Home Linguistics & Semiotics “Part of me is teaching English”: probing the language-related teaching practices of an English-medium instruction (EMI) teacher
Article
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

“Part of me is teaching English”: probing the language-related teaching practices of an English-medium instruction (EMI) teacher

  • Shuwen Liu

    Ms. Shuwen Liu is a PhD candidate at the Faculty of Education of University of Macau. Her research focuses on language teacher education and English medium instruction (EMI) in higher education. Her publications have appeared in journals including Language Teaching Research and RELC Journal.

    ORCID logo EMAIL logo
    and Rui (Eric) Yuan ORCID logo
Published/Copyright: May 25, 2023

Abstract

English-medium Instruction (EMI), that is, the use of the English language to teach academic subjects apart from English, is a growing phenomenon around the world. In view of the facilitative role of language in content learning, scholars have stressed the need to incorporate a language focus into EMI classrooms. One practical question that arises from this discussion is “How?” This study, through a telling case, intends to reveal the classroom practices of an EMI teacher who explicitly addresses different language issues during her content teaching in a psychology course in a Macau university. Drawing on multiple sources of data including field observations and interviews, the authors unearth three forms of the teacher’s language-related teaching practices – (1) teaching language for content comprehension, (2) teaching language for classroom engagement, and (3) teaching language through feedback. Specific teaching techniques are further identified and discussed in relation to various personal and contextual factors surrounding the EMI classroom. Practical insights are offered to individual EMI teachers in embracing a language focus to facilitate content learning in EMI programs across geographical contexts.


Corresponding author: Shuwen Liu, Faculty of Education, University of Macau, Macao SAR, China, E-mail:

About the author

Shuwen Liu

Ms. Shuwen Liu is a PhD candidate at the Faculty of Education of University of Macau. Her research focuses on language teacher education and English medium instruction (EMI) in higher education. Her publications have appeared in journals including Language Teaching Research and RELC Journal.

References

Airey, John. 2011. The disciplinary literacy discussion matrix: A heuristic tool for initiating collaboration in higher education. Across the Disciplines 8(3). 1–9.10.37514/ATD-J.2011.8.3.18Search in Google Scholar

An, Jiangshan, Ernesto Macaro & Ann Childs. 2021. Classroom interaction in EMI high schools: Do teachers who are native speakers of English make a difference? System 98. 102482. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2021.102482.Search in Google Scholar

Başıbek, Nurcihan, Mustafa Dolmacı, Behice Ceyda Cengiz, Burcu Bür, Yeşim Dilek & Bayram Kara. 2014. Lecturers’ perceptions of English medium instruction at engineering departments of higher education: A study on partial English medium instruction at some state universities in Turkey. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences 116. 1819–1825. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.01.477.Search in Google Scholar

Basturkmen, Helen. 2018. Dealing with language issues during subject teaching in EMI: The perspectives of two accounting lecturers. TESOL Quarterly 52(3). 692–700. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.460.Search in Google Scholar

Breeze, Ruth & Hanne Roothooft. 2021. Using the L1 in university-level EMI: Attitudes among lecturers in Spain. Language Awareness 30(2). 195–215. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658416.2021.1903911.Search in Google Scholar

Coxhead, Averil & Thomas J. Boutorwick. 2018. Longitudinal vocabulary development in an EMI international school context: Learners and texts in EAL, maths, and science. TESOL Quarterly 52(3). 588–610. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.450.Search in Google Scholar

Dalton-Puffer, Christiane & Ute Smit. 2013. Content and language integrated learning: A research agenda. Language Teaching 46(4). 545–559. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0261444813000256.Search in Google Scholar

Deignan, Tim & Tom Morton. 2022. The challenges of English medium instruction for subject lecturers: A shared viewpoint. ELT Journal 76(2). 208–217. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccab084.Search in Google Scholar

Doiz, Aintzane, David Lasagabaster & Juan Manuel Sierra (eds.). 2012. English-Medium instruction at universities: Global challenges. Bristol, Buffalo & Toronto: Multilingual Matters.10.21832/9781847698162Search in Google Scholar

Galloway, Nicola & Heath Rose. 2021. English medium instruction and the English language practitioner. ELT Journal 75(1). 33–41. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccaa063.Search in Google Scholar

Gibbs, Graham R. 2007. Analyzing qualitative data. Sage Publications.10.4135/9781849208574Search in Google Scholar

Hong, Jiye. 2022. A study of language-related episodes in online English-medium instruction classes in high schools in South Korea. English for Specific Purposes 67. 65–75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2022.05.001.Search in Google Scholar

Hong, Jiye & Helen Basturkmen. 2020. Incidental attention to academic language during content teaching in two EMI classes in South Korean high schools. Journal of English for Academic Purposes 48. 100921. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2020.100921.Search in Google Scholar

