Coming from an ELT general English teaching context, I could find some similarities and differences between both fields. Some people would say that EAP (English for Academic Purposes) is a "more specialized" sector within ELT and this may be true, as the first came after the latter. In addition, there are other influences on EAP apart from ELT, for instance, register analysis, study skills, genre analysis, academic literacies, among others. Anyway, what is important here, is that knowing these differences will help teachers cater to the needs of EAP learners and, at the same time, use techniques that are familiar to them from an ELT background.
Time - In EAP, time is often limited, as students may already be taking the course or need to take a proficiency exam in order to be accepted in a course. Whereas in ELT, there are longer time scales.
Proficiency - Proficiency targets in EAP are frequently very ambitious, as students are coming into the field at even lower levels nowadays. In ELT, the goal is to achieve general English proficiency and this may mean different things for different students.
Focus - EAP students have an academic focus and these are defined by their specific needs. ELT students have a broader focus, which is defined by general language proficiency.
Motivation - EAP students are more often self-motivated, which is a little different from general ELT students, who often need teacher-led motivation in order to keep them coming to class.
Goals - EAP students have a clearly defined goal they are working towards, which is reaching academic independence and autonomy. For ELT students, there are students with different goals in the same class.
Material - EAP students may bring material to contribute to the lessons, as there are different fields and this helps the teacher prepare the lessons. However, there are EAP course books available in the market, which cater to general EAP skills and critical thinking following the CEFR levels. In ELT, the materials is presented by the teacher, who often chooses a course book for the level, or follows the school's programme.
Students - The most important difference between EAP students is disciplinary, which means, what subject they are planning to study. Whereas for ELT learners, the key differences can be based around culture and language.
Some similarities between both fields can be found in methods, approaches and practices. They both share: the communicative approach; task-based learning; collaborative learning; and learner-centered approach.
There are also similarities in some key skills that both EAP and ELT teachers should have. They are: planning and organization; creative skills and techniques; language analysis; communication and presentation; understanding of student behaviour, motivation and psychology; and classroom management skills. Related to those skills, Chazal (2014) points out that "EAP teachers must be able to understand and respond to their students' needs, difficulties, and learning styles".
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REFERENCES
1997. R. R. Jordan. English for Academic Purposes: A Guide and Resource Book for Teachers. Cambridge University Press.
2014. Edward de Chazal. English for Academic Purposes. Oxford University Press.
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