Based on survey results, this paper examines and compares students' perceptions of and experiences in transferring skills of three English-in-the-Discipline courses designed for Social Sciences undergraduates in an English medium university in Hong Kong: one discipline specific English for Academic Purposes course, one report writing course, and one public speaking course.
This paper examines and compares students' perceptions of and experiences in transferring skills of three English-in-the-Discipline (ED) courses designed for Social Sciences undergraduates in an English medium university in Hong Kong: one discipline specific English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course, one public speaking course and one report writing course. The three courses, products of discussion with faculty members, are intended to provide undergraduate students training for different English literacy skills deemed crucial for their studies or future career. While students are required to take one of the courses to fulfil the graduation requirement, they are free to choose which ED course to take according to their personal interest.
The research project consisted of an online survey and semi-structured interviews. This paper, drawing on the survey results, will focus on students' expectations of the courses, literacy skills they found more applicable beyond the ED classroom, and the extent to which they had transferred the literacy skills learned to other contexts, academia or beyond.
While discussion on learning transfer in EAP has focused on the provision of general versus discipline specific EAP courses, studies often examined a single course. This comparative study, which involved English enhancement courses of different objectives, sheds light on the students' perceptions of the course content and transfer experiences. It hopes to help English enhancement programme or course developers to make more informed decisions about their programme or course design.
