The Place for Literature and Film within an EAP Curriculum

This paper will address the idea that the study of literature and film may have a justifiable place within the tertiary EAP curriculum, fulfilling the academic as well as personal and sociocultural needs of Hong Kong university students. By looking at course content and curriculum design plus students' work and feedback on their experience, this paper will suggest that a richer, more holistic student experience might be achieved within the EAP curriculum by including literature study while strengthening students' ability to be proficient academically and enhancing their employability. 'English in Literature and Film' offered by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University has a very healthy uptake, suggesting that there exists an appetite for literature-focused study alongside the more academic and workplace-focused classes of the traditional EAP curriculum, which in turn may lead to students who are not only effective but also thoughtful and sensitive users of the English language upon graduation. The paper will also look at ways a greater appreciation of Film and Literature naturally leads to creative writing being part of the students' holistic university experience.