Norwegian version

English for Academic Purposes (EAP)

About us

The Unit for English for Academic Purposes is part of the University Library’s research support services and supports OsloMet’s departments and programs which use English as a working language in studies and research.

The unit’s staff consists of three PhDs (two associate professors and one full professor), all with extensive research and teaching experience and distinguished records of scientific publications.

  • What We Do

    The ability to use language effectively for writing and speaking in academic and professional settings is often perceived as a generic or “soft” skill, one that does not need to be taught explicitly as a part of professional training. 

    However, our work is rooted in a body of research and evidence-based practice in the well-established academic disciplines of Writing Studies, English for Academic Purposes, Professional and Technical Communication, and other related subfields. 

    Research in those fields holds that knowledge-making and knowledge acquisition, as well as professional training takes place through language use in writing and speaking, and that learning to use language effectively in academic and professional settings are necessary conditions for such education and training. 

    Furthermore, studies show that expecting students of all levels, as well as teaching and research staff to acquire the necessary skills in academic and professional language use on their own is not realistic. 

    Consequently, those skills need to be taught, explicitly and systematically, and that learners of those skills need to have multiple and frequent opportunities for practice and feedback from others. 

    Our unit provides OsloMet exactly with that kind of learning support. Specifically, our contributions include:

    • A set of popular courses for doctoral researchers and other researchers who want to develop as research writers. We collaborate with OsloMet’s doctoral programs, OsloMet’s PhD forum, and research groups who want bespoke courses and workshops in addition to our ordinary course portfolio.
    • Entire courses in academic and professional writing and communication as part of established study programs (for example: forkurs, EPS at TKD).
    • Collaborative efforts with academic departments and programs across the university in developing evidence-based and sustainable teaching practices which integrate language and writing into disciplinary content instruction. Examples: the MA program in Applied Computer and Information Technology at TKD and the MA program in International Education and Development at LUI.
    • Training course and workshops for teachers from various departments on topics in writing pedagogy (developed and delivered in collaboration with the OsloMet Academy).
    • Collaborations with colleagues in the University Library to establish a unit for research support. Specifically, we are involved in developing the unit’s support for doctoral researchers and doctoral programs.
    • We possess an in-demand expertise about writing at the doctoral level nationally. We help raise OsloMet’s national and international profile as well as to generate additional income, by holding courses and workshops on academic writing for external institutions and organizations, among them doctoral programs at NMH, HINN, UiO, HVL, UiA, VID, HiØ, and several national research schools.
    • We conduct research and publish on academic and professional writing and communication, and on the place of language and writing in higher education and research. We participate in several well-established international research networks and publish in high-quality journals in our field.
    • We seek external research funding.  The unit’s staff is a country partner-team for Norway in a recently awarded 400 000 Euro Erasmus+ research grant, where we partner with researchers from Spain, UK, France, Romania about a project entitled “Digital Language and Communication Training for EU Scientists”.

Contact

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News and events

Conference: Norwegian Forum for English for Academic Purposes, 2024: EAP and Hybridity (13–14 June, 2024).

Recent publications

Academic writing courses in English for academic staff

 

Published: 15/11/2019 |