Mission possible: Incorporating academic literacy and readiness into an English intensive program curriculum

Abstract

Students at Canadian universities who do not meet their program-specific language and academic requirements may be admitted to their programs with a condition to enrol in an intensive language program. While, in general, university-based language intensive programs aim to help students improve their general and academic language proficiency, our focus is to specifically enhance, foster, and render visible students’ academic literacy and academic readiness. We aim to bring forth some of the intricacies and complexities of curriculum design that are embedded within current theory and practice and address needs based nuances in teaching academic English to international students. In this article, we use a multi-dimensional framework to describe a case study of an academic institution that offers an English Intensive Program. curriculum. This program allows for, inter alia, the incorporation of multiple literacies including extra curricular activities to promote the development of a wide array of academic literacies in students enrolled in the English Intensive Program. Following a description of the theoretical framework, we discuss practical implications of including theory driven academic literacies into intensive language program curricula for different stakeholders.