As South East Asia enters a new decade of English language education, attempts are being made to maximize the utility of university EAP courses to fully meet students' language learning needs and prepare them for further academic study. In order for this to be achieved, language educators have begun to focus on incorporating '21st century skills' into globalized teaching content and consider local perspectives on curriculum development. The present paper reports on the initial course development of a foundation level communicative academic English course and investigates how effective it has been at fulfilling its objectives. Research findings from students and course instructors are presented which imply that the course has successfully given strong foundations for further academic English studies, both in terms of communicative language and higher-level thinking skills. Based on a range of data, suggestions are made for improvements to the existing course model, which include the presentation of more accessible unit topics and clearer focus on academic vocabulary and skills. Educators are encouraged to consider the pedagogical possibilities of in-house course book design in their own teaching contexts.