Although writers such as Phillipson (1992) have long been warning of the dangers of "linguistic imperialism", as Soruç and Griffiths (2018) put it, "in terms of current realities, English would seem to be firmly established as the language in which the world does business, interacts socially, travels, and entertains itself. Increasingly also [it]...is used for educational purposes" (p.38). According to Macaro (2018) expansion of English medium instruction is showing no signs of slowing; on the contrary, EMİ has become widespread all over the world. The underlying rationale is that students can save time by absorbing language effortlessly while working on subjects which will benefit their future prospects and which they will therefore find more motivating.
But these potential benefits are not without challenges, one of the most conspicuous being the issue of language proficiency. According to Belhiah and Elhami (2015), "the current EMI situation leaves much to be desired with students struggling to learn the subject matter due to their low-proficiency in English" (p.3). And this problem does not apply only to students, since teachers may be excellent in their own subject area, but they often struggle when required to teach their subject in a language in which their own proficiency is not high (Lasagabaster & Doiz, 2021).
İn addition, EMI has been framed as a human rights issue (Milligan & Tikly (2018), and concern has been raised that EMI may lead to attrition for the local languages, culture and identities (Selvi, 2020). De Costa et al. (2021) frame this as a social justice issue.
Nevertheless, in spite of these challenges, EMI has continued to spread into almost every location on the planet. Reasons for the willingness to employ EMİ might vary across these locations, including geographical proximity (especially for Europe), historical (e.g. colonial) or economic.
This paper will investigate the practice of EMİ in a number of different locations to explore reasons why EMİ is (or is not) adopted there, and the advantages and disadvantages experienced. From this data an attempt will be made to draw implications to guide future EMİ practice, especially in light of issues of diversity and social cohesion in our globalizing world.
References
Belhiah, H., & Elhami, M. (2015). English as a medium of instruction in the Gulf: When students and teachers speak. Language Policy, 14, 3-23.
De Costa, P., Green-Eneix, C. & Li, W. (2021). Embracing Diversity, Inclusion, Equity and Access in EMI-TNHE. RELC Journal, 52/2, 227-235.
Lasagabaster, D. & Doiz, A. (2021). Language Use in English-Medium Instruction at University: International Perspectives on Teacher Practice. Oxon: Routledge
Macaro, E. (2018). English Medium Instruction. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Milligan, L. & Tikly, L. (2018). English as a Medium of Instruction in Postcolonial Contexts. Oxon: Routledge.
Phillipson, R. (1992). Linguistic Imperialism. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Selvi, A. (2020). Resisting English medium instruction through digital grassroots activism. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, online, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2020.1724120
Soruç, A. & Griffiths, C. (2018). English as a medium of instruction: students' strategies. ELTJ, 72/1, 38-48.