[00:00:00] Paul: And so here we are on the last day of the BALEAP 2025 conference: the morning after the night before, so to speak. When we had a wonderful conference dinner in Plymouth marvelous Aquarium, a perfect setting that captures the spirit of this year's event where it's very much about community, collaboration and living together in the EAP ecosystem that we all inhabit. And so very naturally then the opening words of today's episode go to Helen Bowstead, one of the conferences, organizers here at Plymouth. 

[00:00:48] Helen: I think I wouldn't have expected to say at this point that I have thoroughly enjoyed, , the last four days, and I think that's quite unusual when you are organizing an event of this size. But it's just been wonderful seeing how people have really communicated and shared their experiences and such a spirit of generosity has been really uplifting. And I'm really proud of everybody who's put so much time and effort into the conference and that's the organizing team, but also all the people that have traveled down to Plymouth and shared so much of their rich work and thinking. So yeah, it's been great. And, yeah, looking forward to, , having a rest. 

[00:01:34] Paul: Having just heard from Helen, we now give voice to some of the attendees of this week's excellent conference here in Plymouth.   

[00:01:43] Liz: Hi, I am Liz and I've just enjoyed four days here at, BALEAP and it's been a great experience. Lots of very interesting presentations on a range of things, some of which are fairly familiar and it's a good reminder of how you can do it and how you can tweak your practice to do it a bit better and some completely new ideas, and some really sort of innovative ideas as well. So very inspiring and it's gonna leave me going home for the summer with a lot of work to do because I've got lots of good ideas to take home with me from here. So thank you very much to everybody at BALEAP for organizing. 

[00:02:14] Ramzi: Hello, my name's Ramzi, and I'm an assessment specialist with Duolingo. I found it really valuable to be here at because working on the Duolingo English test, which is used for university admissions, I think it's really important for us to understand the EAP profession and the the needs of EAP students, , so that we can work to make sure that admissions tests, English admissions tests are best aligned with student needs and, and needs analysis being done by EAP practitioners. 

[00:02:45] Natasha: Hello, this is Natasha here from King's Foundations, King's College London. I think that every BALEAP conference has always been excellent, but I have really enjoyed the Plymouth Conference this year. I think the workshops and the panels, the discussion sessions I've gone to, most of which I'll admit are within my own specific fields of, you know, discipline and influence, but others, which honestly I thought would have nothing to do with me. And I've come away from everything having something that I've learned or a thinking point, which, I'm gonna really be enacting once I get back to work. 

[00:03:18] Alex: Hi, my name's Alex Runchman from University College Dublin. I've really enjoyed the conference. I've attended sessions on, , artificial intelligence on how specific you should go in ESAP, for example, workshops on stem, and it's been great coming from the perspective of someone working in a university in Dublin. It's really reminded me of how there is this community, how we're all part of it and it's helping really to get a sense of where we all position ourselves in the huge and , very diverse. Field of EAP and as much as the actual talks, I've enjoyed meeting colleagues and getting the opportunity to share our experiences outside the formal sessions as well. 

[00:04:09] Xiaoxue: My name is Xiaoxue Jiao and I'm from Xi'An-Jiaotong Liverpool University. I have to say this is a very inspiring and exciting experience for me because this is actually the first time for me to travel in the uk and I think the conference committee did an extraordinarily great job for organizing everything. There are lots of inspiring sessions where I actually get a lot of exciting new ideas and also it's a great opportunity for me to make some connections within the EAP area, and also I think there are not a lot of Asian representatives currently, so I think this is actually a very good chance for us to show up. Here and, , show the people what we are currently doing right now. 

[00:04:56] Matt: Good morning. My name is Matt Lawrence. I'm a lecturer in EAP at the University of Westminster. I'm giving a talk today. On how students conceptualizations of critical thinking change over a 10 week pre-sessional program. So as an hourly paid, marginalized, pre sessional teacher, it's great to have the opportunity at Westminster to participate in their research output, to also contribute to assessment and material design. Perhaps not all pre-sessional teachers have those opportunities, so I feel very lucky to be able to do that at Westminster. . 

[00:05:39] Cassie: Hi there, I am Cassie from the University of Manchester. So now we are reaching the end of the conference. I'm tired, but I, feel that this is a very rewarding experience. I just wanted to mention that this is my first BALEAP conference ever. , I have learned a lot of things. , so many new ideas, a lot of thought provoking, presentations. But I, I'm, I'm also very glad to have met a lot of like-minded people, teachers who are also facing the same challenges as me, to discuss, share ideas, to connect with people, and to feel that I'm not alone as an EAP practitioner. I, am in a community with lot of support with really people that I could learn from. Thank you. 

[00:06:25] Paul: And live from the departure lounge, we now have another perspective.

[00:06:28] Aeronwy: It's been a fantastic conference, so many amazing talks. As an insessional teacher, it's been lovely to see more and more talks relating to insessional collaboration and embedding and working across the disciplines. I had a fantastic time. Everybody's been amazing and so positive and friendly. Can't wait for the next one.

[00:06:45] Shishi: Hi, my name is Shishi Jang, currently a final year PhD student at the UCL IOE. it's so great to attend this year's BALEAP conference at the University of Plymouth. It's such a great experience and very supportive, friendly, inclusive conference.
I've learned a lot about the EAP, really cherish this community and look forward to the next one. 

[00:07:04] Andy: I'm Andy, from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. I totally feel the academic momentum of you guys, very energetic, and I love your community. You share all your ideas, which is , really beneficial to us so I'd love to see you again in next conference. 

[00:07:20] Fiona: Hello, my name's Fiona Wallace and I'm the outgoing events officer for BALEAP. And I'd like to say that it's been fantastic working with the team here at Plymouth on organizing their fantastic conference. It's a great opportunity for the BALEAP community to get together and to share practice, and I've been delighted to be part of and to listen to a number of. Brilliant talks here well done and brilliant to see everyone again. Thank you. 

[00:07:50] Anna: Hi, it's Anna here from the University of Plymouth, and it's the final day of the BALEAP Conference. I've been on the conference organizing team. It's been a very small team. It's been myself, Helen, and Katie from events, and it's taken us a long time to, to plan and organize, but it's been amazing to see everyone here having a good time. I feel that it's been a, a very happy conference, a very positive conference. , lots of sharing of ideas, fantastic papers, workshops, panels, and, , it's, it's been great to meet people having. Been sort of emailing to and fro , for months to actually finally meet people and, , welcome you all to Plymouth. I think the conference dinner went really well last night at the Aquarium. Hopefully, you took some good photos that you can remember us by And yes, just safe journeys home and thanks again for coming to see us in Plymouth. 

[00:08:52] Paul: So that's the end of the road for our journey at this BALEAP conference on the sunny South Coast. And now as we hit the road for home, we thank everyone for their participation, whether as attendees, listeners, or participants. And we hope you've enjoyed these snapshots of the event as much as we have enjoyed making these episodes at All Things EAP. We have made great memories too and hopefully attracted a few new listeners along the way. We look forward to continuing our journey with all things EAP and BALEAP's journey to the 2027 conference. One thing is for sure Plymouth will be a hard act to follow.