Due to student needs in EMI higher-education institutions, EAP is being required at lower English proficiency levels. A building-block approach of systematically developing general language proficiency before introducing EAP is not feasible when students need EAP to successfully complete their other courses. Two key skills for EAP are critical reading and effective writing. This research explores the effectiveness of an integrated source reading and writing approach to developing students’ academic writing. Teachers (n=6) at a tourism-focused Institute in Macau were interviewed on their perceptions after one term using integrated reading and writing tasks to teach academic literacy. Results indicated that some teachers felt source texts helped students develop the content and lexical complexity of their essays, but patch writing was apparent. General academic skill development problems with citation format, cohesion, and reading comprehension were more apparent among students of lower English proficiency. Suggestions are provided for using integrated reading and writing tasks to teach EAP.

This study aims to investigate English target language required in the operation of MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) business in Thailand. Data were gathered from 30 employees and executives who have at least 7-year work experiences in MICE sectors. The questionnaire, supplemented by a semi-structured interview, was designed to explore situations where the English language is necessary for workers to function successfully in the MICE industry and to examine issues that might hinder the successful use of English. Major findings indicated that productive skills of English in the target situations such as briefing and explaining concepts, scopes, and details of a MICE event and delivering a sales pitch to a client in English were the most important. Problems and challenges that frequently hampered the effective English communication among MICE employees were also specified. Findings from this study yielded useful information and had considerable implications for designing the syllabus and materials in English for MICE. That is, the course content should include integrated skills of English, with an emphasis on productive skills.

Email has become a requisite form of business communication. Effective business email writing means accomplishing a task while maintaining rapport. Therefore, teaching business email writing is not only teaching linguistic accuracy but also linguistic functions and genre knowledge. This study examined the effects of genre-based approach (GBA) and data-driven learning (DDL) to facilitate business email writing. The participants were 40 EFL university learners with elementary (n=20) or intermediate (n=20) English proficiency levels from diverse disciplines. They participated in an 8-hour course to write business emails. The data were collected from the pre-test and post-test, and a semi-structured interview. The findings from the t-test analysis revealed that the participants performed better (p = .000) in the genre aspect after the intervention. Semi-structured interviews revealed that the participants were satisfied with the teaching approaches and found DDL useful for their business email writing in the future.

Research has shown that academic disciplines exhibit specific ways of thinking and collaborating (Becher & Trawler, 2001; Bradbeer, 1999; Woods, 2007). With the recent proliferation of interdisciplinary university courses in Singapore, the ability to understand and be understood by their coursemates from other disciplines is more important to students now. Little is known about how these students communicate and collaborate in interdisciplinary classroom settings though.

We aimed to describe university students' performance and perceptions of interdisciplinary communication in a first-year university communication course. The data includes 500 student surveys, 12 recorded and transcribed group discussions, and 20 interviews. An inter-cultural communication framework was used in data analysis. Awareness, experience, curiosity, and emphasis on equality between disciplines were highlighted as some pre-requisites for effective interdisciplinary communication.

Participants can expect to gain insights into university students' views on interdisciplinary classroom communication, useful in the design of learning in interdisciplinary courses.

This presentation will focus on utilising Kahoot!, which is described on the website as a platform “to create, share, and host learning sessions that drive compelling engagement”. The presenter utilises Kahoot! to supplement core teaching materials and increase learner motivation while delivering intensive university pathway programs for international students in Australia. Recent second language acquisition research has investigated the importance of the learning environment for skills development, including studies related to the positive motivational impact of gamification resources (Dianati, Nguyen, Dao, Iwashita & Vasquez, 2020). Learners with high motivation and a low level of anxiety are better equipped for success. Gamification is especially valuable method to lower the affective filter in language classrooms. The presenter will demonstrate how Kahoot! provide opportunities to broaden the learning experience and develop multiple language skills. The session will include examples of quizzes based an extensive range of academic themes. Audience members will have an opportunity to participate in some interactive Kahoot! quizzes and a discussion about experiences with using gamification as a pedagogical resource.

Rhetoric involves utilizing language techniques to persuade or inform an audience (Rowland, 2019). Examples of established rhetorical techniques include, antithesis, metaphors, and tricolons (see Leith, 2019; Herrick, 2018; Lucas, 2015; Toye, 2013). In a world now heavily influenced by global communication, research into modern rhetoric is of critical importance. Research to date though, has primarily focused on how speakers utilize these rhetorical techniques, largely ignoring the audience. Therefore, this study explores the rhetorical awareness of such techniques by members of the audience, comparing university students with previous instruction in rhetoric to students without previous instruction. The study employs a qualitative research design, utilizing thematic analysis, and is framed by the key research question: Can rhetorically aware students collaborate with rhetorically unaware students to foster a mutually beneficial learning experience? The study and its findings will be discussed in the presentation, with an emphasis on pedagogical implications for ESP instructors.

The five key elements of business communication include practical, factual, concise and clear, and persuasive (Taylor, 2012). College EFL students, anticipating to carry out business communication effectively, rely on courses designed to incorporate the targeted elements. However, few studies were targeted at English for Specific Purposes, shedding light on business English particularly. This study aims to describe how an advanced business communication course should be prepared in the EFL context and report how effective its possible teaching activities will include. The study utilized questionnaire to elicit students’ expectations, and interviews to collect suggestions from the teachers, potential employers, and alumni. Three research questions—(1) What urgent skills will students learn most? (2) What activity types do students expect to see? (3) What will constitute effective business communication for EFL college students?—are used to guide this study. The findings suggested presentation and email-writing outweighed others, deserving immediate attention.