Epigeum, an online course provider founded by Imperial College London and now partly owned by Oxford University Press, has launched a programme that aims to prepare students for English medium instruction at university.
Developed with contributions from the British Council and 25 universities from nine countries, the English for Academic Studies programme is a pre-sessional course for students planning on studying a higher education degree in English.
“A high level of competence in academic English is fundamental in achieving desired student learning outcomes”
The course also provides a toolkit for academic professors who wish to transition to online and blended learning.
“A high level of competence in academic English is fundamental in achieving desired student learning outcomes,” said contributor Siew Mei Wu, from the National University of Singapore.
“English for Academic Studies is an initiative customised to empower students with effective language skills to meet the rigorous demands of their institutions.”
Student modules include “Core academic language: Functions, meaning and grammar” and “Academic identity: Position and voice”.
David Leferve, co-founder and chairman of Epigeum, added that part of the course aims to support teachers to develop online learning.
“The primary audience is the students but people teaching those students, they also need help,” he told The PIE News.
“The idea is that we engage with universities, they get a complete online interactive multimedia course, we train their staff how to teach it and then we offer the whole range of implementation services.”
Course content for teachers includes “Understanding the role and purpose of being an EAP teacher; EAP competencies” and “Teaching online – introduction and practical skills”.
The EAP course is is currently only available to the international students of the contributing universities, including the University of Malaya in Malaysia and Graz University of Technology in Austria. However, Leferve said: “The response has been extremely positive.”
“We’re about to offer it to other universities, and we’re expecting to get quite a significant uptake.”
Epigeum has been providing online courses for universities since 2005, and reportedly develops online content for 95% of Russell Group universities. In May this year, Oxford University Press bought a 17.8% stake in the company from co-founders Imperial Innovations Group for £1.9m in cash.
The company has offices in the UK and US.
