Success beyond class: Critical thinking skills and academic english

Christina Cavage
A young boy in a room full of books thining with his hand to his head, there is a lightbulb graphic above him

English for Academic Purposes (EAP) classes are designed to prepare students for higher education delivered in English. Students are expected to hold their own among a class full of fluent English speakers. So it’s essential that they have not only the language skills, but the academic and social skills that tertiary education demands today. And it’s up to teachers to ensure our students develop these skills – but that requires a balancing act.

Many EAP courses lack the authenticity of the college classroom experience. Lectures are generally relatively short, only 5-10 minutes long. Reading is scaffolded, and the content is very structured, even overly structured. Then, our students move into their academic courses where they encounter two-hour lectures, 50+ pages of reading, and content that is far from scaffolded. So, how do we bridge these academic, linguistic and social gaps? Let’s look at some techniques to help students succeed in higher education.

Bridging the linguistic gap

Linguistics gaps may involve content-specific language, or the informal language students encounter when they work with other students, or the connotative and denotative meanings and contexts of a word. To bridge this gap, we need to build deep conceptual vocabulary knowledge. We don’t want students only to have label knowledge. Label knowledge allows students to pass a vocabulary text where matching or multiple choice is present. But that is not enough in an academic environment. Deep conceptual knowledge means truly knowing a word.

So, what does it mean to know a word? Well, according to linguistics scholar Paul Nation, a student needs to know the following:

  • The spoken and written form
  • The parts of the word that have meaning
  • The word's forms and their meanings
  • The concepts and vocabulary associated with the word
  • The grammatical function, any collocations
  • The register and frequency of the word

That is a whole lot!

To build this extensive knowledge, we need to do so in an intentional manner. We need to build various activities that develop and foster critical thinking skills and engage students.

Here is an example:

“Hello! I am so glad to see so many of you at our special lecture today. Today, I am going to describe how a mixed community is planned and built. First, let’s look at what a mixed purpose community is, and then we will discuss the planning and building. As many of you know, a mixed purpose community is a neighborhood that includes residential spaces, business spaces, services and green spaces. How about the planning? First, when planning mixed purpose communities, architects, city planners and builders work together to plan where everything will be located. Because they want the community to be a fully walkable one, they need to think about how far homes are from schools, services and other businesses. Then, they carefully look at what kinds of businesses and services are needed. Next, they must design sidewalks so people can easily get to anywhere in the community, and not worry about car traffic. Today, planners are even looking at including bicycle paths, as more and more people are riding bicycles to work. Lastly, they need to consider the different types of residential space they will need. They build homes and apartments to attract all a wide variety of residents. These communities are becoming more and more popular, but planning them still takes time and a team of people.”

The terms mixed and community are bolded. You can engage students with a simple noticing activity of how these words are used, the forms they take, the words around them, their collocations and the concepts associated with these words. An exercise like this will help students develop a deep understanding of these words. And that deep understanding will enable students to make connections and draw conclusions around these terms.

Bridging the academic gap

EAP students move from very scaffolded EAP courses to courses where they must listen and take notes for 50 minutes or read 50+ pages before class. Additionally, their professors often do not build background knowledge, or scaffold learning, as they expect students to enter their classrooms with this understanding. And this can create an academic gap.

When it comes to bridging this gap, content can be the vehicle for instruction. Exposing students to the language of academic disciplines early on can build background knowledge, and be highly motivating for students who crave more than rote language instruction.

Bringing the social gap

When students enter their university courses they will be expected to work with peers, engage in group activities, negotiate, take turns and assert their own ideas into a dialogue. These social skills require language which needs to be developed and practiced in their EAP courses.
You can do this by building instructional tasks and learning around developing and practicing critical thinking skills. Consider introducing project-based learning to your class. In project-based learning, students must work with their peers, learning how to prioritize, negotiate and assign responsibility. Bringing in these types of tasks and activities helps develop soft and critical thinking skills.

More blogs from app

  • What’s it like to teach English in Nepal?

    Por
    Reading time: 3 minutes

    Anandi Vara was trained in teaching English in Kathmandu, Nepal before teaching at a monastery in Pokhara. There she taught students ranging from six to 10 years of age, both in groups and individually. Here she reveals the lessons she learned during her time there– including how to avoid being perturbed by a cockroach attack.

    Whatever you do: don’t freak out

    It just makes everything worse. It’s easy for things to get overwhelming – a sense that can be made worse by the feeling of homesickness, especially if it’s your first time living abroad – but thinking rationally, and getting to the source of what’s causing the worry, usually helps. It’s important, as you don't want to share your fear in lessons because you’re the teacher and need to show confidence.