Kim, Eun Gyong, Soo-Ok Kweon & Jeongyeon Kim. 2017. Korean engineering students’ perceptions of English-medium instruction (EMI) and L1 use in EMI classes. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 38(2). 130–145. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2016.1177061.Search in Google Scholar

Kym, Inyoung & Moon Hyun Kym. 2014. Students’ perceptions of EMI in higher education in Korea. Journal of Asia TEFL 11(2). 35–61.Search in Google Scholar

Lin, Amy M.Y. & Yuen Yi Lo. 2017. Trans/languaging and the triadic dialogue in content and language integrated learning (CLIL) classrooms. Language and Education 31(1). 26–45. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500782.2016.1230125.Search in Google Scholar

Liu, Jiajia Eve & Angel M. Y. Lin. 2021. (Re) conceptualizing “Language” in CLIL: Multimodality, translanguaging and trans-semiotizing in CLIL. AILA Review 34(2). 240–261. https://doi.org/10.1075/aila.21002.liu.Search in Google Scholar

Lo, Yuen Yi, Angel M. Y. Lin & Yiqi Liu. 2023. Exploring content and language co-construction in CLIL with semantic waves. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 26(3). 289–310. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2020.1810203.Search in Google Scholar

Lyster, Roy & Kazaya Saito. 2010. Interactional feedback as instructional input: A synthesis of classroom SLA research. Language, Interaction and Acquisition 1(2). 276–297. https://doi.org/10.1075/lia.1.2.07lys.Search in Google Scholar

Macaro, Ernesto, Samantha Curle, Jack Pan, Jiangshan An & Julie Dearden. 2018. A systematic review of English medium instruction in higher education. Language Teaching 51(1). 36–76. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0261444817000350.Search in Google Scholar

Macaro, Ernesto, Lili Tian & Lingmin Chu. 2020. First and second language use in English medium instruction contexts. Language Teaching Research 24(3). 382–402. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168818783231.Search in Google Scholar

Malmström, Hans, Špela Mežek, Diane Pecorari, Philip Shaw & Aileen Irvine. 2017. Engaging with terminology in the multilingual classroom: Teachers’ practices for bridging the gap between L1 lectures and English reading. Classroom Discourse 8(1). 3–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/19463014.2016.1224723.Search in Google Scholar

Manan, Syed Abdul, Francisco Perlas Dumanig & Maya Khemlani David. 2017. The English-medium fever in Pakistan: Analyzing policy, perceptions and practices through additive bi/multilingual education lens. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 20(6). 736–752. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2015.1080659.Search in Google Scholar

Maxwell-Reid, Corinne. 2020. Classroom discourse in bilingual secondary science: Language as medium or language as dialectic? International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 23(4). 499–512. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2017.1377683.Search in Google Scholar

Meyer, Derek. 2023. Towards a theory of knowledge acquisition–re-examining the role of language and the origins and evolution of cognition. Educational Philosophy and Theory 55(1). 57–67. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2022.2061350.Search in Google Scholar

Mitchell, J. Clyde. 1984. Typicality and the case study. In Roy F. Ellens (ed.), Ethnographic research: A guide to general conduct, 238–241. Academic Press.Search in Google Scholar

Pun, Jack. 2022. Effects of prior English exposure on Hong Kong tertiary science students’ experiences in EMI learning. RELC Journal. 00336882221079057. https://doi.org/10.1177/00336882221079057.Search in Google Scholar

Qiu, Xuyan & Chang Fang. 2022. Creating an effective English-medium instruction (EMI) classroom: Chinese undergraduate students’ perceptions of native and non-native English-speaking content teachers and their experiences. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 25(2). 641–655. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2019.1707769.Search in Google Scholar

Sultana, Shaila. 2014. English as a medium of instruction in Bangladesh’s higher education: Empowering or disadvantaging students? Asian EFL Journal 16(1). 11–52.Search in Google Scholar

Swain, Merrill. 2006. Languaging, agency and collaboration in advanced Second Language learning. In Heidi Byrnes (ed.), Advanced language learning: The contributions of Halliday and Vygotsky, 95–108. London & New York: Continuum.Search in Google Scholar

Swain, Merrill & Sharon Lapkin. 2013. A Vygotskian sociocultural perspective on immersion education: The L1/L2 debate. Journal of Immersion and Content-based Language Education 1(1). 101–129. https://doi.org/10.1075/jicb.1.1.05swa.Search in Google Scholar

Uchihara, Takumi & Tetsuo Harada. 2018. Roles of vocabulary knowledge for success in English‐medium instruction: Self‐perceptions and academic outcomes of Japanese undergraduates. TESOL Quarterly 52(3). 564–587. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.453.Search in Google Scholar

