Enhancing the use of English in research for ESL nursing students

Nursing students are required to develop their critical inquiry and use the research evidence to support best practices. This purpose of this presentation is to describe the incorporation of English Across the Curriculum into a baccalaureate nursing programme in Hong Kong and provide suggestions for promoting success. The goal of incorporating Writing Across the Curriculum into the nursing curriculum is to assist final-year nursing students to achieve competence in a research-based honours project, which requires them to demonstrate critical thinking and communication skills, both oral and written, to execute useful literature searches, to read and understand research articles and to encourage the incorporation of evidence into clinical practice. The strategies involve, with reference to the requirements of the project, providing language tips, conducting seminars on the use of tips and supporting students through professional consultation. Students’ evaluations on the language-related materials and learning performances will be reported in the presentation.