English for Academic Purposes (EAP)

Faculties / Schools

General Information

The EAP program, is a continuation of English Preparatory Program for the students who have passed BILET exam and started their first year in undergraduate programs in their faculties/schools. The main aim of the EAP Program is to develop students’ academic and critical thinking skills and support them in using English Language Skills efficiently.

The courses in the EAP program are designed to meet the requirements and needs of their specific departments. Therefore, EAP instructors communicate with the faculty members to identify the academic skills areas that students most need to help them with their undergraduate studies and the EAP courses are designed accordingly.  All course materials are prepared by instructors who are experienced and competent in their fields.

The EAP Program follows a skill-based and interactive teaching approach including texts, vocabulary studies, projects and assignments that aim to develop their academic skills and their competencies for their departmental studies.

The EAP Program courses offer two three-credit courses, one course for each term. Each course runs for four hours a week, 2 hours face-to-face and 2 hours asynchronous online. Aside from the face-to-face and online hours, students can also get feedback and further support through consultation with their instructors either face-to-face or via online tools during the instructors office hours.

A process-based assessment is followed in the program so students need to attend and participate classes regularly, submit their projects and assignments on time, and use the sources outside the classroom effectively.

Courses

The EAP courses are named according to the basic department courses. For example, the EAP courses of Psychology department are named as PSY /E 179 — English for Academic Purposes I and PSY /E 180 — English for Academic Purposes II.

Academic writing, reading, listening, and speaking are the main focuses of these courses. Besides studying texts that they may encounter during their higher education, they also study transferring information in English through summarizing and note-taking. Thus, students develop their academic writing and speaking skills through planning, researching, collecting and organizing information. The methodology of the course is a combination of input and learning-by-doing.

Students who complete these courses successfully will have acquired the academic language skills required by their departments and they will be able to use them effectively in their undergraduate studies.

Weekly hours: 2 face-to-face hours + 2 online hours = 4 hours

ECTS Credits: 3

Course Requirements

Attendance: In EAP Program, students are expected to attend the classes regularly. Active participation in the classes is also important and it is always highly encouraged. Participation in face-to-face classes and in online tasks and activities is recorded regularly by the instructor and it has a direct impact on the course overall passing grade.

Participation: Participation is different from attendance. It requires:

• contribution to class discussions and activities.
• acting with academic courtesy and academic honesty.
• bringing all the materials needed to class.
• following Bilgi Learn pages regularly.

Bilgi Learn: Students need to carefully follow the announcements and materials provided through Bilgi Learn Pages. It is advised to check the Bilgi Learn pages at least a day before each class in order to follow weekly program and announcements.

Academic courtesy: Academic courtesy means acceptable behavior in an academic environment. In other words, students are expected to arrive to class on time, show respect to peers and instructor, and come to class prepared with the necessary materials. Moreover, students are responsible for following rules of classroom conduct in addition to university rules.

Academic honesty: Unethical behavior such as cheating and plagiarism will be officially recorded by the academic staff and reported to the Faculty of the student which will result in disciplinary action and failing grade on the task or assignment. Plagiarism is claiming somebody else’s work as your own and it is students’ responsibility to credit work they have cited.

“Burden of Proof” : If the instructor doubts that a student has completed his or her work independently, it is the student’s responsibility to show that he or she completed the task on his or her own at each and every stage. Failure to provide evidence is grounds for receiving a failing grade on the assignment.

Assessment: The process assessment implemented in EAP courses means assessing and grading all the studies of the student throughout the semester.

Student achievement is assessed through various criteria:

• In- class Activities and Assignments
• Online Tasks
• Projects/Presentations
• Quizzes
• Discussion Groups/Forums
• Participation

Assignments: Students are responsible for completing the assignments and in-class tasks. These tasks include a variety of tasks - reading, online tasks, practice papers, and academic writing.

Projects: Projects are larger tasks that may be presented to other students and/or to the instructor. The content and requirements of the projects may differ according to the departments.

Quizzes: Quizzes are small exams that can test the academic language skills or vocabulary.

Discussions / Forums: Students can access to all discussion environments, information and assignments on Bilgi Learn pages. Most EAP courses require the students to participate discussion forums about the topics related to their departments.

Online Tasks: Students are required to participate and complete all online tasks throughout the term. The assessment of these tasks is regularly recorded by the instructor.

* Please note that course requirements and assessment policies / procedures are subject to change based on student needs, profile.

The table below table shows the letter grade scales for the overall course grade.