year of your studies. Because each student may have different needs and levels of English, there is no prescribed package of courses that you must take; however, we have designed a course that allows students to progress from introductory courses to those that facilitate the continuous development of your academic skills.

Courses are unaccredited but you will be offered the opportunity to complete formative assessments as part of the course. If you attend regularly, you will be awarded a Certificate of Attendance.

EAP: English for Academic Purposes

Reading and writing:

• EAP101: Introduction to Academic Reading
  This five-week course is for you if your first language is not English and you have a low university entry level in the skill of reading. Improve your reading comprehension and efficiency, learn strategies to support your reading ability, improve your grammar and vocabulary, and receive targeted feedback. You will also learn how to identify key information, improve your note-taking, and practice your summarising skills.
• EAP201: Developing Academic Reading
  This five-week course is for you if your first language is not English and you have a good university entry level in the skill of reading. This course may also be suitable for you if your secondary education in your home country was taught in English, but you would benefit from support in academic reading. Building on your current language skills, you will work with authentic academic texts improving your reading efficiency and comprehension. You will get the help you need to succeed in your main course as you practice the key skills of paraphrasing, summarising, and quoting. You will also learn how to compare and evaluate sources, and to read critically.
• EAP102:Introduction to Academic Writing
  This five-week course is for you if your first language is not English and you have a low university entry level in the skill of writing. Work on your grammar, vocabulary, and academic style as you learn how to plan and structure clear and coherent paragraphs and texts such as essays or reports. You will practise your writing so that you can acknowledge sources while learning how to summarise and paraphrase effectively avoiding plagiarism. Our experienced tutors will provide you with targeted feedback.
• EAP202: Developing Academic Writing
  This five-week course is for you if your first language is not English and you have a good university entry level in the skill of writing. This course may also be suitable for you if your secondary education in your home country was taught in English, but you would benefit from support in academic writing. Building on your current language skills, you will improve the clarity, cohesion, argumentation, and critical evaluation in the texts you produce such as essays or reports. Develop your essay writing skills, work on your referencing, and improve your critical thinking. You will also learn how to create a strong argument and how to effectively synthesise sources.

Speaking and listening:

• EAP103: Introduction to Academic Listening
  This five-week course is for you if your first language is not English and you have a low university entry level in the skill of listening. Improve your listening comprehension and efficiency and learn how to identify and use key information from lectures. You will develop your note-taking skills with strategies to help you improve and practice your summarising techniques using audiovisual materials.
• EAP104: Introduction to Presentations
  This five-week course is for you if you want to work on your presentation skills. You will gain confidence in speaking and in presenting information clearly and coherently. Through targeted feedback and practice, our tutors will support you in developing your spoken academic style and pronunciation which will help you convey your ideas with accuracy. We will work with you so that you can design effective slides and develop your abilities for your university presentations.
• EAP203: Developing Academic Listening
  This five-week course is for you if your first language is not English and you have a good university entry level in the skill of listening. You will work with authentic audiovisual materials to develop your academic skills as you listen for argument, content, and structure. Improve your listening comprehension and efficiency and learn how to extract and use key information and arguments without plagiarising. You will develop your summarising skills as you increase your knowledge of advanced vocabulary and complex grammatical structures.
• EAP204: Developing Academic Speaking
  This five-week course is for you if your first language is not English and you have a good university entry level in the skill of speaking. This course will facilitate the development of advanced vocabulary and grammatical structures to discuss academic and topical subjects. You will learn how to use discourse markers and cohesive devices to articulate ideas with clarity and purpose.

Grammar

• EAP105: Grammar for Academic Writing
  This five-week course is for students who have studied English as a foreign language. Review aspects of grammar with which you have particular difficulties, develop a working knowledge of English grammar, sentence structure, and punctuation, and be able to apply it to a range of academic writing contexts. Improve your ability to express yourself with clarity and precision at an appropriate level. Complete the course with the necessary tools to produce coherent written tasks in formal academic prose and to proofread and correct your work. For those who wish to work on their grammar for a whole semester, we recommend that you also enrol on the continuation course EAP107: Advanced Grammar for Academic Writing.

Interactive Speaking Skills and Culture

• EAP205: Discussion skills and Intercultural Awareness
  This five-week course is for you if your first language is not English, you have a good university entry level in English and you would like to gain confidence in seminar-style skills in a relaxed atmosphere. Each session will be based on the discussion and evaluation of a text taken from a range of genres and topics such as newspaper articles, short films, documentaries, TV shows, radio programmes, podcasts, blogs, stories, and photographs. Improve your intercultural understanding, your knowledge of vocabulary and grammatical structures and your fluency in speaking.

