Social Theory for English for Academic Purposes Foundations and Perspectives
Produktdetaljer
Biografisk notat
Alex Ding is Associate Professor of English for Academic Purposes and Director of Scholarship at the University of Leeds, UK.
Michelle Evans is Lecturer of English for Academic Purposes at the University of Leeds, UK.
<p>This is a very timely and insightful volume which explores the social theories which inform so much EAP research today. By clearly unpacking what is often only implicit and by showing the relevance of theory to classroom practice, this book should be required reading for all EAP researchers and teachers.</p>
Ken Hyland, Visiting Professor, School of Education and Lifelong Learning, University of East Anglia, UK
<i>Social Theory for English for Academic Purposes</i> makes a very valuable contribution to the EAP literature. This single volume provides a rare opportunity for researchers and practitioners in EAP to explore and expand their knowledge and appreciation of the diverse ways in which social theory is interpreted and practiced in relation to a shared focus. This potentially opens spaces for cross-disciplinary dialogue and intra-theoretical reflection to the benefit of the broad field of EAP.
Susan Hood, Honorary Associate Professor, Department of Linguistics, The University of Sydney, Australia
This book, written by pioneering architects of original social theory in educational/linguistic fields as well as expert practitioners, systematically exposes the sociological commitments of mainstream ideas and theories in English for Academic Purposes (EAP), commitments which are very often not fully examined by the discipline, but nonetheless shape practitioners’ ideas and their praxis.
The initial chapters outline what social theory is; the normative, critical, descriptive, social and generative purposes it serves; the scope and limits of social theory, and tracing the major historical traditions and recent currents. This mapping of social theory is followed by a detailed argument that makes the case for the centrality of social theory for EAP practitioners and praxis and the need to develop a sociological imagination to enhance knowledge and agency of practitioners. The contributions reveal the sociological foundations and commitments that underpin established theories in EAP, such as genre theories, systemic functional linguistics, and academic literacies. Each of these three major research streams in EAP is subject to critical analysis, linking each of these streams to the sociological commitments that underpin them. Finally, the book explores the social theories and approaches that have yet to make a full or significant impact on EAP research and practice, but would enable practitioners and researchers to understand educational contexts, texts, structures, culture(s), knowledge production and producers, and social agents with greater sociological clarity and sophistication. Topics covered include: social realism, legitimation code theory, critical realism, ethnography, feminism and Bourdieusian concepts for EAP.
The overarching aim of this volume is to position social theory much more centrally to frameworks and conceptions of the (unstable and contested) knowledge-base for EAP practitioners and to promote a ‘sociological imagination’ among and for EAP practitioners.
Part I: Foundations
1. Genre: Sociological Foundations and Implications, Michelle Evans, (University of Leeds, UK)
2. Academic Literacies: Theorising Language as Social Practice, Jackie Tuck (Open University, UK)
3. Systemic Functional Linguistics: a Social Theory of Language, Jim Martin (University of Sydney, Australia)
Part II: Perspectives
4. Legitimation Code Theory: Addressing fragmentation in EAP, Steve Kirk (University of Durham, UK)
5. Social Realism and Genre theory: Knowledge-building in EAP, Ian Bruce (University of Waikato, New Zealand)
6. Critical Realism: What can it do for EAP? , Julia Molinari (University of Nottingham, UK)
7. Bourdieu and Field Analysis: EAP and its Practitioners, Alex Ding (University of Leeds, UK)
8. Ethnography: Expanding the Boundaries in EAP, Haynes Collins (University of Leeds, UK) and Adrian Holliday (Canterbury Christ Church University, UK)
9. Feminism: Affordances and Applications for EAP, Yolanda Cerdá (University of Leeds, UK)
Afterword: Reflections on Omissions and Options, Michelle Evans (University of Leeds, UK)
References
Index
Advisory Board:
Jigang Cai, Fudan University, China
Nigel Caplan, University of Delaware, USA
Greg Hadley, Niigata University, Japan
Nigel Harwood, University of Sheffield, UK
Azirah Hashim, University of Malaya, Malaysia
Carole Macdiarmid, University of Glasgow UK
Jennifer MacDonald, Dalhousie University, Canada
Geoffrey Nsanja, University of Malawi, The Polytechnic, Malawi
Brian Paltridge, The University of Sydney, Australia
Diane Pecorari, The City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Nadezda Silaski, University of Belgrade, Serbia
Christine Tardy, University of Arizona, USA
Jackie Tuck, Open University, UK
This series sets the agenda for studies in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) by opening up research and scholarship to new domains, ideas and perspectives as well as giving a platform to emerging and established practitioners and researchers in the field.
The volumes in this series are innovative in that they broaden the scope of theoretical and practical interests in EAP by focusing on neglected or new areas of interest, to provide the EAP community with a deeper understanding of some of the key issues in teaching EAP across the world and in diverse contexts.
Innovations in this series include:
focusing on innovative pedagogies of teaching EAP;
examining the value of sociological theories as lenses for better understanding of the roots of EAP to better equip EAP in all of its diverse contexts;
researching the impact of policies and politics on language education in higher education;
exploring the identity and agency of EAP practitioners, students and managers in turbulent times across the globe;
and to investigate the transitions (and means of transitioning) of EAP practitioners to a scholarship-based identity and role.
Produktdetaljer
Biografisk notat
Alex Ding is Associate Professor of English for Academic Purposes and Director of Scholarship at the University of Leeds, UK.
Michelle Evans is Lecturer of English for Academic Purposes at the University of Leeds, UK.