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Volume 1, Issue 2
  • ISSN 2666-8882
  • E-ISSN: 2666-8890
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Abstract

Abstract

English-medium instruction (EMI) universities in non-English-dominant contexts often use internationally available tests of English (e.g., TOEFL) and/or locally developed tests to assess the academic English-language proficiency of applicants prior to admission. However, little research has been conducted to establish the extent to which either type of test reflects the real-world classroom discourse, and associated communicative demands, within these often multilingual educational contexts. In this paper, we report on one part of a larger study designed to address this research gap in a particular EMI environment – the American University of Beirut (AUB) in Lebanon. We collected and analysed samples of language use at AUB through non-participant ethnographic observations and video recordings of eight undergraduate classes across academic disciplines. Findings indicated that classes were varied in nature, shifted between registers and levels of interaction, involved a range of translanguaging and English as a Lingua Franca-oriented phenomena, and included meta-commentary about language use. We argue that speaking and listening constructs in English-language admissions tests used in EMI contexts ideally need to be localised or locally developed to best match the unique language use characteristics of these settings.

© John Benjamins Publishing Company
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2022-08-25
2024-10-11

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/content/journals/10.1075/jemi.21009.ili
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Language use in an English-medium instruction university in Lebanon
Journal of English-Medium Instruction 1, 153 (2022); https://doi.org/10.1075/jemi.21009.ili
/content/journals/10.1075/jemi.21009.ili
/content/journals/10.1075/jemi.21009.ili
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  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): domain analysis; language assessment; language tests; lecture discourse; university admissions

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