    This was, however, tested to the limit when I had a cockroach dangled in front of my face. It took all my strength to stay calm. I gave an unimpressed look, thereby establishing myself as the figure of authority, which seemed to work.

    Be aware of cultural traditions

    It is important to remember that every country has its own traditions. I was teaching in a monastery, so I made sure to wear respectful clothing, even in the face of soaring temperatures. The more I learned about the Tibetan culture, the more fascinated I became by it. The students taught me how to write my name in Tibetan and the meaning behind it. I learned about Tibetan history and Tibetan culture.

    I also found that the more I showed willingness to learn about the Tibetan culture, the more I bonded with the students, so that when it was time to teach, the students were more cooperative in lessons, engaging and participating more.

    Teaching is two-way learning

    There is so much I learned teaching abroad, both in the classroom and out. Making mistakes as you begin is only natural, but it’s whether you can learn from these mistakes that counts. No two students are ever the same so it’s a constant process of learning as you go. As a result, I learned about the environment I was in – from traditional prayer ceremonies to the Tibetan alphabet– and about myself, notably organizational skills and a renewed curiosity about the English language.

    Be Flexible

    Sometimes it doesn’t matter if you’ve planned your lesson down to the smallest detail – if it doesn’t take, then it doesn’t take. I was only 10 minutes into a lesson once and I could tell that I was beginning to lose the students’ attention. Not only did it show that they were uninterested, it also distracted me from what I was doing. It was at this point that I threw out my existing plan and tried a whole new lesson: I had the students up on their feet and engaging with each other and, although completely improvised, it was very successful.

    Patience is a must

    During my one-on-one mentoring session, my student seemed to have no motivation. He wasn’t learning as well as the other students and had therefore given up. No matter what I tried, he refused to cooperate, but I didn’t let it put me off. I kept trying different methods until finally finding one that he responded to. I made sentence structuring into a game. It wasn’t anything fancy and consisted of scraps of paper with words written on them.

    Although it took a lot of time to find the right angle, it was worth it because he soon realised that although it might take longer for him to pick things up, he would eventually get there and have a greater sense of accomplishment.

  • Children engaged in a classroom activity, with colorful educational posters and a banner in the background.

    How to use flipped learning to support your learners

    Por
    Reading time: 6 minutes

    What is flipped learning?

    To understand better what flipped learning is, first let’s see how it differs from blended learning, a term with which it is often confused.

    Blended learning is a way of teaching that combines face-to-face classroom teaching with online resources. We freely use online resources to create a more personalized learning experience.

    Flipped learning is a little different. As the name suggests, it "flips" a traditional lesson. It tells us exactly which stages of the lesson should go online. In a flipped learning class, all of the more traditional aspects (also called "study stages"), are completed online and the homework (also called "application stages") comes into the classroom.

    Let’s look at an example.

    A typical receptive skills lesson normally has six stages:

    1. Lead in
    2. Set context
    3. Pre-teach vocabulary
    4. Gist task
    5. Detailed task
    6. Follow up

    With a traditional teaching model, we do the first five stages in class and set the last one for homework. With flipped learning there are a few ways to tackle these stages, but a basic model would look like this:

  • Teacher and young students engaging in a classroom activity, surrounded by colorful art supplies and educational materials.

    Back-to-school challenges that teachers face – and how to solve them

    Por
    Reading time: 4 minutes

    A new school year brings excitement and opportunity. It also presents challenges for teachers, regardless of their level of experience. Here are common problems that teachers face and simple tips to help you start the year with confidence.

    1. How do I establish effective classroom management and routines?

    The challenge:
    A new year means a new group of students, each with unique personalities and expectations. Setting clear routines and managing classroom behavior can be daunting, especially when students test boundaries or struggle to adjust.

    The solution:
    Set the tone early by communicating clear expectations for behavior, participation and respect. Use visual aids and consistent language to reinforce routines. Involve students in rule-setting to foster ownership and accountability. Consistency and patience are key; routines may take time to solidify, but your commitment will pay off.

    2. How can I build strong relationships with my students?

    The challenge:
    Connecting with a diverse group of learners – some of whom might be eager, while others might be more reserved – can be challenging. Building trust and rapport is essential for engagement and academic success, but it doesn’t happen overnight.

    The solution:
    Dedicate time to getting to know your students as individuals. Use icebreakers, interest surveys and daily check-ins to show you care about their lives beyond academics. Incorporate culturally-responsive teaching practices to respect students’ backgrounds and experiences. Even small gestures, such as greeting students by name and celebrating their achievements, can make a big difference.