Designing an intensive EAP writing course for Vietnamese EFL students

Abstract

Abstract. Writing for academic purposes can be a challenging task for students who are learning English as a foreign language (EFL). This is because the skills involved in writing are highly complex on the one hand, and the students’ first language (L1) styles for organizing academic writings are not always compatible to the English academic conventions, on the other.  This paper reports a practical experience of developing an intensive academic writing course for a group of Vietnamese EFL learners who need to ‘pass’ the IELTS (International English Language Test System) for admission to an English-medium university program. The paper will firstly describe the course goals and objectives, based on which it will then discuss how the syllabus content was conceptualized and organized, and how methods of assessment and evaluation were identified.

Key words: English for Academic Purposes, academic writing, mix-ability classes, syllabus design, EFL learners, IELTS preparation.