Practitioner research into practice in EAP

This chapter focuses on the notion of EAP practitioners as researchers of their own pedagogical contexts, whether these be offline or online. It begins by considering the emergence of practitioner research (PR) in language education, including EAP, over the last thirty years or so. We then provide an overview of current approaches to PR that can be taken, including action research, exploratory practice, and reflective practice. Next, we review several key studies conducted between 2014 and 2024, including in this synthesis perspectives such as where such studies have mainly been conducted, what topic areas are focused upon, what similarities and differences can be observed in types of studies and methodological approaches, and what key findings have emerged on where PR can contribute to existing research. We conclude with recommendations for further practice and research, covering issues such as what needs to be in place to foster PR, what forms of research dissemination might be appropriate for EAP practitioners, what kind of professional development in PR might be valuable, and what areas of research could be pursued to gain a deeper understanding of EAP PR.