English Medium Instruction in Higher Education: The Role of English as Lingua Franca

Author(s):  
Jennifer Jenkins
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 9-33
Author(s):  
Sotiria Pappa ◽  
Josephine Moate

Although different forms of English-medium instruction (EMI) are being recognised, the different ways in which EMI can impact the pedagogical activities and expertise of higher education educators have received less attention. Using face-to-face and written interviews with nine teacher educators at a Finnish university, this study examines the most important aspects teacher educators perceive in their work through EMI and how these aspects connect to the understanding of their professional identity. The study is theoretically premised on the interconnected concepts of pedagogical doing, pedagogical being, pedagogical relating, and pedagogical language awareness. The thematically analysed data highlighted the ways in which pedagogical being, doing, and relating revolve around the presence and role of the foreign language in EMI, as well as the concurrent disjunctures and opportunities EMI creates. Pedagogical being informed EMI teacher educators’ orientation to their work and the different ways language impinges on the sense of self as the teacher educators share how they try to understand and respond to the disjunctures of EMI. In terms of pedagogical doing, EMI impinges on how teacher educators enact their practice and the relationships developed with students. However, the focus of pedagogical relating addresses the relationship between the EMI teacher educators and their workplace. The findings from this study will hopefully contribute to the development of EMI teacher preparation and support critical discussions on the ‘Englishisation’ of higher education.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 56-72
Author(s):  
Nashwa Nashaat-Sobhy ◽  
Davinia Sánchez-Garcia

In this chapter we analyzed lecturers’ attitudes towards using English in European Higher Education settings. Twenty-eight university teachers were brought together from thirteen universities across six European countries for an online training for teachers in English Medium Instruction (EMI) settings. The lecturers’ written exchanges about English as an academic Lingua Franca (ELF) in one of the training modules were the target of our study. These exchanges (110 posts) were coded and analyzed using Martin and White’s (2005) Appraisal Theory, which is a model of evaluation within the general theoretical framework of systemic functional linguistics. In this framework, affect, judgement and appreciation are regarded as regions (types) of feelings in interpersonal language that reflect attitude (positive or negative). The results showed that teachers’ exchanges about ELF are interwoven with other types of English, in which they discussed different stakeholders and aspects of English, towards which their attitudes vary, which points to the multidimensionality of attitudes towards EMI. The results also show that appreciation and judgment regions were used more than affect in their language when discussing the use of English in Higher Education (HE).


English Today ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 36-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naratip Jindapitak

English has been increasingly used in Thailand as a lingua franca; that is, a means of communication between people who do not share a mother tongue nor speak English as a native language. Given the integration of ASEAN nations to form an economic region, the use of English as lingua franca (ELF) in Thailand and other member states of ASEAN will likely continue to increase at a significant rate. Kagnarith, Klein and Middlecamp (2012) observe that the increasing use of English as an inter-regional language of communication probably results from two causes. First, the use of English as ASEAN's working lingua franca has already been in effect. Second, the promotion of English as an international business language is one objective of the plan for the regional integration of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). In fact, the campaign to promote English as an official lingua franca in ASEAN is based on Article 34 of The ASEAN Charter ratified in February 2009: ‘The working language of ASEAN shall be English’.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 1-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bekau Atnafu Taye

The aim of this article is to examine the medium of instruction in Ethiopian higher education institutions and the perceived consequences of the failure to learn a lingua franca. The study was qualitative and it used interviews and focus group discussions (FGDs). Five teachers and five students took part in the interviews and six teachers and six students participated in the FGDs. The findings of the study showed that the role of Amharic as a working language has not been given recognition despite the fact that Amharic was constitutionally granted to be a working language. Due to language barriers, students who are speakers of Oromipha and other languages from the Eastern and Western parts of Ethiopia suffer passivity in the classroom because they do not speak Amharic although Amharic has been taught as a subject in all regional states of the country. Increased identity politics seems to have generated a negative attitude towards Amharic, Ethiopia's former official lingua franca. Non-Amharic native speakers appeared to lose interest in learning Amharic while they were in primary and secondary schools. The absence of an official, common language which could be used for wider communication in higher education has resulted in having challenges among the student population.


2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 79
Author(s):  
Simon Petrus Kita Ngatu ◽  
Basikin Basikin

<p>The practice of teaching English as global language that has been widely spread in Indonesia does not fit to promote Indonesian local culture. Most of English language teaching practice pays much attention to students’ understanding relates to their local culture, but the whole process of English Language Teaching (ELT) itself denotes that students do not really apply their local culture in the English language learning. The effort of integrating local culture in ELT is still far from the concept of particularity, practicality, and of possibility. This article provides a conceptual perspective on the role of English as Lingua Franca (ELF) – Informed Approach in ELT in terms of preserving students’ cultural identity. It starts with describing the important issues dealing with the topic, evaluate the previous studies, building argument, and drawing conclusion and recommendation.  The article concludes that the approach needs to be more informed in the whole process of ELT in terms of learning English and preserving students’ local culture in which students are allowed to use English within their local culture rather than only in understanding their culture without practicing. </p>


2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reninni Taquini ◽  
Kyria R. Finardi ◽  
Gabriel B. Amorim

This paper reports a study that explores the role of English as a language of instruction (or English Medium Instruction (EMI)) in the Turkish higher education system problematizing it in Turkey in terms of the country’s possible inclusion in the European Union and globalization discourses as well as the possible exclusion of Turkish students who do not speak English. With that aim, a study was carried out to analyze the offer of EMI courses at the Turkish universities and the use of English in that context. Data were collected from the Turkish universities websites and the analyses show that there are more state than private universities in the country, most of which have websites in English whereas only 25% offer EMI courses and/or programs to attract international students. The discussion of the data addresses the use of English in the internationalization of higher education in relation to possible implications of offering EMI courses in that context.


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