Bilkent Hosts EFL Conference
Bilkent University School of English Language (BUSEL), Faculty Academic English (FAE) Program hosted the International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language (IATEFL) English for Specific Purposes SIG Conference this summer. This is the first time the conference was ever held outside the U.K. Over 240 practitioners of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) from many countries, including Australia, Greece, Iran, Oman, Serbia, Spain, the U.K. and the USA attended.
The conference, "EAP in University Settings: Teacher and Learner Competencies" offered participants a broad selection of presentations and workshops including plenary sessions given by distinguished speakers like Regents College Professors William Grabe, Ken Hyland, and Fredricka Stoller. Attendees gave over 40 different individual sessions; Bilkent instructors gave seven of these.
A range of important issues were brought to the fore in the conference, in particular approaches to EAP instruction in different university settings and contexts, and the factors which distinguish and differentiate EAP from general English language provision. This inevitably led to an interesting exchange on the needs of EAP teachers and the competencies required for the quality delivery of EAP.