Sophia University Junior College Division Faculty Journal
第 44 号, 2023, 67-75

Book Review

de Chazal, E. (2014). English For AcademicPurposes. Oxford University Press. xix + 380 pp.
(softcover). ISBN: 978-0-19-442371-7
Reviewed byAlex Garin
Introduction
English for Academic Purposes (EAP) is a well-established area of English
teaching and research. Usually, the main goal of EAP is to prepare learners for study
at university level by teaching integrated academic and language skills, systems andcompetencies, as well as raising their awareness of academic conventions and culture.
EAP does not usually teach academic subjects themselves. Beyond that, “…EAP seeks
to engage leaners in a critical understanding of the increasingly varied contexts andpractices of academic communication” (Hyland, 2006, p. 2). With increasing globalizationand consequently the number of international university students, EAP is rapidlyassuming a more prominent role in language teaching. It is therefore vital, particularly
for university teachers, to continue to learn about the main aspects of EAP and tobe skilled at teaching them. This professional development could in turn benefit thelearners in EAP classrooms.
The purpose of this review is to introduce the reader to English for Academic
Purposes, a book that focuses on the main aspects of EAP and their pedagogicalimplications. The review will highlight the skills, systems and competencies mentioned
above, namely discourse, vocabulary and grammar (systems), reading, writing, listening,speaking (skills) and critical thinking. Each of these constitutes a chapter in the book.
Teaching implications for each chapter will also be discussed. The author of the book isa teacher, teacher trainer, and EAP course book writer, with over 20 years of experienceof working in international EAP contexts. He is also a former lecturer at University
College London, which houses one of the leading EAP programs in the world.

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The topic of chapter 3 is academic texts. Most EAP syllabi and classes centeraround a text-based approach to teaching. Learners typically have to research, select,read, and critically analyze academic texts. de Chazal (2014) points out the textual
variety in EAP programs – journal articles, textbook chapters, coursebook extracts, andspoken texts of lectures, seminars, and presentations. This means that academic texts
can serve as a model for content, structure and language in learners’ own written andspoken production.
In terms of content, structure and style de Chazal (2014, p. 59) stresses that “…atext is not isolated and decontextualized, but connected to and informed by other related
texts, its purpose and expectations of its audience”. It is therefore important for the EAPteacher to make learners aware that by engaging with a range of texts and producing
their own, they can become members of an academic discourse community and more
knowledgeable about their disciplines.
Depending on genre, audience and purpose, a given text will have a set of essentialelements. The latter is a concept introduced in chapter 3. de Chazal (2014) cites common
examples of essential elements in EAP texts – narrative, problem-solution, cause-effect,argument, evidence, exemplification, citation, evaluation, perspective and many others.
A given text will not feature all of these, but rather a specific combination depending on
its genre, purpose and discipline. If learners are made aware of the essential elements inmodel texts, they can construct their own texts more easily while concurrently adhering
to academic conventions.
Regarding discourse organization, de Chazal (2014) defines coherence and cohesion– the former concerns the connection of the text to meaning and language and the latterto meaning and ideas. However, unlike many EAP course books that focus only on themost common linking phrases (i.e., on the other hand, in addition, first, second, third),
chapter 3 expands on a much greater range of cohesive devices. According to de Chazal(2014), these may include synonyms, antonyms, metaphors, cohesive noun phrases,
pronouns and determiners, contextualizers, interactors, macro-text organizers andfocusers. Oftentimes, learners and even EAP teachers are not aware of the presenceof these in the text and how they serve to connect clauses, sentences and paragraphs
together. Chapter 3 gives a detailed description, purpose and examples of each kind ofcohesive device, which can beneficially raise awareness of the EAP teacher.
From a pedagogical perspective, the EAP teacher needs to carefully plan the textual
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Review: de Chazal, E. (2014) English For Academic Purposes

to the learners and their content, structural and linguistic features highlighted. Time inthe course for developing research and critical thinking skills also needs to be allocated.
Learners need to know how to efficiently and effectively look for texts on their own,
using library and online resources. And how to critically evaluate the validity andpurpose of each text.

