www.academia.edu

For the past few years, I've been subscribing to the above website, www.academia.edu, and have uploaded several of my articles on translation theory onto this platform of scholarly exchange. More recently, I upgraded to the premium package of this website. This site helps to make one's research outputs more visible to a much wider, global audience of fellow researchers, to increase citations of your writings, and to enjoy greater access to other writings in your field of research, as well as offering the benefits of exchanging ideas with fellow researchers. 
So it was that, this past weekend, I made contact with Professor Ernst Wendland, a South African translation scholar and Bible translator, who was a friend and mentee of Biblical translation scholar Eugene Nida, one of the outstanding translation theorists of the 20th century. Having begun reading some of Ernst's articles, I've realized that his writings have much to say about literary translation approaches and that we have similar areas of research interests. 
I would wholeheartedly recommend this academic publications and networking website. 

Textbook in EAP (English for Academic Purposes)

Today, at the library of Griffith College Dublin, which has a very good English section - containing as it does diverse materials on aspects of learning English as a Foreign Language, learning General English, Business English, examination English (IELTS, Cambridge etc.) and English for Special Purposes (ESP)/English for Academic Purposes (EAP), together with Graded Readers of such classic English literary works as Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre and many complete, unabridged English novels and anthologies together with a section on literary criticism - I located a very good course book which will prove useful in teaching the Academic English (EAP) modules here at Griffith, viz. a book entitled English for academic study: Extended Writing and Research Skills Course Book by McCormack and Slaght, published in 2005 (revised most recently in 2009) by the University of Reading's Centre for Applied Language Studies and Garnet Education, Reading. 
For my purposes, the most immediate benefit to be derived from this course book is that its chapter on Introductions, conclusions and definitions (Chapter 6) contains many valuable exercises on analyzing sample introductions and conclusions to actual student essays and projects at the University of Reading, and on helping students to write their own introductions and endings on a trial basis, preparatory to their writing their own essays and other assignments in academic English at Griffith. 
Today, I met the Head of English at Griffith College, Clare Watson, for the first time. Clare is from Durham and has most recently lectured in EAP at the University of Glasgow, prior to taking up her current post at Griffith College, where she co-ordinates the Griffith Institute of Language (GIL) for all three campuses of the college, viz. Dublin, Cork and Limerick. 
So far, I'm really enjoying Griffith College. Tomorrow I'm due to teach a class on using features of academic prose (such as the passive voice, linking words etc.) in practical exercise-type applications. Next week, we are due to look at the features of Introductions and Conclusions before then going on to put them into practice using the above course book materials. 

Griffith Institute of Language (GIL), Griffith College Dublin - English for Academic Purposes (EAP)

I've been lecturing at Griffith College Dublin for the last two weeks, in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) as well as teaching occasional classes in General English as a foreign language. In EAP, the focus in this semester is on offering students (who come from such disciplines as computing, business, finance, accounting and law amongst others) for whom English is not their mother tongue, insights into academic writing, particularly with a view to essay composition but also in anticipation of writing theses and dissertations. We're exploring characteristics of academic writing as opposed to less formal styles within other types of discourse, and putting the use of those features into practice through exercises and examples. Students are also being shown how to plan essays, carry out research, draft and revise essays, write paragraphs, introductions and conclusions, and how to cite and reference according to the Harvard system of bibliographical referencing.
In the second semester, the focus will be on listening skills and note-taking in lectures, and on speaking skills as applied principally to the delivery of presentations. 
I'm really enjoying teaching EAP at Griffith. I'm using some examples of my own academic writing within translation studies, to give instances of academic prose. 
So the first two weeks at GIL have been a very positive teaching and lecturing experience - long may it continue.