<Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (August 2007) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> English for academic purposes (EAP) entails training students, usually in a higher education setting, to use language appropriately for study . It is one of the most common forms of English for specific purposes (ESP). </P> <P> An EAP program focuses instruction on skills required to perform in an English - speaking academic context across core subject areas generally encountered in a university setting . Programs may also include a more narrow focus on the more specific linguistic demands of a particular area of study, for example business subjects . Programs may be divided into pre-sessional courses and courses taken alongside students' other subjects . In the former case, sometimes EAP courses may be intended to raise students' general English levels so that they can enter university . In the UK, this often means endeavouring to help students get a score of 6 or above in the IELTS examination . In the US, this can mean helping students attain a score of 80 or greater on the TOEFL or more than 4 on the iTEP . Outside Anglophone countries, English - medium universities may have a preparatory school where students can spend a year or two working on their English and academic skills before starting degree courses . EAP courses running alongside other degree courses may be based on the American English and Composition model, or may employ Content - based instruction, either using material from the students' degree subjects or as an independent, elective - like course . These in - sessional courses may be desirable more to help students develop study skills and required academic practices than for language development . </P> <P> In common with most language teaching, EAP instruction teaches vocabulary, grammar and the four skills (reading, writing, speaking - including pronunciation - and listening), but usually tries to tie these to the specific study needs of students; for example, a writing lesson would focus on writing essays rather than, say, business letters . Similarly, the vocabulary chosen for study tends to be based on academic texts . In addition, EAP practitioners often find that, either directly or indirectly, they are teaching study skills and often having to tackle differences in educational culture, such as differing attitudes to plagiarism . This trend has become more prominent as the numbers of foreign students (especially from China) attending UK universities, and other institutions across the English - speaking world, has increased over the last decade . </P>

Purpose of english for academic and professional purposes