THE ROLE OF EAP WRITING IN THE CURRICULUM OF MEDICAL GRADUATE SCHOOLS IN TAIWAN:
A NATIONWIDE SURVEY
Beryl Chinghwa Lee
General Education Center, China Medical University 123-1, Xin-De Rd., Peikang, Yulin
ABSTRACT
The trend of globalization has given English writing for publication a more and more important role (Wood, 2001). In Taiwan, researchers of TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) have invested tremendous time and energy to explore academic writing for science and technology (e.g., Chen, 2006; Huang & Liou, 2005). However, academic writing for medical purposes has yet received its due attention. To address this need, a nationwide survey was conducted to investigate the role of EAP (English for Academic Purposes) writing in the curriculum of medical graduate schools in Taiwan. A survey study was conducted. A questionnaire consisting of 15 items was mailed to graduate chairs of ten medical schools in Taiwan. The returning rate was about 35%. Among the findings, it is indicated that research article publication is an exit requirement in all the doctoral programs of medical schools in Taiwan. With an average of 4.79, the respondents, via a five-point Liker scale, also showed the great importance of EAP writing. Implications of the study are related to the needs of placing attention to and emphasis on EAP writing curriculum in both Master’sand doctoral programs in Taiwanese medical schools.
Keywords: English for Academic Purposes (EAP), Egnlish for Medical Purposes (EMP), Academic Writing
References
[1] Chen, C. W-Y. (2006) The use of conjunctive adverbials in the academic papers of advanced Taiwanese EFL learners. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, 11: 113-120.
[2] Huang, H.-T., Liou, H.-C. (2006). An action research study of an academic English writing courseforgraduatestudentsin Taiwan:Students’needsperception,and registerfeaturesin the writing. English Teaching & Learning, 30, 45-73.
[3] Wood, A. (2001) International scientific English: the langauge of research sceintists around the world. In J. Flowerdew & M. Peacock (Eds.), Research perspective on English for Academic Purposes (pp. 71-83). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
