Introduction

Flowerdew and Peacock (2001) define English for Academic Purposes (EAP) as “the teaching of English with the specific aim of helping learners to study, conduct research or teach in that language” (p. 8). EAP courses play a significant role in our professional lives as language learners and teachers. However, there is evidence of dissatisfaction with EAP courses among teachers and learners. According to his recent research findings, Gaskaree (2020) found dissatisfaction with EAP courses among teachers and students. Hyland (2006) stated that the expansion of these courses had always been challenging regarding the development of EAP courses, as many EAP courses and textbooks lack theoretical rationale. In addition, he believed that EAP textbooks are mainly based on the writers' experience and intuition. Thus, a paucity of students' position and voice in developing the EAP courses is implied (Hyland, 2006).

The importance of EAP instruction might be highlighted when Medgyes (2017) emphasized teachers' inability to voice their valuable experiences and share their experiences with the colleagues in the field. In addition, as Prescott (2011) identified, Hungarian university students in their first semester know little about academic skills before they begin the course; therefore, academic writing elements are problematic for most of them. Moreover, it could be argued that the students of these programs will find it challenging to deal with both academic English and the study skills needed for their university. According to Bruce (2017), having a prerequisite EAP knowledge to support students is essential; hence, EAP courses need to be evaluated for efficiency from the TTs' perspectives.

Accordingly, the present study aimed to evaluate the current situation of EAP courses, at a Hungarian university within an EFL teacher training program. By exploring the strengths and weaknesses of the courses, this study will be able to produce suggestions for improvement in the current EAP courses at the Hungarian university under investigation. Therefore, first, a brief overview of the related literature on the importance of EAP courses and education will be provided. Then, the method of the study, the participants, the context, and other related elements will be described. This will be followed by the presentation and discussion of the results of the semi-structured interviews. Finally, the conclusion will introduce possible suggestions, recommendations, and implications for improving EAP courses.

Review of the literature

Research design

The case in the current qualitative case study is the TTs' perceptions of the usefulness of EAP instruction at a Hungarian university. The value of the current case lies in the fact that TTs' perceptions of the EAP courses can shed light on how effective these courses are with regard to their success as both EFL TTs at university and as future EFL teachers. In addition, their perceptions can also indicate how well the TTs' needs are met based on the objectives of the EAP courses presented in the course syllabi.

Hence, the design of the present study utilizes a qualitative case study to explore Hungarian EFL TTs' perceptions of the usefulness of the EAP instruction they receive during their university training. Denzin and Linkoln (2018) state that a “descriptive study usually requires […] in-depth interviews to understand the experiences, perspectives, and worldviews of people in a particular set of circumstances” (p. 608). Accordingly, the purpose of this study is to explore the strengths, weaknesses, and difficulties that EFL TTs experience during their studies by using in-depth semi-structured interviews. This paper examines five Hungarian EFL TTs' perceptions of the EAP instruction, as the case of the study, at a prestigious university in Budapest, Hungary. According to the purposes of the study, the following research questions are to be answered.

1. What do Hungarian EFL teacher trainees perceive as the purpose(s) of their university EAP instruction?

2. What are the perceptions of EFL teacher trainees at a Hungarian university about their EAP instruction efficiency?

3. How do Hungarian EFL teacher trainees perceive the possible impact that university EAP instruction may have on their future careers?

Results and discussion

At first, students were asked to talk about the purposes of EAP instruction at university through one main and two sub-questions “What do Hungarian EFL TTs perceive as the purpose(s) of their university EAP instruction?”. They were asked to speak about the goals of the EAP courses and education at university. For clarity and conciseness, the answers are being quoted. The responses are presented with the interviewees' pseudonyms.

Based on all the points mentioned in the above quotation from Anna's interview, academic writing and its components are of utmost importance in her opinion since she emphasizes the elements of academic writing in the process of conducting research projects and writing research reports.

Timi also believed that academic writing had been at the center of the goals of the academic courses. As she put it, “to give students the opportunity to participate in academic life if they wish so, and also to familiarize them with more academic texts and discussion topics, which also helps to learn some more formal expressions.“ In addition, the other three interviewees agreed that academic writing, particularly, paraphrasing and summarizing, were of the utmost importance when it came to EAP courses. In the same line with the others, Orsi noted that ”definitely improving the writing and comprehension skills“ and ”paraphrasing and summarizing“ were very important, for example; ”… getting to know a lot of texts and […] different types of thinking”.

