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BALEAP is a national organisation of centres where EAP (English for Academic Purposes) is taught within British Universities. Its role is to develop the English Language Provision for international students in institutions of higher education in the UK and to promote and support the professional development and status of staff in these institutions. The British Association of Lecturers in English for Academic Purposes (BALEAP) was founded in 1972. Structure BALEAP has an executive committee of nine officers and holds business meetings for institutional members. These general business meetings, open to all representatives of member institutions, are normally held twice a year, in the autumn and the spring. The executive committee is composed of: Chair Deputy Chair Treasurer BAS Chair PIMs Coordinator Publications Officer Information Officer Research Officer Web Co-ordinator Two Elected Ordinary Members Membership There are two forms of membership available: Institutional Membership Institutional Membership is available to any University or equivalent institution of higher education, which teaches EAP courses and has at least one full-time member of staff in EAP. This costs £350 per annum. There are currently (in 2004) 78 institutional members. Institutional membership gives entitlement to join the accreditation scheme and for any staff from that institution to attend BALEAP events at the members’ rate as well as receive information on all the activities, as set out below. Only institutional members can attend and vote at BALEAP business meetings. Individual Associate Membership Individual Associate Membership is available to anyone in the academic community with an interest in English for Academic Purposes. This costs £50 per annum. Individual Associate Membership gives entitlement to receive BALEAP information and selected publications and attend BALEAP events at members’ rates. Activities Professional Issue Meetings (PIMs) One day Professional Issues Meetings are held two or three times a year, usually on a Saturday, in different venues around the country. There is a specific theme for each meeting. Papers are published after every two or three meetings and are available from the PIMs coordinator. Biennial Conference A three-day conference is held once every two years around Easter, based on a theme central to English for Academic Purposes. The theme of the 2003 conference, held at the University of Southampton, was Developing Academic Literacy. A selection of papers will be published. The 2005 conference will be held in conjunction with SATEFL in April at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh. The title is New Approaches to Materials Design for Language Learning. Accreditation Scheme BALEAP has its own accreditation scheme for pre- sessional EAP courses. This is run by the BALEAP Accreditation Scheme (BAS) with the support of the British Council, and is self-regulatory. Institutions are inspected every three years by two assessors, who inspect all aspects of the courses offered and submit a detailed report to the BAS committee, which makes the final decision on accreditation. The aspects of the course considered in the accreditation are: Management & Administration Staffing Resources and Facilities Course Design Teaching and Learning Assessment Student Welfare Course Evaluation Email Discussion List BALEAP has a Discussion List which can be accessed by members and which provides a forum for the exchange of information and ideas. It enables institutions to advertise teaching vacancies and events such as conferences. Research Register A Research Register has been compiled and will be regularly updated. This aims to show current and recent research projects in EAP undertaken by BALEAP members. A copy is available for £3.00. Contacts for more information on: Membership Andy Gillett chair@baleap.org.uk Dept of Inter-faculty Studies University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield Campus College Lane, Hatfield, Herts, AL10 9AB PIMs Days and Publications Andy Seymour A.E.Seymour@reading.ac.uk Language Resource Centre, University of Reading Whiteknights, PO BOX 241, Reading, RG6 6WB 0118 378 6760 2005 Biennial Conference Olwyn Alexander [email protected] English Section, School of Languages Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, EH14 4AS 0131 451 8189 Fax: 0131 451 3079 Accreditation Scheme Moira Calderwood mmc@arts.gla.ac.uk EFL Unit, University of Glasgow 52 Hillhead Street, Glasgow, G12 8QB 0141 330 6521 Fax: 0141 339 3381 Amanda Suarez (BAS secretary) ALSuarez@aol.com C/o ELTU, Dept. of Educational Studies University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL 0161 8605713 Research Register Jo McDonough [email protected] Director EFL Unit Department of Language & Linguistics University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park Colchester, Essex, C04 3SQ 01206 872207 Fax: 01206 873107
