The Impact of Early Academic Experiences on EAP Teachers’ Perceptions and Practice of Teaching Writing in Higher Education

Abstract This research focuses on two key issues in areas in tertiary education, academic literacies theory, a key theory influencing directions in writing in higher education, and EMI contexts, which provide education in English in countries where English is not the first language, a fast growing, but understudied area of higher education globally. This study focuses on writing teachers’ perceptions of academic literacy(s) and the influence of early formal writing experiences in an EMI university. Data analysis revealed that a teacher with an academic background in education exhibited perspectives closer to the concept of academic literacies across three emerging themes: collaboration, creativity, and social situatedness, compared with two colleagues with non-social science undergraduate degrees. This teacher was initiated into an academic community as an undergraduate, unlike those with backgrounds in physical sciences. Our study highlights the role of prior experiences in shaping pedagogical perspectives, and the potential challenges associated with altering these. The study provides an approach to operationalising academic literacies theory in terms of the three themes: collaboration, creativity, and social-situatedness, categories which may be used to promote academic literacies awareness, not only within EAP teacher education, but more widely across other disciplines.