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

Haijiao Chen, Jinghe Han and David Wright
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Haijiao Chen: Center for Faculty Development, Huaqiao University, Xiamen 361021, China
Jinghe Han: Centre for Educational Research, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia
David Wright: Centre for Educational Research, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 10, 1-16

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.

Keywords: English Medium of Instruction (EMI); EMI teaching; instruction theory; multilingualism; L1/L2 transfer; translanguaging; first principles of instruction (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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