Language
Chapter 4 of the book is about academic language. Two of the main of its features
mentioned in the chapter are its complexity and density. The reason for this is theprevalence of the noun phrase structure, using which scholars can convey a high amountof topical content using minimal word count. And since academic journals and books
usually have strict word count requirements, space is at a premium. de Chazal (2014,p. 90) notes that “…high frequency of nouns, adjectives, prepositions and determiners inacademic texts is easily explained: they make up the bulk of most noun phrases, which
in turn make up the bulk of most academic texts”.
The focus of the chapter is also on vocabulary organization. In terms of its meaning
and function, a word is best comprehended in its context and teachers need to organize
vocabulary in a principled way for learners (de Chazal, 2014). This point connects tothe previous section on texts. One effective way to teach vocabulary is to select a rangeof texts relevant for learners’ needs that show this language in context. Furthermore,
the focus should be not only on individual words, but on collocations, especially nounphrases mentioned above. It should not be on decontextualized, individual word lists,
as in this case much of the nuanced function and meaning of vocabulary can be lost. deChazal (2014) argues that contextualized vocabulary learning from academic texts, withthe focus on collocations, is a principled, meaningful and encompassing approach to EAP
language teaching.
A related point is the inseparability of grammar and vocabulary. Many English
language course books, not only in EAP, present these two separately. However,collocations cannot be separated from their grammatical context and learning ofgrammar rules must be related to the acquisition of collocations containing thisgrammar (Hill, 2000). This further supports the principle of teaching academic language
in a wider context of phrase, sentence, paragraph or full text, not as a decontextualized
item. That way learners can understand the language better, and produce it moreaccurately and appropriately.

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Critical thinking
In chapter 5 de Chazal (2014) provides examples of essential elements in EAP
critical thinking – analysis, argument, critique, evaluation, exemplification, hypothesis,
inference, stance, and many others. Additionally, Wallace and Wray (2011) define criticalreading as evaluating the amount of reasoning and evidence provided by the author for
their claims and critical writing as being able to persuade their audience to agree with
their arguments.
Critical thinking is one of the most essentials skills for EAP learners to acquire.
As stated above, it requires an in-depth comprehension of academic texts and criticalanalysis of the author’s stance, motivations, biases, and purpose for writing. And in turnbeing able to synthesize citations into their own writing (or speaking) from a range ofoften diverse and contradicting sources. Usually this is very challenging for learners due
to academic texts’ density and complexity of language and content.
To help learners develop their critical thinking skills, de Chazal (2014) suggests
a range of cognitive tasks with academic texts, such as researching and consulting,comparing and contrasting, noticing, selecting, evaluating, processing and integrating.
The author provides a detailed description of each task. The evidence in this section
suggests that critical thinking cannot be an afterthought in EAP classroom. It requires
deliberate consideration, planning, and integration into the course curriculum by theEAP teacher. It also requires integration with the language skills of reading, writing,listening and speaking, which are the focus of the sections below.

Reading
In chapter 6 the focus is on reading. In the English classroom, the most well-known
reading activities are probably predicting the content, meaning comprehension questions
at the end of the text, skimming and scanning. But as has been mentioned in the section
on texts, EAP reading involves library research skills, synthesis of information, criticalthinking skills, and the focus on language (de Chazal, 2014). Grabe and Stoller (2002)
describe two distinct models of reading, bottom-up and top-down. The former suggeststhat the reader creates a step-by-step cognitive translation of the text, without using
background knowledge. The latter implies that reading depends on reader’s goals
and expectations, with the use of background knowledge. The two models overlap andsupport each other. Related to these are the challenges learners face when reading.
de Chazal (2014) cites linguistic, non-linguistic (graphs, charts, visuals), and cognitive(density and complexity of texts) challenges. The author also mentions social, cultural,─ 70 ─