Concerning the first research question, Kata also noted that “the main purposes are academic articles and to be able to summarize and paraphrase them, and also they are useful for writing skills”. Apart from that they also learn “how to write [their] thesis” as in these courses they are focusing on “how to write something that looks academic and professional.” Finally, Rita, as the last interviewee, felt that “[being] able to write [their] thesis” and “improving writing” were the essential purposes of the EAP courses. Besides, she maintained that “being able to speak in a better way, pronounce[ing] the words in a better and nicer way, also grammar should be developed. Also, in doing research.” This is also maintained and supported by Shaw (2016) in that the purpose of EAP might be the production of useful text for the intended community (p. 253). As with the first highlighted factor in EAP instruction by Jordan (1997), Rita, the fifth interviewee, held that, in her opinion, speaking in a better way was the first purpose of EAP instruction.

The students' answers to the first set of interview questions concerning the purposes of EAP courses and instruction supported the idea put forward by Jordan (1997), in which writing skill is the second important skill in the hierarchy of academic skills. Jordan (1997) maintained that listening and speaking in seminars were of utmost importance in EAP instruction, and academic writing came next. Finally, the listening skill with understanding and note-taking in lectures was highlighted (p. 44). The findings of the first research question, “what do Hungarian EFL teacher trainees perceive as the purpose(s) of their university EAP instruction?”, support the idea that academic writing is the most practiced and noticed component in the literature, which is also maintained and supported by Shaw (2016) in that the purpose of EAP might be the production of useful text for the intended community (p. 253).

The second set of themes emerged in relation to the perceptions of EFL TTs concerning the efficiency of EAP instruction. To this aim, the participants were asked if the EAP courses were adequately covered at the university. Moreover, they were invited to talk about the strengths and weaknesses of the EAP courses and instruction that they attended at the university. Finally, they were asked to talk about how successful they thought EAP courses were in meeting their EAP needs at university.

The emerging themes included lack of enough EAP material coverage, lack of enough exposure, lack of practice opportunity, lack of interactive classes, lack of resources, teachers having different standards, and overcrowded classes. In addition, they identified the following themes as strengths of the EAP courses: professional and hardworking teachers, strict deadlines followed by constructive feedback.

Even though the first interviewee, Anna had a generally positive perception of the way EAP skills had been practiced in classes, she doubted the allocated time needed for those taught EAP skills was sufficient. She maintained that, “What we learn is enough for the intended purposes, I think.” She also believed that “teachers' explanations of the processes we should follow when writing an academic paper are very detailed and clear,” and that she “found the EAP courses I attended very useful.” However, she added that “It could have been helpful if we had had to write more “thesis-like” assignments.” She continued and added that students did not have enough time to practice the materials. Based on the interviewees' belief, this was rooted in overcrowded classes. Anna went on to say, “there are too many of us in the courses, and it would be impossible for teachers to correct long assignments that we write.”

In the same line, Timi added the lack of interactive classes as another weakness of EAP instruction at university. She noted that: “ I believe it's really up to the teacher and how they manage their courses. In a seminar, I think the more interactive the class is, the more effective it is indeed.” Timi also highlighted the importance of cooperative learning and regarded it as highly effective learning if they could work together in smaller groups and help each other that way.

The third interviewee highlighted the lack of EAP resources. Orsi said: “I think there is a lack of resources”. In the same line, Rita also hinted at the lack of EAP resources. She noted that the teacher “let us choose the articles that we liked” as homework; she added that this was primarily “good”, but since “we did not receive feedback and got a mark and still we do not know why we got that mark we could not see the difference in our levels of academic writing skills”. Right feedback from the teachers on their homework and projects proved to be the most highlighted idea throughout the interviews. In the same line, Jordan (1997) maintained that “no matter which kind of academic writing students undertake; they will need feedback regarding its acceptability and accuracy” (p. 171). Having a close look at the participants' statements, one can perceive the reason for their dissatisfaction with EAP instruction: most of the interviewees voiced their expectations of enough feedback on their work in order to know if they had fulfilled their tasks successfully. Furthermore, Rita considered her professional writing teacher as the best teacher because she had given them “tons of homework,” followed by the right feedback.

