Evaluating The Applicability Of EAP Toolkit To Chinese Overseas Students

In view of the fact that General English is the main teaching content in the higher education of China, which leads to most of the Chinese overseas students being relativity weak in academic writing in comparison with their western counterparts, especially in their ability of using articles, structuring, referencing, and critical thinking. Since the lack of knowledge in academic English, most of the learners who are studying abroad face the question of unaware the academic requirement in those English speaking countries. During the one year exchanging study in England, I am lucky to have the opportunity to use the EAP Toolkit, which is a software designed to teach academic English to students. It helped me a lot with my academic writing. From this perspective, the investigation of its applicability among Chinese learners [English learners (prepare to) study abroad] can provide evidence for whether EAP Toolkit can be used to improve their academic writing and. Since EAP Toolkit has been employed by lots of British institutions as a means of implementing academic knowledge to pre-sessional or in-sessional learners, and has received positive responses from students, teachers, and institutions. Is it possible to implement EAP Toolkit to Chinese learners for the purpose of improving their academic capability?In order to examine the applicability of the EAP Toolkit for Chinese learners, the researcher conducted an autoethnographic, questionnaire and semi-structured interview study on EAP Toolkit. By using the autoethnographic method, research launched a four weeks study on the software and kept diaries for further referencing. Through the questionnaire and interview, some Chinese undergraduate students’ view towards the Toolkit has been collected as well. Based on the data collected from the diaries, questionnaire and interview, the EAP Toolkit was evaluated in general and specifically accordingly. The results revealed that there are several exciting designs contained in the program that motivate learners. Therefore, it can be used among those students who are studying abroad. It can also be used to those students who intend to study abroad with their academic English. While it exposes some flaws which could demotivate and frustrate learners as well. It did satisfy Chinese learners to some degree in addressing their academic needs from four aspects, but the software still has room for improvement in terms of its activities and cultural consideration. Improvements can be carried out from its activities design, feedback system, and interaction.