Review: de Chazal, E. (2014) English For Academic Purposes

psychological and knowledge-based challenges. The first set may be said to correspondcloser to bottom-up processes, the second to top-down.
Given the complexity of skills, challenges and reading processes above, EAP
programs should feature a significant amount of both reading input and skills workthrough a range of reading tasks. The level of difficulty for the learners will often
depend not only on the particular text, but especially on the nature and purpose of atask. A highly difficult text may still be used with intermediate level learners if the task
is designed in a way that allows them to take advantage of the knowledge they alreadyhave.
Another point in the chapter is that the goal of each EAP teacher should be theirlearner independence. They should be able to utilize the reading skills acquired in theclassroom away from it, without the help from the teacher, by using technology andcollaborating with their peers (de Chazal, 2014). Perhaps only then learners can derive
the greatest benefit from any EAP program, by becoming better readers after theyfinish it.

Writing
In chapter 7 the main aspects of EAP writing are outlined. Among these are morewell-known concepts, such as writing processes, the structure of essays and reports, andcitations conventions. These are often mentioned in numerous writing course books andSLA literature. However, a few less common, but still important points are also given.
The first one has to do with feedback. de Chazal (2014) writes that this may involve
evaluation of own writing by the learners, as well as teacher and peer feedback. Inaddition, Hyland and Hyland (2006) argue that learners usually prefer written feedback
from the teacher to other kinds of feedback.
Teacher feedback can be in the form of both written comments in the draft andspoken comments during class or tutorial. Potentially, this can be one of the mosteffective tools for learner improvement because their attention is drawn to the areas ofwriting that require work, as well as the strong points. In a sense, a learner in a groupclass can temporarily switch to one-to-one environment with the instructor, where much
more individual help can be given to each learner. Teacher knowledge and experience inwriting feedback are important in this context, as they need to quickly identify both thestrong and weak areas in learner writing and provide concise and useful comments.
The second useful point in the chapter is writing with the students. de Chazal (2014)
suggests that EAP teacher should do the same writing task as the learners. This has─ 71 ─Alex Garinseveral benefits – validating the task, ensuring high quality of model texts, developing
materials for future courses, and better understanding of the challenges that learners
go through while doing the task. In class this approach works best with short writing
tasks, like a paragraph. But individual essay components can also be practiced (i.e.,
introduction, main body paragraph, citations). Practicing writing with the learners couldin turn improve teacher feedback, as the instructor should gain a better understandingof the writing process.
In my own experience as a writing teacher in a university context, the practices ofwritten and spoken feedback and writing with the learners have usually proven to beeffective and it is a positive confirmation to see them aligned with research principles inthe book.

Listening
In chapter 8 the focus is on EAP listening. Despite a common perception that
listening is a passive and receptive skill, it is very much active and complex. de Chazal(2014) highlights the concept of multimodality in listening. To comprehend meaning
in a lecture or presentation, learners must potentially interpret input from a rangeof differing spoken, written and visual sources, and be able to interpret the meaning.
Furthermore, the structure, content and language in academic lectures may differ
widely depending on the institution or discipline.
Due to this complexity, learners need to adopt a critical approach to listening. deChazal (2014) recommends strategies such as adopting a critical stance to content,
awareness of lecture styles, note-taking and slide annotation, identifying the purpose of
the lecture, and dealing with accents and colloquial language. It is the responsibility of
EAP teacher to raise learners’ awareness of these and ensure their regular practice andapplication.
In contrast to listening input in general English classes, EAP lectures are typicallynot simplified in terms of their speed, vocabulary level and content. But there are ways
to adjust the difficulty of this input. Rost (2011) suggests schemata activation activities,
learners working in pairs to share comprehended input, pausing the input to allow
learners to process it, providing a script for the listening input, and identifying sequence
from a list of events in the narrative. Related to this, in the chapter on listening
de Chazal (2014) provides in-text support strategies for teachers – input structure
should be familiar, contain signposting and cohesive language and definitions for any
unfamiliar terms.

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Review: de Chazal, E. (2014) English For Academic Purposes

Overall, the chapter highlights the complexity of EAP listening, the challenges
learners face with it and the supporting strategies for both teachers and learners.
Oftentimes listening does not have the highest priority in EAP programs, with the main
attention given to writing and reading. However, this chapter shows its importanceand integration with other skills and systems. After all, in their disciplines, learners
will spend a significant amount of time listening to lectures and they need to have theappropriate skills and strategies to do it well.

