English Language Education at The University of Edinburgh's Centre for Open Learning is delighted to announce that we will be hosting the BALEAP PIM on the theme of ‘The EAP Student: Identity, Community and Belonging’. We look forward to welcoming you to Edinburgh on Saturday 15th November. Registration is now open! The EAP Student: Identity, Community, and Belonging The Centre for Open Learning warmly invites you to submit a proposal to contribute to our BALEAP Professional Interest Meeting (PIM), focusing on the EAP student and themes of identity, community, and belonging. We welcome proposals which reflect on, explore, and critique the following: the ways in which academic identities emerge and re-emerge how students navigate and establish themselves in the university community what EAP practitioners do to foster a sense of belonging and to enable and empower students to enter, inhabit, contribute to, and shape their chosen academic community how students can partner with EAP practitioners in the development of our field Programme The below link will take you to the programme for the day where you can see the schedule at-a-glance, all the abstracts, as well as other practical information about the day itself. Identity: What shapes the identity of an EAP student? We are keen to explore all areas of identity in relation to EAP students, including their positioning in the EAP classroom and the teacher’s role in fostering formation of their students’ academic identity. For example: What role does disciplinary identity play, and how does it empower students? How do educational transitions and the development of student identity formation interact? How does the role of generative AI interact with identity work and the role of teachers and students in shaping community and fostering belonging? How do previous educational backgrounds and cultural beliefs influence student identity? What theoretical frameworks can advance our understanding of this area? Community: What does community mean in the EAP context? We would love to hear reflections on how EAP classroom dynamics affect community building. For example: What can practitioners do to create a safe and harmonious learning environment? What can students themselves do to engage with their community? What barriers to community building exist for diverse cohorts, and how can we help to break these down? How do students and teachers bridge gaps between cultural beliefs, and is it necessary for community building? How do students connect to disciplinary, university, and local communities (for example public, private or third sector organisations)? Is the university community's temporary nature significant? Could there be a balance in preparing students for life beyond university? Belonging: What does belonging mean for EAP students? We invite you to consider different interpretations of belonging, such as the impact of neurodiversity, race, gender, class, and displaced person status (and how these intersect). For example: In what ways do different factors impact belonging? What is the role of practitioners in working with students to develop agency? What can practitioners do to promote empowerment for all students? What role do partnerships with EAP practitioners, co-constructed courses, and assessments play in enhancing equality, diversity, and inclusion? How can we measure belonging effectively, balance student voice mechanisms, and overcome feedback fatigue? Should we assume that everyone wants to belong? Meet your plenary speakers We are delighted to announce that we have two plenary speakers at the conference - Shirley Tian and Tina Harrison.Read more about them here > Institutional-Tote-Swap We have made every effort to make the PIM sustainable as you can see in the programme. We will therefore not be providing cloth tote bags. However, in the spirit of intra-institutional collaboration, we invite you to bring along your own (clean) institutional tote bag to swap with a colleague. If you are anything like us, you have probably accumulated quite a few! A few will be available on the day to get us started. Edinburgh Accommodation Edinburgh has a variety of accommodation options including the University's own hotels, you can find information about these here. Use the code EVENT at the checkout to obtain a discount (subject to availability). Other budget-friendly hotels near the PIM venue include Premier Inn (Hub Edinburgh Royal Mile), Travelodge Edinburgh Central and Motel One Hotel. Conference Sponsor With thanks to our PIM sponsor OELLT who are now working to support our UoE community with English Language testing. This article was published on 2025-06-16
