Journal of English-Medium Instruction: Most Cited Articles http://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/26668890?TRACK=RSS Please follow the links to view the content. A research agenda for English-medium instruction http://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/10.1075/jemi.21022.sah?TRACK=RSS Abstract Since English-Medium Instruction (EMI) has emerged as an important field of policy and research, there are a multiplicity of issues that are unexamined but need critical attention. This paper features some key scholars of EMI who together highlight contemporary issues of EMI as a field of research and its primary future research agendas moving forward, including appropriate methods of collecting information about EMI. The nine researchers, who represent different geographical contexts (South/East Asia, Africa, Europe, and South America), have offered their views regarding the future research agendas of EMI. Based on the conversations with these researchers, this paper presents eight strands of EMI research agendas that need to be carried on. Pramod K. Sah Fri Jan 21 10:05:27 UTC 2022Z Teacher preparedness for English-medium instruction http://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/10.1075/jemi.21011.las?TRACK=RSS Abstract This paper focuses on lecturers’ preparedness to teach EMI courses. Although many higher education institutions worldwide have rushed to jump on the EMI bandwagon, a strikingly low percentage of them have deemed it necessary to organise pre-service or in-service courses to help practitioners tackle this new teaching scenario. As a result, some potential teachers are reluctant to take part in EMI programmes, while some in-service EMI teachers complain because of a feeling of helplessness that arises from what they feel as lack of assistance from their institutions. In this article, after reviewing recent surveys on current practices in the training and accreditation of university teachers in EMI, I will examine what skills EMI teachers consider essential to deliver their classes effectively, whether they believe those can or even should be accredited, and, last but not least, how universities could support EMI teacher preparation. This analysis will allow us to reach EMI stakeholders by sharing research findings with them. Finally, a research agenda for future work on teacher preparedness for EMI will be put forward in an attempt to fill the gaps found in the review of the literature on the topic. David Lasagabaster Fri Jan 21 10:05:28 UTC 2022Z English language teaching and English-medium instruction http://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/10.1075/jemi.21026.mck?TRACK=RSS Abstract The role of English language teaching (ELT) in English-medium instruction (EMI) can vary widely depending on education policy objectives and teachers’ responses to EMI students’ language and learning needs. In this paper, we provide a narrative review of a growing number of studies reporting language-related challenges as the foremost barrier to successful implementation of EMI. Such research highlights the fundamental roles that English for Academic Purposes (EAP) and English for Specific Purposes have in the provision of targeted language support for EMI students. Based on this review, we set a future research agenda, calling for explorations into the efficacy of English language programs for supporting EMI students to reach educational outcomes. We also call for explorations of greater collaboration between English language practitioners and content lecturers to ensure the right type of language support is being provided to students. The paper ends with a discussion for the need to reposition EAP as English for Specific Academic Purposes to ensure students’ specific academic needs are met. Essentially, universities offering EMI will need to account for their unique institutional characteristics to ensure ELT provision is central in organizational and curricular structures; otherwise, they may be setting their own students up to fail. Jim McKinley and Heath Rose Fri Jan 21 10:05:23 UTC 2022Z Assessment and English as a medium of instruction http://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/10.1075/jemi.21019.hul?TRACK=RSS Abstract As English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) continues to expand across the globe, there is a glaring absence of research on assessment. This article reviews the scarce literature to date and maps out a research agenda for the future. Drawing on Shohamy’s (2001, 2007) Critical Language Testing and McNamara et al.’s (2019) notions of “fair” and “just” language assessment, our reading of the literature to date is that it has revealed considerable complexities around implementing assessment in EMI contexts, with key questions centring not only on what and who to assess but also on how and why assessment should take place. In outlining a research agenda for the future, we suggest that one way of bypassing such challenges may be to carve out a greater role for assessment for learning in higher education. This could capitalize on – and raise stakeholders’ awareness of – bodies of knowledge that are well established within applied linguistics about the integral role of language in learning. Whilst we acknowledge challenges in securing institutional buy-in for putting this agenda into practice, we suggest that doing so could turn assessment challenges into opportunities and significantly enhance learning not only in EMI contexts but beyond. Anna Kristina Hultgren, Nathaniel Owen, Prithvi Shrestha, Maria Kuteeva and Špela Mežek Fri Jan 21 10:05:24 UTC 2022Z Towards multilingualism in English‑medium higher education http://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/10.1075/jemi.21018.daf?TRACK=RSS Abstract Reflecting the global push for internationalisation, higher education institutions (HEIs) have experienced a surge in English-medium education in multilingual university settings (EMEMUS). Of the many topics and angles pursued in the equally vast research landscape, multilingualism has so far received comparatively less attention, especially when approached from the perspective of students. By combining recent conceptualisations of multilingualism and of EMEMUS, this paper offers a qualified literature review, discussing four