EAP Foundation

Good writing requires an appropriate mix of different types of sentence. Too many short, simple sentences can make the writing boring, while too many long and complex sentences can make the writing dense and difficult to understand. This podcast considers different kinds of sentence, then looks at the three different types of clause used in complex sentences , namely noun clauses, adjective clause...

A good dictionary is an essential tool for any language learner. This podcast considers different types of dictionary and the advantages and disadvantages of each, as well as looking at the features of a good dictionary. It concludes by looking at ways to improve dictionary use.

Taking notes, both when reading texts and when listening to lectures or presentations, is an essential aspect of student life. This podcast considers reasons to take notes while listening , how note-taking for listening differs from note-taking for reading, and gives 10 tips for note-taking while listening.

This podcast looks at language for reports . As with other formulaic language (e.g. the language for presentations), you do not need to learn all of these phrases. You should be able to use at least one phrase for each function (e.g. stating the aim(s) of your report, referring to figures in the Results section or the Discussion section). How many more you learn after this is up to you. Good writi...

This podcast considers the important features of English vocabulary that you will need to know in order to use it effectively, namely meaning, spelling, pronunciation, part of speech, word family, frequency, register, usage and collocation. 

After you have understood the title, the next step of the writing process is to generate ideas. The best way to do this is by a process called brainstorming . The podcast gives information on what brainstorming is, as well as describing three useful brainstorming techniques, namely clustering, listing, and freewriting.

Academic discussions are a key part of university life. This podcast will help you understand how to participate in academic discussions by considering the reasons for taking part in discussions and giving ways that individuals and groups can help to create an effective discussion. It also includes some tips on how to improve your discussion skills.

This podcast explains what EAP (English for Academic Purposes) is , giving a definition of EAP, describing its development, locating EAP in a family tree of English Language Teaching, considering general versus specific EAP, and comparing EAP to General English.

Each subject has words which are either used specifically in that subject area (and not in general English), or common words which are used with special meaning in that subject area. Such words are known as technical, domain-specific or subject-specific vocabulary . This podcast explains what subject-specific vocabulary is, and gives an overview of some of the technical lists available for academi...

General vocabulary, also called high-frequency vocabulary , is vocabulary that occurs frequently in all kinds of texts and everyday language. It is likely to comprise the majority of the words and phrases learners encounter on a General English course at school. This podcast discusses general vocabulary, beginning with a definition, then considering how many words should comprise general vocabular...

The two most common forms of writing at university are reports and essays. This podcast describes academic reports , giving information on what a report is, outlines the main types of report you may need to write, and summarises the differences between reports and essays.

Academic writing is generally impersonal and objective in tone. This podcast considers what objective writing is , how objective academic writing is, then presents several ways to make your writing more objective, namely: using passive; focusing on the evidence ( The findings show... ); referring to sources ( Newbold (2021) shows... ); using impersonal constructions with It and There ; using hedge...

The Academic Formulas List (AFL) is a list of the most common formulaic sequences in academic English, i.e. recurring word sequences three to five words long. There are three separate lists: one for formulas that are common in both academic spoken and academic written language (the 'core' AFL), one for those which are special to academic spoken language, and one for those which are special to acad...

Hedging , also called caution or cautious language , is an important component of academic style . This podcast explains what hedging is, then looks at different ways to hedge, namely using introductory verbs, modal verbs, adverbs, adjectives, nouns, and some other ways such as adverbs of frequency and introductory phrases. On the website there is as an example passage so you can see each type of...

This podcast describes the New Academic Word List (NAWL) , giving information on what the NAWL is, as well as the 10 most frequent words in the NAWL.

This podcast describes the New General Service List (NGSL) , giving information on what the NGSL is, as well as the first 10 words in the NGSL.

This podcast describes the Academic Collocation List (ACL) , explaining what it is and giving some example collocations.

Academic writing is arguably the most important skill in academic contexts, since writing is the main method of academic communication. It is also the most difficult skill for most students to master. This podcast considers what academic writing is , looking in detail at the main features of academic writing, namely that it is structured, evidenced, critical, balanced, precise, objective , and for...

Although it is often assumed that idioms are too informal for use in academic English, two studies have identified idioms which occur fairly frequently in spoken and written academic English. This podcast describes idioms in academic English , giving information on what an idiom is, why academic idioms should be studied, as well as giving the 10 more common academic idioms for spoken and written E...

This podcast describes the Academic Word List (AWL) , giving information on what the AWL is, as well as listing the first 60 headwords of the AWL.

There are many word lists for general and academic English study. This podcast gives information on why word lists are important, then presents ideas about how to use word lists. For more information, check out the page on the website , as well as the companion page which gives a detailed overview of the many different word lists available for academic study.

Taking notes, both when reading texts and when listening to lectures or presentations, is an essential aspect of student life. Note-taking for reading has many areas in common with note-taking when listening, for example the need to identify main ideas, to distinguish main from supporting details, to make your notes clear and concise, and to be sure about your purpose before you begin note-taking....

Learning vocabulary is an important aspect of academic study. This podcast considers how much vocabulary to learn, the type of vocabulary to study, including formulaic phrases, and gives some tips on how to learn vocabulary.

Cohesion and coherence are important features of academic writing. They are one of the features tested in exams of academic English, including the IELTS test and the TOEFL test. This podcast gives information on what cohesion is and how to achieve good cohesion. It also explains the difference between cohesion and coherence, and how to achieve good coherence.

In academic writing you often have to summarise part of a book or journal article. It is one of three ways of using another writer's work in your own (the other two being quotation and paraphrase). Your summary may be just one or two sentences, to explain the main idea of the article or compare it with another text, or it might be much longer, up to 50% of the original. This podcast explains the s...