Vygotsky, Lev S. 1986. Thought and language (newly revised, translated, and edited by Alex Kozulin). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Search in Google Scholar

Wu, Yanming & Angel M. Y. Lin. 2019. Translanguaging and trans-semiotising in a CLIL biology class in Hong Kong: Whole-body sense-making in the flow of knowledge co-making. Classroom Discourse 10(3–4). 252–273. https://doi.org/10.1080/19463014.2019.1629322.Search in Google Scholar

Yore, Larry D. & David F. Treagust. 2006. Current realities and future possibilities: Language and science literacy – empowering research and informing instruction. International Journal of Science Education 28(2–3). 291–314. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500690500336973.Search in Google Scholar

Yuan, Rui. 2023. Promoting English-as-a-medium-of-instruction (EMI) teacher development in higher education: What can language specialists do and become? RELC Journal 54(1). 267–279. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033688220980173.Search in Google Scholar

Yuan, Rui & Min Yang. 2020. Towards an understanding of translanguaging in EMI teacher education classrooms. Language Teaching Research 1362168820964123.10.1177/1362168820964123Search in Google Scholar

Yuan, Rui, Tiefu Zhang & Mo Li. 2022. ‘EMI is like a durian’: Chinese students’ perspectives on an ideal English-medium instruction classroom in higher education. Language and Education 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500782.2022.2119862.Search in Google Scholar

Zhang, Lei & Yuen Yi Lo. 2021. EMI teachers’ use of interactive metadiscourse in lecture organisation and knowledge construction. In David Lasagabaster & Aintzane Doiz (eds.), Language use in English-medium instruction at university, 56–79. New York: Routledge.10.4324/9781003134534-4Search in Google Scholar

Received: 2022-11-12
Accepted: 2023-05-09
Published Online: 2023-05-25
Published in Print: 2024-09-25

© 2023 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Special Issue: The Yellow Peril or the Model Minority? Racialized identities and discourses of Asian Americans and Asian Canadians; Guest Editor: Christian Chun
  3. Research Articles
  4. Paradoxes of the Canadian mosaic: “being, feeling and doing Canadian”
  5. The Asian American teaching method? An overview of language education, social justice issues, and challenging ‘Oppressed’ versus ‘Model’ minority binary discourse
  6. Life and work between home and “homeland”: a narrative inquiry of transnational Chinese adoptees’ identity negotiations across time and space
  7. I ain’t your f*cking Model Minority! Indexical orders of ‘Asianness’, class, and heteronormative masculinity
  8. Special Issue: Assessment and Creativity through a Translingual Lens; Guest Editors: Lavinia Hirsu, Marta Nitecka Barche and Dobrochna Futro
  9. Editorials
  10. Assessment and creativity through a translingual lens: introduction
  11. Assessment and creativity through a translingual lens: transdisciplinary insights
  12. Creative translanguaging in formative assessment: Chinese teachers’ perceptions and practices in the primary EFL classroom
  13. Creativity, criticality and translanguaging in assessment design: perspectives from Bangladeshi higher education
  14. Integrating translanguaging into assessment: students’ responses and perceptions
  15. Research Articles
  16. Investigation of factors underlying foreign language classroom anxiety in Chinese university English majors
  17. Why can’t I teach English? A case study of the racialized experiences of a female Ugandan teacher of English in an EFL context
  18. Primary-concern solicitation in Chinese medical encounters
  19. The relationships between young FL learners’ classroom emotions (anxiety, boredom, & enjoyment), engagement, and FL proficiency
  20. Visualising the language practices of lower secondary students: outlines for practice-based models of multilingualism
  21. Observing a teacher’s interactional competence in an ESOL classroom: a translanguaging perspective
  22. Foreign language teacher grit: scale development and examining the relations with emotions and burnout using relative weight analysis
  23. Vocabulary learning in a foreign language: multimedia input, sentence-writing task, and their combination
  24. The predictive effects of reading speed and positive affect on first and second language incidental vocabulary acquisition through reading an authentic novel
  25. The effects of cultural and educational background on students’ use of language learning strategies in CFL learning
  26. Transl[iter]ating Dubai’s linguistic landscape: a bilingual translation perspective between English and Arabic against a backdrop of globalisation
  27. Exploring Tibetan residents’ everyday language practices in Danba county, Southwest China: a case study
  28. The mechanism for the positive effect of foreign language peace of mind in the Chinese EFL context: a moderated mediation model based on learners’ individual resources
  29. A latent profile analysis of L2 writing emotions and their relations to writing buoyancy, motivation and proficiency
  30. “Part of me is teaching English”: probing the language-related teaching practices of an English-medium instruction (EMI) teacher
Downloaded on 19.12.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/applirev-2022-0169/html
Scroll to top button