Enhancing engagement in a large-scale embedded EAP course for business school students

This presentation offers insights from the coordination and delivery of Critical Academic Skills, a large-scale, embedded English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course tailored for first-year students at the Edinburgh Business School, Heriot Watt University. Delivered in Edinburgh and Dubai, the course supports over 650 students annually and is taught by a team of three lecturers and 11 tutors. We will critically examine the challenges of designing and delivering an EAP course that is both meaningful and engaging for Year 1 Business School students. Particular attention will be given to strategies to enhance student engagement through alignment of course aims, content, assessment, and delivery with students’ academic and professional aspirations. We will highlight how linking assessments to core Year 1 Business courses has fostered relevance and coherence across disciplines. We will also discuss the role of digital technologies in improving student engagement. Interdisciplinary collaboration has been central to the course’s design and delivery. We will reflect on collaboration between staff from the Dept. of Languages and Intercultural Studies and Edinburgh Business School and on navigating distinct academic cultures.