On Wednesday 9th October 2024, Tasha Rust (University of Leeds) and Aaron Woodcock (University of Reading) hosted a Tea-time Teams meet for EAP tutors new to STEM event. These are some notes from the event.

We had colleagues from University of Reading, University of Durham, University of Edinburgh, University of Leeds and UBC Vantage College, Canada (the 4pm time was good for this part of the world!) join the call.

We shared our teaching contexts and our influences and highlighted the importance of collaboration with the STEM subject specialists. We also stressed how the collaboration building is not always straightforward and foundations for the collaboration may not always be reciprocal.

We explored the transition for EAP practitioners to approach STEM subjects and what strengths we have for this context. Some practitioners on the call related the transition to their science background while others mentioned how their linguistic background helped them make the transition and build collaborations.

One colleague described a new STEM international foundation year and some of the discussions going into the development of the programme. Practical lab focus and vocabulary development seemed to be at the core of the programme, which resonated with other colleagues on the call.

We explored approaches to vocabulary and how to know/ agree on the target lexis. How can we make our modules more accessible in terms of vocabulary? This also led to the question of EAP practitioners feeling more equipped to manage STEM contexts through having a clear and consistent approach to vocabulary.

We then explored what more could be done to support EAP practitioners in understanding literacy requirements of STEM contexts and not letting previous educational experiences influence them.

An identified need of lab communication was explored and how to address this need. Colleagues identified this as oral communication confidence but others expressed caution about how the students are positioned within a lab. However, there is a health and safety need that needs to be addressed.

We discussed some ideas for future ideas sharing in the following themes:

• Positioning and knowledge base of EAP practitioners working in STEM contexts.
• The identified need of lab safety and communication – how can we collectively identify and address this need?
• The use of corpora and data driven learning in STEM contexts to move beyond EGAP in the comfort zone of EAP practitioners.

If you are interested in finding out more or attending one of the sessions please contact us at stem@baleap.org