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Translanguaging in content assessment: voices, experiences and practices of EMI university students

  • Talip Gülle ORCID logo EMAIL logo and Yasemin Bayyurt ORCID logo
Published/Copyright: October 14, 2024
Language Learning in Higher Education
From the journal Language Learning in Higher Education Volume 14 Issue 2

Abstract

While translanguaging has gained significant traction as a theory of language that holds implications for educational settings with students from various language backgrounds, its viability in content assessment remains an unresolved issue. Students in English-medium instruction (EMI) programs at a private university in Türkiye participated in content exams that did not impose any language constraints, and follow-up interviews were conducted to probe into the participants’ language-related EMI experiences and the factors that affected their language use in their responses. Student reports showed that L1 was used by instructors to explain complex concepts or when students’ comprehension was challenged. Students used both English and L1 materials for studying, and in group and individual work, a mix of English and L1 was common, driven by the aim of cognitive efficiency and overcoming language barriers. In the content exams, both monolingual and translingual practices were employed by the participants, and their language use was mainly associated with relative proficiency in L2, encoding-retrieval match, and compartmentalization of languages. The study demonstrates that students encounter challenges in L2 comprehension and production in lessons and exams and that offering language flexibility in content exams may serve as a temporary accommodation that allows fuller expression of content knowledge, particularly in time-constrained exams.

Keywords: assessment accommodations; content assessment; English medium instruction; higher education; translanguaging
Corresponding author: Talip Gülle, Foreign Language Education Department, Bartın University, Kutlubey Yazıcılar Yerleşkesi Eğitim Fakültesi Yabancı Diller Eğitimi Bölümü, 74100, Merkez, Bartın, Türkiye, E-mail:

Funding source: Boğaziçi University Research Fund

Award Identifier / Grant number: 17762

Acknowledgments

The data used in this study is part of the first author’s PhD thesis (Boğaziçi University) supervised by the second author. Ethical approval for the study was obtained from Boğaziçi University’s committee for MA and PhD research with the approval number SBB-EAK 2020/60, and institutional permission was obtained from the university where the study was conducted. The authors would like to thank the students who took part in this study and the instructors who agreed to prepare exam questions to be asked to the participants. All participants in the study (and all potential participants who ultimately decided not to take part in the study) were informed about the details, including the data collection methods, their rights, and potential research outputs. Informed consent was obtained from all the participants in this study.

  1. Research funding: This study was partially supported by Boğaziçi University Research Fund, project number: 17762.

  2. Data availability: The complete data set used in this study is not stored in publicly available archives. Further inquiries regarding the data can be directed to the corresponding author, Talip Gülle.

Appendices
Appendix A

Questions Asked in the Content Exams

Course Term Time (mins.) Question
Media and Society 1 20 Why do people fear the media and its influence?
Digital Storytelling 1 30 Answer the following questions:

  1. What is digital storytelling? How is it different from traditional storytelling?

  2. List and explain three of the steps in digital storytelling.

  3. Choose a topic that is important to you. Imagine that you are preparing a digital story on this topic. Explain if your digital story would be a fictional or non-fictional one.
Research Development 5 20 What is the purpose of writing a literature review? Why is it important to start your research with it?
International Political Economy 5 20 Explain Immanuel Wallerstein’s theory of political economy and imperialism.
History of International Relations 1 20 Explain the social structure of urban Medieval Europe.
Introduction to Political Science 1 20 Explain the three different approaches used for justifying war.
Introduction to Business 1 15 Explain the difference between a manager and a leader. Please do refer to the concepts of power, influence, authority, hierarchy.
Organizational Behavior 1 15 Are motivation and work satisfaction the same concept? Describe the ways how employees can be motivated.
Psychology of Learning 3 20 What are the categories of long-term memory? How are their functions different? And how are they related to autobiographical memory?

  1. Note. Term = The term at which the course is offered; Time (mins.) = The amount of time, in minutes, the course instructors provided to the students to answer the question.

Appendix B

Interview Questions

  1. Which language or languages are used in your lessons?

  2. Are any languages other than the official language of instruction used in your lessons? If so, for what purposes?

  3. Resources in which languages do you use while studying for your lessons (or exams)?

  4. Which language or languages do you use in your individual and group learning activities outside of the classroom? Why?

  5. Are there any advantages of having English as the language of instruction? If so, please explain them.

  6. Are there any difficulties or disadvantages of having English as the language of instruction? If so, please explain them.

  7. Why did you prefer to use ………. (the language preferred by the student in the content exam previously held within the scope of the study is stated here) in the exam you took within the scope of this study?

  8. (If the students used different languages together in their answers in the exam previously held within the study) I have noticed that you switched between different languages in certain parts in your answers. I will show you these parts in your answers. Please indicate why you switched languages in these parts.

Appendix C

. final intonation contour
, continuing intonation contour
? rising intonation/question
(…) ellipsis
[ ] additions to help clarify or contextualize the quote

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Received: 2024-04-02
Accepted: 2024-08-24
Published Online: 2024-10-14
Published in Print: 2024-10-28

© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Introduction
  3. Striking a comfortable balance in the act of modern language teaching and learning
  4. Research Articles
  5. Shared leadership strategies for languages education. A case of project-based learning at CLC in Poznan University of Technology
  6. Group work and translanguaging as coping strategies for content learning in English-medium higher education contexts
  7. Translanguaging in content assessment: voices, experiences and practices of EMI university students
  8. Exploring the functions of lexical bundles in undergraduate opinion paragraphs for pedagogical use
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  10. Utilizing peer evaluation as a collaborative learning tool: fostering autonomy satisfaction in English presentation classes
  11. Enhancing speaking agility: unveiling Indonesian lecturers’ hybrid teaching experiences in oral communication skills
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  14. Delivering a pilot Institution Wide Language Programme (IWLP) at an Irish University: teachers’ perspectives
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https://doi.org/10.1515/cercles-2024-0021
Keywords for this article
assessment accommodations; content assessment; English medium instruction; higher education; translanguaging

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Introduction
  3. Striking a comfortable balance in the act of modern language teaching and learning
  4. Research Articles
  5. Shared leadership strategies for languages education. A case of project-based learning at CLC in Poznan University of Technology
  6. Group work and translanguaging as coping strategies for content learning in English-medium higher education contexts
  7. Translanguaging in content assessment: voices, experiences and practices of EMI university students
  8. Exploring the functions of lexical bundles in undergraduate opinion paragraphs for pedagogical use
  9. Influence of dynamic assessment on Taiwanese undergraduates and graduate students’ academic writing of research proposals
  10. Utilizing peer evaluation as a collaborative learning tool: fostering autonomy satisfaction in English presentation classes
  11. Enhancing speaking agility: unveiling Indonesian lecturers’ hybrid teaching experiences in oral communication skills
  12. Focus on form, forms, or meaning in grammar instruction: a study of Pakistani university EFL teachers’ cognition and practices
  13. U.S. students learning Czech in study abroad: motivational dynamics
  14. Delivering a pilot Institution Wide Language Programme (IWLP) at an Irish University: teachers’ perspectives
  15. Investigating the plurilingual profiles and linguistic repertoires of student language teachers: issues of SLA, multilingual assessment, and the role of L2 Italian in a localized Greek context
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