George Chilton writes for Cooperativa de Serveis Lingüístics de Barcelona

 

So I promised to write a post outlining my professional challenges for 2015. I gave myself until the end of January to do this. True to my word, it’s the 30th of January – and here’s the post!  I’ve also snuck in a list of resources that might be useful if you are teaching English for academic purposes (EAP) this year.

Challenge number one

I think my first challenge is with our cooperative. We had a great 2014, working with new clients and welcoming new members. And now it’s time to develop our resources, and focus on our professional development. It’s part of my responsibilities as the secretary of the cooperative to help facilitate our socios’ needs. This will definitely be a big job – as everyone here is enthusiastic about expanding the cooperative, developing professionally, and discovering more in 2015. Find out more about us on our website www.slb.coop

Challenge number two

I’m working as a freelancer in Colombia at the moment. Until I get back to Barcelona and start teaching with SLB, I have no school to handle the admin, buffer the issues, or sell my services. It’s probably the first time I’ve been completely out there on my own – and for me that’s more exciting than anything. I have opportunities to do things that I would not otherwise do – working as a ‘language consultant’, for example – which is I suppose just a fancy way of saying ‘someone who proofreads important presentations.’ The challenge of course, is staying on top of things and networking.

Challenge number three

The third challenge I have for myself related to the types of classes I’m teaching. I’ve taught lots of different kinds of classes since I began 8 years ago, but this is the first year when I’ve really been focusing on EAP – particularly academic writing. I’m teaching both students returning to university, and university lecturers – which certainly gives me a rounded view of the subject!

This means I am preparing a new kind of class for my students – and trying to push my limits.

I’ll leave you with a list of EAP resources I’ve been collecting this year – I’ve explored some more than others. Let me know if you have any others you would like to add to this list.

 

EAP resources and materials:

 

 

 

 

 

 

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  1. Alex Case 30 January 2015 at 10:27 pm - Reply

    That’s certainly a full list of challenges! I’m going in the opposite direction – finally getting out of universities and back into ESP. Here are my EAP resources from the last three years or so in case you want to add them to the list:
    https://tefltastic.wordpress.com/worksheets/eap/

    • georgechilton 30 January 2015 at 10:45 pm - Reply

      Great, thanks Alex – your resources look great, they’ll definitely be useful for me. I’ll add them to the post in a bit

      Cheers,
      George

      • Alex Case 31 January 2015 at 8:12 am - Reply

        Thanks George. Feedback gratefully accepted if you do use them.