THE PLACE OF ENGLİSH AS A MEDİUM OF İNSTRUCTİON İN A DİVERSE WORLD

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Abstract Summary

English as a medium of instruction has been dıscussed by many e.g. Macaro (2018). Benefits claimed for EMİ include that it assists global communication, fosters social cohesion and tolerance in a world where everyone can understand each other, promotes international mobility, provides access to employment and academic opportunities such as publication, and provides financial benefits for institutions. However, it is also claimed that EMİ threatens local languages/linguistic diversity, endangers local cultures, has a detrimental effect on content knowledge because of limited teacher/student language proficiency, and threatens English as an L1. Nevertheless, despite the potential challenges and that it has been discouraged or even banned in some places, EMİ continues to expand throughout the world, across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Latin America. This paper will look at the situation in a number of these places, it will report the results of some recent research on the question of EMİ as it is practised around the world, and it will attempt to draw some conclusions about the future of EMİ, about the steps which need to be taken to reduce the challenges it poses, and its potential to act as an agent for diversity and social cohesion.

Submission ID :
AILA193
Submission Type
Argument :

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.

Professor
,
Girne American University

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