For postgraduate and final year undergraduate students only

• EAP301: Dissertation Writing: The Planning Process
  If English is not your first language and you are embarking on research writing, this five-week course is designed to meet your needs. Equip yourself with the academic and language skills required for dissertation writing at undergraduate and postgraduate level. Gain an informed understanding of the strategies used to select an appropriate topic, methodology and structure for a research project. If you are interested in studying a longer course in dissertation writing (10 weeks), we recommend that you also enrol on EAP313 Dissertation Writing: The Writing Process.
• EAP303: Dissertation Writing: The Writing Process
  This five-week course is recommended as a continuation to EAP301 Dissertation Writing: The Planning Process however it can also stand alone for students who want to concentrate on the process of writing a dissertation. You will develop a more critical approach to reading and writing in English as you identify and formulate lines of argument in extended pieces of writing. The course will also help you consolidate your knowledge of academic style and conventions, advanced grammar, and specialist vocabulary as you take the right path to succeed in your main course.
• EAP 302: Presentation Skills for Postgrad Research Students
  If English is not your first language and you need to discuss and present your research orally, this five-week course is designed to meet your needs. Equip yourself with the academic and language skills required for presenting research in seminars, conferences, and focused academic discussions and tests. Gain an informed understanding of the strategies used to explain and defend complex arguments in research presentations. Develop your presentation skills as you improve the fluency and spontaneity of your spoken English while gaining an understanding of your audience’s needs. Consolidate your knowledge of academic style and conventions, advanced grammar, and specialist vocabulary as you take the right path to succeed in your main course.

For native speakers

• EAP 106: Academic Writing for Native Speakers
  This five-week course is aimed at students who have English as a first language, for example, if your secondary education was completed in the UK. It is also suitable for students of English who have the equivalent of IELTS 8 or above. Gain an understanding of advanced academic grammar, vocabulary, register and style, with the precise areas of grammar to be studied determined by an analysis of commonly occurring mistakes. Explore tools for researching and checking the accuracy of your academic writing such as online dictionaries, corpora and grammar practice software. Increase your awareness of the UK higher education context and its practices, for example learning more about plagiarism and practising how to avoid it by improving paraphrasing, summarising, quoting and referencing skills.
• EAP108: Essay Writing for Native Speakers
  This course can be studied on its own or as a continuation to EAP 106: Academic Writing for Native Speakers. It is aimed at students who have English as a first language, for example, if your secondary education was completed in the UK. It is also suitable for students of English who have the equivalent of IELTS 8 or above. As you gain an understanding of advanced academic grammar, vocabulary, register and style, you will improve your understanding of the requirements of typical academic writing structures and genres. This course will focus mainly on developing the skills needed for essay writing. You will work on developing clear argumentation, cohesion and criticality in your own writing.

EBS: English for Business Studies

You may choose one or two courses per teaching block, a maximum of four courses each semester, taking into account your level of English and the skills you would like to focus on:

Reading and Writing

• EBS101: Reading and note-taking for Business Studies
  This five-week course is aimed at non-native speaking students whose main course has predominantly business content. This course aims to equip you with the skills necessary for reading and comprehending academic texts at an elevated level of complexity. It will involve asynchronous preparation for classes/workshops and will make use of both group discussion and individual tutorials. The emphasis will be on cultivating a rigorous approach to reading and on successfully evaluating source materials in preparation for written output.
• EBS102:Academic Writing for Business Studies
  This five-week course is aimed at non-native speaking students whose main course has predominantly business content. This course aims to provide the student with an overview of the fundamentals of academic writing in English alongside the opportunity to practise and refine techniques in a relaxed workshop environment. There will be an implicit emphasis on grammar, vocabulary, and sentence structure, but this will always be applied to practical academic tasks, such as the writing of essays, reports, and other types of assignments.
• EBS201: Report-writing for Students of Business
  This five-week course is aimed at non-native speaking students whose main course has predominantly business content. This is a practical course in the production of business reports that introduces the purpose and the main features of this genre of writing. It combines a theoretical study of the language and structure of report writing with student-centred practice. By the end of the course, you should have been afforded useful experience and knowledge of the character and production of business reports.
• EBS202: Developing Academic Writing for Business Studies
  This five-week course is aimed at non-native speaking students whose main course has predominantly business content. This course builds on EBS102: Academic Writing for Business Studies** as it affords further development of academic writing skills. However, it can also stand alone for students with prior experience of studying in a context of English, such as postgraduates or third-year undergraduates. It explores the building blocks of extended writing, such as sentence-structure and paragraph structure, as well as differences in style and genre. It also explores the skills of source integration, looking at in-text citations, paraphrasing and summarising source evaluation, and the writing of literature reviews.