Speaking
In chapter 9 de Chazal (2014) contends that speaking in EAP is primarily focusedon meaning and content to be communicated. Speaking in EAP mainly includes
seminars, presentations, and tutorials.
The main aspect of EAP seminars is the content of reading or listening input.
Learners read about a topic or listen to a lecture and then discuss what they haveunderstood from it in groups. de Chazal (2014) argues that a key feature of seminars
is learner preparation, as they mainly express their views on content they have readpreviously, not their in-the-moment opinions. Seminars can be a very productive
and interactive way to learn. Students can learn about different perspectives of theirclassmates and receive feedback on their own views.
However, the inability or difficulty to contribute to the group discussion is avery common challenge. Particularly when some of the learners in the group are lessproficient English speakers than other members. The former often cannot follow thethread of the discussion or struggle to insert their own comments. Hence effective
preparation is important. A thorough knowledge of the topic can often compensate forthe lack of communication skills.
Regarding tutorials, de Chazal (2014) mentions that they usually have moreteaching from the tutor and less students per group compared to seminars. They also
feature group discussion, but the main aim is to provide continuous assessment andsupport for each learner and to monitor their progress.
When it comes to presentations, de Chazal (2014) writes that content and delivery
are important in their assessment. Again, learner preparation is key. An academicpresentation typically needs to have a clear argument, coherent content, logicalorganization, relevant visuals, as well as good timing, pace, and pronunciation fromthe presenter delivery. Needless to say, the more time is spent on preparation forthese features, the better the result should be. From the teacher’s side, good models of─ 73 ─Alex Garinprevious presentations should be provided, and the assessment criteria should be madeclear to the learners.

Limitations and conclusion
English for Academic Purposes outlines the main aspects of EAP in great detail,with clear organization and accessible language. It is especially aimed for practicing
teachers, as each chapter has useful and applicable advice for classroom lessons.
Furthermore, English skills teachers can utilize many sections in the book for theirclasses, as many principles and practices described go beyond EAP and are more
universal to English language teaching.
One limitation of the book is its focus on practice and not on theory. While it doesreference some of the most recent EAP research, it does not describe it in any amount ofdetail. But this limitation is perhaps overcome by its further reading sections. After eachchapter the book has recommendations for further reading by the leading EAP and SLA
researchers. So theory-oriented readers can also find it useful.
And a few words about the scope of this review. Only the chapters most relevant
to EAP skills and systems are covered. The book also has chapters on assessmentand materials design. Designing effective course assessments and materials is often
a complex and difficult process, requiring teams of highly trained professionals, so it
goes beyond the scope of this review and even the scope of the book. That is one reason
these chapters are not discussed here. Space constraints is another. At the same time,
EAP teachers obviously can and do design their own assessment tools and materials.
Though these are usually simpler and less time-consuming than the ones designed byprofessional teams.
Overall, English for Academic Purposes is an excellent resource not only for EAPteachers, but also for any teacher working in a university environment. It can also be
useful for any teacher interested in the field of EAP.

Referencesde Chazal, E. (2014). English for Academic Purposes. Oxford University Press.
Grabe, W. & Stoller, L. (2002). Teaching and Researching Reading. Routledge.
Hill, J. (2000). Revising priorities: from grammatical failure to collocation success. InM. Lewis (Ed.), Teaching collocation: Further developments in the lexical approach(pp. 47-69). Language Teaching Publications.

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Hyland, K. (2006). English for Academic Purposes: An Advanced Resource Book.
Routledge.
Hyland, K. & Hyland, F. (eds.). (2006). Feedback in Second Language Writing: Contexts
and Issues. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Rost, M. (2011). Teaching and Researching Listening. Routledge.
Wallace, M. & Wray, A. (2011). Critical Reading and Writing for Postgraduates 2e.
London: Sage Publications.

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