BC TEAL is proud to present our 2025 Annual Conference: Disruptive Educational Practices: Strategies for Transformation.
Educators shine in times of change to face unexpected challenges. This is when creativity flourishes by combining proven practices with fresh and innovative ideas. These times call for transformation which can be rooted in tradition or experience, or it can arise through unexplored approaches. The synthesis of old and new ideas drives meaningful progress. Join other insightful and creative educators as we flourish within the power of our community.
English for Academic Purposes (EAP) is formally described as “the study of English for the purpose of participating in higher education” (Bruce, 2011, p. 6) and is designed to prepare students for the linguistic and cultural challenges of studying in English at post-secondary institutions. Paulo Freire’s critical pedagogy (1968) aims to empower students by transforming oppressive contexts and fostering critical thinking. There are key parallels between EAP and critical pedagogy. Both fields emphasize the importance of decoding and encoding academic language and concepts, situating learning within students' real-life contexts, integrating theory and practice (praxis), and developing students' critical thinking skills. These shared goals underscore the potential for critical pedagogy to enhance EAP instruction. However, there are also significant challenges and tensions. EAP is often viewed as a remedial service rather than a legitimate academic discipline (Haque, 2007; MacDonald, 2016), which undermines its potential. Additionally, many EAP instructors face job insecurity, which hampers their ability to fully engage with critical pedagogy. The economic focus of international education, which often prioritizes the financial benefits of international students over their educational and cultural contributions, further complicates the integration of critical pedagogy into EAP. Despite these challenges, promising initiatives align with critical pedagogy. These include inclusion-oriented applied linguistics, which addresses linguistic barriers to student inclusion, and language-informed critical pedagogy, which examines language use in various contexts to promote critical thinking and social justice. I advocate for greater recognition of the contributions of EAP and its instructors and call for a more integrated approach to critical pedagogy within EAP. I discuss implications to policy and practice to enhance the educational experience of international students and realize the full potential of both fields.
