An Investigation of Lecturers’ Teaching through English Medium of Instruction—A Case of Higher Education in China

Abstract

Teaching through English Medium of Instruction (EMI) is a theory-based pedagogy that has been adopted in many European and Asian countries as a strategic initiative in educational internationalization. To date, there has been little research into EMI in-class teaching and learning. In effect, lived experiences in EMI in-class practice have been largely ignored. To address this gap, we reported on a case study that explored the linguistic and pedagogical characteristics of EMI lecturers’ teaching in a university in southern China. Twenty academic staff in the university’s EMI programs were recruited. Their in-class EMI teaching processes were observed and audio-recorded. The data was analyzed by drawing upon multilingualism and instructional design theories. This research found that Chinese EMI lecturers’ bilingual repertoire led to their English instruction featuring Chinese language influences, from pronunciation to syntax and that translanguaging strategies were purposively employed to achieve their goals including students’ cognitive understanding, affiliative bonds and the lecturers’ own survival for teaching. Further, that and the instruction applied in the EMI classes were more topic-centered than problem-centered, focusing on activating new learning and knowledge presentation through demonstration.

English Medium Instruction (EMI) practice: Higher education internationalization in Indonesia

“…They specifically perceived EMI practice as a responsive action to their future career (Islam, 2013). Some other studies focused on investigating problems in EMI implementation (Briggs, Dearden & Macaro, 2018;Chen, Han, & Wright, 2020;Vu & Burns, 2014). Vu and Burns (2014) conducted a study in a public university in Vietnam.…”

“…One of the key issues found in their study was teachers' challenges in preparing EMI lessons. Another study was conducted in a university in China by Chen et al (2020). Data from 20 EMI teachers in the university was analyzed basing on the theories of multilingualism and instructional design.…”

“…The perception of EMI and its implications also have an association with relevant support provided to both students and lecturers. In terms of relevant support for EMI implementation, limited support of professional development that needs to be provided to the lecturers can lead to problems encountered by most lecturers in previous studies on EMI implementation in higher education (Briggs et al, 2018;Chen et al, 2020;Vu & Burns, 2014). Thus, EMI teaching training is must-have support to provide before implementing EMI.…”

Modern approaches to methods of teaching world literature

“…Using modern approaches to teaching and studying world literature is a rather difficult task for both teachers and students (HUSSEIN, AL-EMAMI, 2016;NOVIANTI, 2016). This indicates the need to develop a comprehensive approach to modern methods and forms of education (JONES, 1999;CHEN, 2020;CAVUS, 2017). Rababah (2020) proposes to combine teaching literature and language learning; Salgur (2013), Wang, Liu (2019) emphasize the correlations between pedagogical and methodological aspects of studying world literature and culturology.…”

Impact of EMI on Omani Engineering Students’ Academic Performance

“…What matters in EMI teaching is the choices lecturers make in their pedagogical practice. For example, the design and implementation of their classroom instructions is key to promoting learners' responses and making learning happen (Chen, Han & Wright, 2020). An English-only classroom language policy can have considerable effects on school achievement.…”