English for Academic Purposes I is an introductory course that aims to equip students with the basics of reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills that are essential for academic life. Following a discovery learning and student-centered approach, the course is designed to help students gain insight into text organization, APA style for referencing, idea development, cohesion and coherence, style, and register of any given academic source, as well as prompt analysis and formulating a response in line with the given prompt. In conjunction with a focus on academic conventions and style, the course also intends to develop the students’ critical thinking skills, encouraging critical evaluation and the use of higher-order thinking skills. To this end, the ideas in the given sources will be analyzed and later be used by students extensively in their writing to formulate an argument and support ideas, as well as in their class discussions to employ sound reasoning and effectively articulate opinions by reacting and referring to the arguments in oral discourse. Typical classwork of ENG 101 contains analysis of texts and videos, discussion sessions, and individual writing assignments.
The overall aim of this course is to develop students in all four skills, namely reading, listening, writing, and speaking, for academic purposes and to enhance learner autonomy so that students can transfer these skills to their departmental undergraduate and postgraduate courses and professional lives.