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as the literature might suggest’ (2016, p. 67), suggesting that exposure to different elements of EAP delivery beforehand might ease NTEAP anxiety and insecurities.


AUTONOMY


A further feature of the OTI which may reduce anxiety is accessibility, as it offers tutors autonomy in terms of time, location, amount and levels of engagement. Participants in Elsted’s study (2012) of NTEAPs reported that lack of experience and information about their future work context limited the preparation they were able to do pre-course. This suggests, as our tutor evaluation highlighted, that some NTEAPs welcome the opportunity for pre- course development and preparation. Tutors are not officially employed at the point they gain access to the OTI, but making it available before the f2f induction allows tutors to engage in prior reading, reflect on strengths and weaknesses in relation to their new context, and also provides processing time. They are able to benefit from significant and targeted teacher development and preparation, either before they start or within the paid f2f induction period.


IMPACT ON F2F INDUCTION


A significant success of the OTI was its impact on the f2f induction, as it provided the f2f induction with additional space and opportunity, as ‘tutors were prepared to discuss key areas and many questions were already answered’ (CC9). It allowed for deeper engagement, debate and community building, as tutors felt they were ‘not being overloaded with too much information at once’ (T4). Ding and Bruce highlight ‘becoming part of a discourse community’ (2017, p. 110) as an important element in


Catherine Beswick


EAP practitioner development, for which the OTI lays the groundwork. Similarly, the OTI encourages collaboration among new colleagues, another effective way of supporting NTEAPs during the transition (Elsted, 2012; Alexander, 2010; Campion, 2016), as it creates opportunities for informal interaction and also possibilities for future team teaching, mentoring and peer observation.


AREAS FOR REVIEW


Areas for improvement reported in the questionnaires were collated into the following broad areas: navigation, content, time/timing, integration with f2f induction, and returning tutors. Most OTI review areas were not specific to NTEAPs, but focused on teething issues of a new resource. Tutors commented on issues around navigation, such as broken links or confusing signposting of content. Some participants requested greater clarity with the task guidelines. However, a common suggestion was for additional authentic samples, including comparisons. T30 felt they needed ‘examples of good and weak papers to have a clear idea about how to mark the sample paper’, and T6 agreed that ‘a comparison would have given greater benefit’. Even returning tutors who had 6 years+ experience found benefit in the examples, requesting ‘more samples of teaching’ (T7) and ‘more examples of feedback’ (T13). Although framed as areas for improvements, the suggestions for more example papers and videos are a valuable indicator that the existing OTI content is useful and appropriate. In terms of time, a key issue raised was tutors not completing tasks for the corresponding f2f sessions, resulting in understandable frustration


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