Module Report Form

SEMESTER 1 – 2016/2017
Programme: MA in Applied Linguistics and TESOL
Name of Module: ALT8023 English for Academic Purposes
Module Leader: Elaine Lopez
Number of students: 47
No. of questionnaires returned: 41 (85.4%)
Date of submission of report: 7/07/2017

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Background

This is a new module so it is the first time is has been delivered.

Assessment outcomes

Final (aggregate) marks:

Range of Marks Assignment

1-39 0
40-49 0
50-59 14
60-69 20
70-99 13
average 65

Comments on students’ overall performance in assessment:

Marks were fairly evenly distributed. There was an almost equal number of passes and
distinctions, with a slightly higher number of students achieving a merit. There were three
assessments for this module, and 10% of the module mark was awarded for participating
in a weekly reflective task on blackboard (marks were knocked off for any missing
entries). Students really embraced this task, and this score helped some of the weaker
students to pass the module whereas they would otherwise have failed. Maybe next year,
the mark should be somehow balanced so that students don’t get 100% if they complete
all entries, since this undoubtedly skewed some of the marks and helped students to
achieve a higher grade overall. The module leader would appreciate the feedback of the
CRC on this matter.

Having a variety of assessments helped the students to play to their strengths. Nine
students failed the reflective portfolio task, mostly as they did not answer the question,
and three students failed the essay.
Student evaluation and feedback
Summary of feedback:
Positive comments
Her teaching approach provides
more thought-provoking discussions
to get in-depth understanding.
Elaine is very helpful in this class
and I improved my knowledge and
acquire new knowledge in the class
The teacher is very dedicated to this
module since it is a new one and
many students are not familiar with
EAP.
the module improves my knowledge
about English for Academic Purposes
and also how to teach EAP in
general. in addition to that, the
assessment help me to do a
reflection of what I have learned
from the module, and also learned
how to critically evaluate the EAP
course book.
The teacher was approachable and
enthusiastic regards her subject she
was teaching us. The teacher also
ensured that we had timely
information regarding our
assignments which was helpful as
they were complex.
Really passionate about her field of
studies and she managed to transmit
this enthusiasm to us.
She is a very supportive and
inspiring lecturer.
Areas for improvement
As this module has been taught for
the first time; therefore, I think it can
get improved by: - having more
practice, particularly teaching trial -
asking permission to observe in-
sessional courses from the other
faculties to get some more
experience - more books should be
ordered from the library. I cannot
borrow any core materials during
this course.
Maybe we can have more practice. I
mean we can act as a teacher to
teach other classmates and get
feedback from teachers and
classmates. I think this may help us
know more about how to be an EAP
teacher
The teacher can provide more
information about EAP teaching job
related to students' future and
embed authentic materials into
class.
More practical
More feedback to coursework put
onto Blackboard every week - this
would have been helpful for the
portfolio assignment.
Reduce the lecture time to two hours
and have one hour of seminar based
on the lecture.
I hope in the future, the content of
the module can also focus on the
language content of how the student
learn the academic English.
the lecturer is very kind and the she
EAP course is a relatively difficult
demonstrates the module is very
course and it should take more time
clear. in addition, she is really helpful
on this course such as the increase
when asking a question regarding
of length of each class.
the module and the assessment.
Change the lecture time. EAP is a
new module for most of the studnets.
Having the lecture at afternoon was
The reflective log is useful.
difficult for me to concentrate. I
think morning classess are better for
studying new content.
Dr Elaine is a very kind and patient
teacher and I have received many less discussion
useful feedback from her.
She was experienced and good at
delivering the lectures.
She is an amazing lecturer. Love the
module becuase of her. She
encourages me to consider being an
EAP teacher, something I didn't
expect myself to do. Now I'm
planning to apply for an EAP job.
Thanks Elaine.
The content of this module are
clearly and systematically
structured. They are interesting and
stimulating and they cover both the
depth and the width. This module
covers many useful discussions
which provide students with
opportunities to share their own
ideas.
Clear instructions on assignments.
Plenty of reading sources were given
at the very first session of the
module. The lecturer gave us post-
session reading task every week,
which I have found very useful when
doing assignments.
Elaine is a very professional teacher.
She constructed this module very
well. I learned a lot from her courses
and got a lot of help from her. I am
very appreciated.
Many students also commented that the
module was well structured.

Critical issues to be addressed in the following year

Some students asked for teaching practice, but the only way this is possible would be to
arrange some peer teaching. The size of the module makes this difficult to organise, but I
will consider it if there is a smaller number of students in future years. I had made
enquiries about the students observing EAP classes at INTO, but when I found out that
there would be nearly 50 students on this module it was no longer possible. One option
would be to cap student numbers so that peer teaching and observations of real classes
can be arranged, although this would need careful thought and will not be put in place for
next year.

In terms of feedback from students, the table above provides a summary of the issues that
were raised. In addition, one student complained had this to say about the weekly
reflective log: Some more clarification on the blog post restrictions as it felt like
they changed half way through.. e,g. firstly we had to complete a blog EVERY
week then it changed to 9/10 completed then she gave people time to add one
if they missed one??? The whole point so you did it every week - this just
seemed too soft! Stay stricter! If some people have done it every week its a bit
unfair that the people who didn't actually do this still got the chance to get full
marks!! NOT VERY FAIR
This was a misunderstanding on behalf of this student, as students had to complete all 8
entries in order to achieve the full mark, and the only students who were able to submit a
late entry were those who joined the module late. Nobody got full marks if they had not
completed every week and so it is unclear where this criticism comes from.

Other students asked for a morning lesson or a longer class time (the lesson is already 3
hours) but these views did not represent the majority.

There were some issues around the availability of texts with this being a new module, but
the library has now purchased more resources and there are 9 copies of the core text
available, so this problem should not reoccur next year.