Ibérica (Apr 2012)
What written academic genres do veterinary pathologists suggest for EAP students?
Abstract
English is the language of research and scholarship as attested by the bulk of scientific articles published in international journals and by its adoption in scholarly meetings and in higher education. In countries where English is a foreign language, the role of English as a contact language must inform university syllabi and language lecturers should aim at familiarizing students with the academic genres pertaining to their field of study. To date, Veterinary Medicine has not attracted analysts’ attention and is an underrepresented field in Genre Analysis studies. To fill in part this gap, a survey was conducted among a group of veterinary pathologists – considered as a community of practice – on the academic written genres to be used in university curricula. Results, shared to call attention on English as a foreign language education in Veterinary Medicine, show that respondents deem case-reports and monographs the genres to be used in English language courses; additionally, some respondents highlighted that language teachers should develop presentation skills to give talks at international conferences.