research scenarios that foreground different student groups and some of their multilingual experiences and practices. Based on the ROAD‑MAPPING framework, such discussions retain a level of detail that allows for a comprehensive interpretation across scenarios, offering insights into the complexity and fluidity of multilingualism within EMEMUS. Emma Dafouz and Ute Smit Fri Jan 21 10:05:26 UTC 2022Z Introducing the Journal of English-Medium Instruction http://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/10.1075/jemi.00001.int?TRACK=RSS Diane Pecorari and Hans Malmström Fri Jan 21 10:05:26 UTC 2022Z Language policy and planning for English-medium instruction in higher education http://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/10.1075/jemi.21021.ou?TRACK=RSS Abstract This article presents English-medium instruction (EMI) in higher education (HE) from a language policy and planning (LPP) perspective. Based on a review of EMI policy research in diverse higher education contexts, we address several key contemporary policy tensions in EMI such as English native-speakerism, English monolingualism, and language education with attention to corpus, status and acquisition planning as well as the role of individual policy actors. In light of this review, we argue for an orientation to policymaking for EMI-HE institutions that acknowledges the value of individuals as policy arbiters and aligns institutional goals with “on the ground” needs and practices. We also point to areas of future research that would benefit all EMI stakeholders, in particular critical engagement with the nature of language competence in EMI settings and the enhanced development of evidence-based EMI learning outcomes. Finally, we propose an ecological framework for EMI-HE policy development that could be employed as a heuristic to guide universities in designing concrete EMI policies for their local contexts. As an extension, we also offer an inventory of reflective questions to guide key university stakeholders in effectively engaging in EMI policy processes. Amy Wanyu Ou, Francis M. Hult and Michelle Mingyue Gu Fri Jan 21 10:05:25 UTC 2022Z A multi-layered comparative analysis of English-medium instruction in the Netherlands http://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/10.1075/jemi.21028.van?TRACK=RSS Abstract The rise of English in Dutch higher education has been accompanied by a language ideological debate that affects students’ and lecturers’ lives at the micro level, policy and planning at the meso (institutional) level and is related to the macro perspective (national political agenda). This study explores how language ideologies and attitudes play a role in this debate by comparing lecturers’ perceptions of the use of English in higher education to general language ideologies reflected in the Dutch printed press. A thematic analysis was conducted, including a three-dimensional investigation incorporating a vertical approach (macro, meso, micro) combined with a horizontal approach focusing on ideological themes present at the vertical level. Our data consist of 151 news items and 20 interviews with lecturers in higher education. Results show that monolingual language ideologies are the norm in both the perceptions of teaching staff and the Dutch media. Lecturers were generally more positive towards the exclusive use of English than the printed media. The study suggests that the Dutch/English dichotomy and accompanying persistence of a monolingual language ideology contrast with the reality of the Netherlands as a multilingual community. Implications for language policy and practice within EMI are presented. Dymphi van der Hoeven and Joana Duarte Mon Dec 12 09:05:12 UTC 2022Z Motivation and investment http://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/10.1075/jemi.22002.mac?TRACK=RSS Abstract The purpose of the present study is to offer insights into how Spanish undergraduates, who were mid-way through an English-medium programme at a university in Catalonia, articulate their past decision to study an academic subject in English. Economics students (34 in total) completed an oral elicitation task and the monologues yielded were analysed using thematic analysis. Three dominant themes emerged: (1) The right fit for me; (2) To practise my English; and (3) English comes with benefits. Each of these themes is presented as a composite description of the students’ ideas about their past choice from the temporal position of the here-and-now, and explored through distinct but complementary social psychological and sociological lenses. The present study finds threads running through the students’ narratives of a near effortlessness to choose to learn in this way, as well as an understanding of the capital value of English. For some, their sole stated motive was to develop and preserve this linguistic asset. Elizabeth Machin, Jennifer Ament and Carmen Pérez-Vidal Mon Nov 28 13:05:13 UTC 2022Z The Interuniversity Test of Academic English (ITACE) http://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/10.1075/jemi.21007.van?TRACK=RSS Abstract In Flemish higher education, lecturers teaching in a language other than their mother tongue need official proof of their C1 level in that language. As a result, Flemish universities developed the ITACE (Interuniversity Test of Academic English), a domain-specific and purpose-built language test linked to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) and validated by an independent audit commission. Yet, the introduction of a mandatory language test was heavily contested in Flemish academia and in the media. In addition, the ITACE was perceived as a political tool of the government to enforce its language policy. Almost ten years after its introduction, the ITACE now appears to be widely accepted. The introduction of the test revealed that initial scepticism can be overcome through development, proper contextualization, and use of a high-quality, target-specific instrument. The article discusses the context in which the test was created, the construction of the test (addressing issues of reliability and validity), and the implications of the test, including its pedagogical and societal relevance. Frank van Splunder, Catherine Verguts, Tom De Moor and Sarah De Paepe Thu Aug 25 15:05:25 UTC 2022Z