The fourth interviewee, Kata, noted another weakness of EAP instruction. She added that “another weakness is about the teachers; they know a lot, but I feel they were not taught these skills [EAP], and now they are teaching them. And sometimes they teach us to be objective, but they themselves were subjective”. Another issue voiced by Kata is the lack of interactive EAP classes with enough practice. This factor is of utmost importance in EAP instruction; however, as Ypsilandis and Kantaridou (2007) claimed, EAP instruction is now more crowded than before because many people across the globe are interested in tertiary education, and accordingly, EAP classes as a fundamental part of tertiary education are more overpopulated than other classes.

The last set of interview questions referred to the importance of EAP courses and instruction at university and their impacts on the students' future careers. The participants were asked, how Hungarian EFL TTs perceived the possible impact that university EAP instruction might have on their future career. Considering the EAP learners' needs, the purpose of this section of the interview was to find out what the participants thought about their EAP needs as future teachers, the relevance of the EAP course they have attended to their future career, and if their EAP courses at university have inspired them in any way.

Moreover, the interviewees were asked about their perceptions of EAP courses' relevance and instruction to their future careers. They all had approximately similar perspectives on the relevance of the EAP courses to their future in several ways in that all TTs believed that those courses were effective. Timi, Anna, and Orsi emphasized these courses' usefulness for future teachers, especially instructing adults. Also, Orsi believed that the EAP courses and instruction increased her self-confidence. On the other hand, Kata was concerned about reading many academic articles and believed that the EAP instruction had opened her eyes and helped her be a good reader. Finally, Rita identified improvement in language skills due to EAP instruction, and she implied that this would help her be a good and confident teacher. The findings of this set of interview questions are in line with Zou et al. (2017), who asserted that those workers who had been learning EAP skills before their careers were successfully using their language skills, especially their speaking skills. Moreover, it was found that those EAP learners were highly confident in their workplace, established effective team relationships and developed their interpersonal skills.

In the same line, Timi, in an answer to the same question, said: “yes, definitely, as a teacher, it is very useful to have those skills; [good understanding, analytical reading, critical thinking] in order to help your students as well.” Orsi also strongly supported the idea of long-term effects of academic skills on her future endeavors. She continued: “yes, definitely, to be a PhD student and deal with adult learner” one would need such skills. She also went on and said “well, I can see the improvement”, “it gave me some sort of confidence”.

Rita also maintained that: “they [EAP courses] all wanted to improve the language skills” this way she would expect positive long-term effects on her future endeavors. As far as the aforementioned quotations are concerned, they provide empirical evidence that the EAP courses are beneficial for both study and career purposes.

Conclusion

The results of the present small-scale qualitative case study indicate that EFL TTs recognize the purpose and importance of EAP instruction at the Hungarian university in Budapest; however, based on the findings of the current study, the following key issues need to be taken into consideration.

First of all, the related departments hosting the EAP courses should be aware of the introduction phase of EAP courses to first-year students as they are not thoroughly familiar with EAP components. According to the interview data, it is highly recommended to include a concise introductory part in the syllabus. Second, they should support the EAP teachers in handling overcrowded classes so that they can provide students with the right feedback. Third, it is highly recommended the EAP teachers include academic listening and speaking in their syllabi because, as Jordan (1997) maintained, speaking and listening are the highly emphasized components of EAP instruction. Fourth, it is also recommended that EAP teachers use peer correction as a constructive strategy in crowded classes to decrease the burden of being overloaded with many students' tasks to be corrected. Finally, concerning the effectiveness of EAP instruction in students' future careers, it is suggested that EAP teachers emphasize the usefulness of EAP instruction in their professional lives. Some of the interviewees believed that EAP courses are not appropriate for learners other than adults. However, as Scarcella (2014) emphasized, EAP instruction was also appropriate for younger students. We need to ensure that TTs are familiar with all EAP components and their age suitability.

Consequently, according to the present case study's interview data, the following implications could be considered by the program authorities. First, holding introductory sessions to introduce EAP instruction and EAP courses in particular. Second, encouraging EAP teachers to have a unified set of teaching standards. Third, requiring teachers to use EAP-related materials instead of their favorite previously practiced materials. Fourth, providing EFL pre-service trainees with various EAP components; listening, speaking, discussion, and argumentation.