The spread of English as the dominant language of academia has increased demand for English proficiency, leading to rising enrolment in pre-sessional and in-sessional English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses in English-speaking countries such as the UK (Hyland, 2018). UK universities rely heavily on fee-paying international students; therefore, tuition fees have become a central source of income, transforming EAP into a “major industry” (Hyland, 2012, p. 30) and increasing demand for EAP practitioners (Green, 2016; Ding & Bruce, 2017; Ding & Campion, 2016).

Despite its strategic and financial importance, EAP practitioners and their professional development remain under-researched (Ding & Campion, 2016; Kaivanpanah et al., 2021a; Fitzpatrick et al., 2022). In many UK institutions, EAP units are situated outside academic departments, for example within student services or libraries, reflecting their ambiguous academic status (Davis, 2019). Accordingly, practitioners’ roles, qualifications, career pathways, and access to professional development vary widely, and despite EAP’s recognition as a specialised field, entry routes remain informal, with many practitioners transitioning from general English language teaching backgrounds (Alexander, 2007).

Research on EAP practitioners’ professional development has largely focused on “expanding circle” contexts (Ding & Bruce, 2017), where English is taught as a foreign language (e.g., Kaivanpanah et al., 2021a; Kaivanpanah et al., 2021b; Tan & Tan, 2024). By contrast, empirical research in “inner circle” English-speaking contexts such as the UK remains limited (e.g., Fitzpatrick et al., 2022), and existing studies offer little insight into how professional growth is shaped, sustained, or constrained in institutional practice. Consequently, the professional trajectories of university EAP lecturers and the conditions that support or hinder their development remain poorly understood (Kaivanpanah et al., 2021b).

This study addresses this gap by foregrounding the largely absent voices of UK university EAP practitioners (Ding & Bruce, 2017). It examines how EAP lecturers experience professional growth, the forms of support available to them, and the institutional and interpersonal conditions shaping their development. Accordingly, the study is guided by the following research questions:

1. What drives university EAP lecturers’ professional growth in the UK?
2. How do these factors interact to shape UK-based EAP lecturers’ professional growth?

The study draws on Self-Determination Theory (SDT), which explains human motivation and the innate tendency toward growth (Ryan & Deci, 2000). SDT distinguishes intrinsic motivation, driven by interest and enjoyment, from extrinsic motivation, driven by external demands or rewards, and also accounts for amotivation, characterised by a lack of intention to act due to perceived incompetence, low value, or disconnection (Ryan & Deci, 2020). Extrinsic motivation comprises four regulatory forms: external and introjected regulation, which are more controlled, and identified and integrated regulation, which are more autonomous. Although the latter are not inherently enjoyable, they involve personal endorsement and choice, placing them closer to intrinsic motivation in terms of autonomy. Central to SDT is the claim that sustained motivation and high-quality performance depend on the fulfilment of three basic psychological needs: autonomy, competence, and relatedness (Ryan & Deci, 2000).

Burn et al.’s (2010) model of professional learning highlights how professional growth emerges from the interaction between individual orientations and working environments, emphasising collaborative practices and personal factors. Building on this view, this study integrates Self-Determination Theory with Burn et al.’s model to examine how institutional structures and collaborative practices shape EAP lecturers’ experiences of autonomy, competence, and relatedness, and support sustainable professional growth in UK university contexts.

This study employed a qualitative research design, drawing on data from nine UK-based university EAP practitioners across six institutions. Participants had diverse educational backgrounds, teaching experiences, and institutional roles at the time of data collection. Data were gathered through three separate online interview sessions per participant, totalling 27 interviews. The study utilized a three-phase interview approach. First, narrative interviews explored participants’ career trajectories, professional backgrounds, and institutional contexts. Second, critical incident interviews examined specific changes implemented in EAP practice and their impact on professional identity. Finally, semi-structured interviews captured broader perspectives on EAP practice and future professional orientations. Inductive data analysis was employed to interpret the collected data. Initially, open coding was conducted to systematically examine all interview data, ensuring that every semantically meaningful statement and phrase was considered (Saldaña, 2016). This was followed by axial coding to identify key themes, distinguish between primary and secondary insights, and establish relationships between categories and subcategories (Saldaña, 2016). A constant comparative method was applied across all interview datasets. For instance, after coding the three interview sessions from the first EAP practitioner, the subsequent participant’s data was analysed with reference to the existing codes. When discrepancies arose, the codes were refined to ensure applicability across datasets (Hewitt-Taylor, 2001). This iterative process continued for all data sets, facilitating theoretical generalization (Robson, 2011).

This study shows that motivation, collaboration, and institutional support are central to the professional growth of university EAP lecturers in the UK. Drawing on SDT (Ryan & Deci) and Burn et al.’s (2010) model of professional learning, the study identifies five professional growth orientations: disconnected drifters, eager learners, independent learners, collaborative learners, and synchronised learners. Disconnected drifters experience low levels of motivation, collaboration, and support, while synchronised learners experience high levels in all three areas. The remaining groups are strongly motivated but differ in how much collaboration and institutional support they have. Although the findings cannot be generalised due to the study’s context and methodology, the results show that eager learners can guide their own professional growth even when institutional support is limited. The study also shows the motivational value of collaboration, which supports a sense of relatedness, as seen among collaborative learners. In addition, institutional support strengthens autonomy and competence, as observed among independent learners, and supports all three needs—autonomy, competence, and relatedness—among synchronised learners. These findings extend SDT (Ryan & Deci, 2000) by highlighting the close links between motivation, collaboration, and institutional support. They also build on Burn et al.’s (2010) model by showing that professional growth orientations can change as levels of collaboration and institutional support change. Overall, the study highlights the importance of both workplace support and individual orientations in shaping EAP lecturers’ professional growth. It suggests that universities should invest in environments that promote more autonomous motivation to support sustainable professional development in EAP. Future research could examine how EAP lecturers develop from novice to experienced practitioners and how their career paths evolve over time.

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