Speaking and Listening

• EBS 103: Introduction to Listening and Notetaking for Business Students
  This five-week course is aimed at non-native speaking students whose main course has predominantly business content. The focus is on improving comprehension and listening skills. Students are introduced to techniques and six general strategies such as predicting, monitoring, responding, clarifying, interfering, and evaluating to help them listen for general understanding, distinguish main ideas from points of detail, understand the organisation and conclusions of straightforward formal or academic listening texts, take notes and discuss their ideas.
• EBS 104: Introduction to Business Meetings and Discussions
  This five-week course is aimed at non-native speaking students whose main course has predominantly business content. The course is designed to develop speaking skills to participate effectively in academic seminars and business meetings. Students have the opportunity to interact with others in pairs, groups and whole class activities agreeing, disagreeing, discussing, interrupting politely, seeking clarification, asking questions, negotiating, and chairing a meeting. The objectives of the course are to improve students' academic and business English, speaking, and pronunciation, build confidence and fluency in English language, build appropriate professional vocabulary, and improve grammar.
• EBS 203: Advanced Listening and Summarising for Business Students
  This five-week course is aimed at non-native speaking students whose main course has predominantly business content. The focus is on advanced comprehension, listening and summarising skills. Students review techniques to help them listen for complex and formal business lectures, take notes, summarise, and reference information appropriately. The course enhances the ability to use key arguments, analyse and evaluate information in listening to lectures.
• EBS 204: Advanced Business Presentations
  This five-week course is aimed at non-native speaking students whose main course has predominantly business content. The focus is on advanced business presentations skills in English. These include structure of the presentation, practice of language and skills, using various techniques to enhance the presentation, analysis of the presentation, practice of parts/full presentations, feedback, and target setting. The objectives of the course are to improve students' academic and business English speaking, pronunciation, build confidence and fluency in English language, build appropriate professional vocabulary, and improve grammar.

Facilities

Most of the EAP classes take place at the Sir Tom Cowie Campus at St Peter's, at either Wearside View or the David Goldman Informatics Centre. A small number of classes are offered online for students who are studying remotely.

For EAP, most classes will be on-campus, but one group at each level of Reading and Writing and one Dissertation Writing group will be offered online.

For EBS courses, there will be one class online and one class on campus for each level.

Entry requirements

We don’t currently display entry requirements for Ireland. Please contact the Student Admin team on or .

You can apply for free English for Academic Purposes (EAP) and English for Business Studies (EBS) courses if you are a current student at the University of Sunderland.

EAP and EBS courses are aimed at students who have English as a foreign or second language but we also have courses for native speakers of English. These courses are in-sessional modules meaning that they run in term time.

View our upcoming start dates.

If you need support with registration or are unsure what courses to select, use our Live Chat and a member of the EAP team will get in touch to answer any questions you may have.

You can also book a one-to-one session for advice and support with your academic English.

Fees and finance

This course is free to students who are already registered at the University of Sunderland.

This information was correct at the time of publication.

Career ready

Improving your English and academic skills will help you to be more successful on your main course, but will also help you when it comes to looking for graduate employment. The skills you learn from this course will be invaluable throughout your future career.

Meet the students

• "I would recommend all international students to enrol on the EAP and EBS courses."

  • Sook Yee Chew

• "My communication and listening skills have improved since joining the University."

  • Tejaswini Rangaswamy

Meet the team — In-Sessional English for Academic Purposes

• Christine Underwood

  Module Leader for EAP

• Lucy C Marriott

  Senior Lecturer English for Academic Purposes

• Jane Sowden

  Academic Tutor in Education and EAP

• Miguel A. Gomes Gargamala, SFHEA

  English For Academic Purposes Manager/Senior Lecturer

Related courses

• English for Academic Purposes: Pre-sessional English – Intermediate
• English for Academic Purposes: Pre-sessional English – Pre-Intermediate