EAP Conference
The EAP conference is an annual event for English for Academic Purposes (EAP) professionals and educators to share ideas and discuss learning and teaching, best practice, scholarship and research.
EAP Practitioners’ Conference 2026
International Education and Lifelong Learning Institute (IELLI), University of St Andrews
Kinnessburn, Kennedy Gardens, St Andrews, KY16 9DJ
Saturday 27 June 2026 | 9am – 4.00pm
View the location on Google Maps here.
The final programme with abstracts and bios is now available. Please note that this programme is subject to changes at short notice.
Keynote
Rethinking EAP Professionalism in the Age of Digital Intelligence: From Existential Crisis to Institutional Agency
Dr Trevor Mahy, Principal Language Lecturer at Xi’an Jiatong Liverpool University, China
Abstract
The public launch of Generative AI in late 2022 precipitated an existential crisis across higher education. Within English for Academic Purposes (EAP), this disruption has been particularly acute, challenging our foundational practices and roles within our institutions. However, at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, the largest Sino-British University, the institutional response has been to enthusiastically embrace AI and actively encourage human-AI collaboration, conceptualised as ‘Syntegrative Wisdom’. In this keynote, I draw on my experience from a dual vantage point: first, as a member of the senior management team (Associate Dean for Research & Scholarship) in the School of Languages from 2022-2025, and second, as an institutional leader (Chair of the University Research Ethics Review Panel), developing and implementing AI governance frameworks and policies across the university.
I will first draw on my non-linear professional trajectory, from a Classics PhD at St Andrews to a senior EAP academic leader at one of the world’s largest EAP providers, to argue that our professional identities must adapt. However, EAP has long been a field shaped by career pivots; many of us arrived here from other disciplines, and this inherent adaptability is precisely the resource we need in the age of AI. In my own case, the rapid emergence of GenAI kick-started a comprehensive pivot across all aspects of my academic life and fundamentally altered my own career trajectory. I repurposed a major project on writing for publication with Chinese early-career researchers, shifting both its topical focus, to how researchers use generative AI, and its methodology, validating a proof-of-concept study for AI-assisted conceptualisation and scale development. This research directly informed my teaching practice through the development of extensive AI-assisted research workshops for doctoral students. Together, this hands-on engagement with AI, across research and teaching, opened an unexpected door to institutional policy leadership.
That door led to work I could not have imagined earlier in my career. I found myself at the centre of university-wide AI governance. I co-authored the institutional AI Governance Framework, wrote standalone guidelines on the use of AI in research funding applications, and led a complete overhaul of research ethics protocols to address the complex issues surrounding AI in collecting, processing, and analysing human participant data.
These experiences lead me to argue that EAP professionals are uniquely positioned to shape institutional policy. Our deep understanding of academic communication, combined with teaching contexts that often afford close, sustained contact with students, give us direct insight into how AI is transforming education. We are arguably the best-placed educators to teach AI literacy and ethical use, provided we actively develop these collaborative competencies ourselves. What began for me as a personal career pivot has demonstrated that EAP expertise, when leveraged strategically and with a spirit of inquisitive exploration, can create opportunities. In a landscape where AI’s capabilities and impacts are still unfolding, those who take the lead in experimenting with these tools will often be the ones shaping how they are used.
Ultimately, rethinking EAP professionalism requires a grounded recognition of our expanded agency. We are no longer operating at the periphery, but are instead central to defining how universities ethically cultivate digital intelligence amongst their students and staff.
Keynote Bio
Dr Trevor Mahy is a Principal Language Lecturer in the Academic Literacies Centre within the Global Cultures and Languages Hub at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University in Suzhou China, and Chair of the University Research Ethics Review Panel. He holds a PhD in Classics from the University of St Andrews and began his academic career teaching Roman history and Latin in Canada and Ireland before transitioning into English language teaching, completing a CELTA and spending five years teaching EAP at Prince Sultan University in Saudi Arabia. Since joining XJTLU in 2018, he has held several leadership roles: Academic Lead for PGR Support, where he transformed doctoral academic literacies provision, and the School of Languages’ first Associate Dean for Research & Scholarship (2022–2025), fostering a supportive research culture in one of the world’s largest EAP units.
His recent work has centred on institutional AI governance. He co-authored the university’s AI Governance Framework, wrote guidelines on AI in research funding, and led a comprehensive overhaul of research ethics protocols to address the use of AI with human participant data. His research interests include human-AI collaboration dynamics, researcher development, and research ethics. A recent publication developed and validated the Human-AI Collaboration Dynamics (HACD) and Generative AI-Research Augmentation (GAI-RA) scales, demonstrating rigorous integration of AI into psychometric research. At XJTLU, he now supports postgraduate students in the Academy of Future Education, combining his passion for academic literacies with a commitment to ethical and innovative AI use.
Theme: Rethinking EAP Professionalism
Plenary Speaker: Dr Trevor Mahy
Examining EAP professionalism from a transnational higher education perspective. Drawing on experience in institutional contexts where AI use is embedded at policy level, the plenary will consider how EAP roles and professional expectations are shifting across different settings.
We welcome proposals that engage with professionalism in EAP from theoretical, empirical or practice-based perspectives. This may include:
- Practitioner identity, agency and professional positioning
- CPD, scholarship and transitions into practitioner research
- EAP within EMI and transnational education contexts
- Working conditions, precarity and professional recognition
- Ethical dimensions of academic literacy teaching
- Digital practices and AI in EAP
For more information, and to reserve your space at the event, please visit our 2026 Conference Eventbrite Page.
To submit an abstract, please use our Abstract Submissions form. The submission deadline has been extended to 10 April 2026.
For details of previous conferences, including programmes with a full list of abstracts and downloads of various presentations in pdf or ppt format, visit the ‘Previous Years‘ page and select the year of your choosing.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Is EAP Conference 2026 catered?
Yes. Tea and coffee will be available on arrival and at break times during the day. A basic lunch will also be provided. - Can I attend EAP Conference 2026 online?
Yes. One room will be livestreamed during each session. Please ensure you purchase an online ticket via Eventbrite. - Will there be WiFi?
Eduroam is the main WiFi network for both staff and students at the University and is available across all University campuses. Visitors from participating institutions can sign in using their home institution credentials. Visitors to the University without eduroam credentials are able to use a guest wifi account or BT wifi. - Where will the conference take place?
International Education and Lifelong Learning Institute (IELLI), Kinnessburn, Kennedy Gardens, St Andrews, KY16 9DJ - How do I buy tickets for EAP Conference 2026?
Please use the Eventbrite link here to purchase your ticket for EAP Conference 2026.
Additional Information