Cultivating effective collaborations: insights from EAP and content teacher interactions

Other conference contribution, 2025

Through collaboration, EAP teachers can help content teachers realise their tacit knowledge of their discipline genres (Li, 2021), and content teachers can help EAP teachers understand the discipline communication needs and expectations, which in turn can help them teach appropriate communication skills. However, the research shows that these collaborations are dependent on individual attitudes and contexts, and frustration, followed by a less-than ideal teaching outcome, is not uncommon. As an EAP teacher at a technical university who has collaborated with several disciplinary teachers over the years, I can attest to this being the case. It has more often resulted in dissatisfaction than fulfilment. However, this does not mean that the collaboration does not result in positive results. In this presentation, I would like to share details about four collaborations to exemplify what conditions can create a positive or negative collaboration experience and what difference particular factors make. These collaborations happen in undergraduate level courses and involve teaching report writing, data commentary, or oral presentation skills. There is sometimes more than one content and EAP teacher involved. In one of the four cases, reliable and clear communication between the two teachers results in a very positive collaboration. However, in the other three cases, communication is less stable causing said frustration. These content teachers are willing to collaborate, but there are other challenges that affect the implementation of (and outcome of) the teaching and learning activities in those courses. Some of those challenges involve the factor of time, experience, and multiple actors. With these four cases, I want to ultimately illustrate how a successful collaboration could be cultivated.