The Promise and Precarity of Critical Pedagogy in English for Academic Purposes

Abstract

English for Academic Purposes (EAP) has become an increasingly prominent sector of the English language teaching profession in British Columbia, providing English language preparation for post-secondary education across a range of disciplines. This theoretical paper gives overviews of EAP and critical pedagogy, then delves into four central tenets that are parallel in both fields: decoding, contextualization, praxis, and critical thinking. Beyond the parallels, it explores both promising initiatives and tensions in the enactment of critical pedagogy in EAP, not least of which is the precarity of many instructors in the field. Recognizing the contributions of EAP and moving the field from the margins of the academy would make for better opportunities to realize the full potential of international students and international education through critical pedagogy.