SESSION 1C

Meredith MacAulay
Motivating EAP students: Five Principles

Abstract
It can happen to the best of us - students seem unmotivated in our class. Is it us, or are they homesick, confused or uninterested? Perhaps they did not have much say in the decision to study in Australia at all. Regardless of the reason, it is important for us to try to turn things around, and better yet, to prevent the situation in the first place. This can be challenging in an EAP course when there is a heavy workload for both students and teacher, time pressure and often a prescriptive syllabus.

In this interactive workshop I will propose five principles to motivate and engage your EAP students and to keep them motivated throughout the course, drawing on both theory and my own teaching experience. This will be an interactive workshop and you will have an opportunity to try out activities that correspond to the principles, discuss them with your colleagues and share your own ideas.

Bio
Meredith MacAulay has over twenty years’ experience as a language teacher. She currently teaches a Direct Entry EAP course at UNSW Global where she also works as a teacher trainer. She holds a DELTA and an MA in TESOL. She has published research on the transfer of EAP discussion skills to tertiary study in the University of Sydney Papers in TESOL and an on-line activity book called Energising EAP with The round.