Home Our gateway is your gatekeeper: benefits and constraints of EMI for different participants in Japanese ELF contexts
Article
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

Our gateway is your gatekeeper: benefits and constraints of EMI for different participants in Japanese ELF contexts

  • Kumiko Murata EMAIL logo and Masakazu Iino
Published/Copyright: August 6, 2024
Journal of English as a Lingua Franca
From the journal Journal of English as a Lingua Franca Volume 13 Issue 1

Abstract

This paper explores the interconnectedness of gatekeeper and gateway roles the same English-medium instruction (EMI) policy plays for different student populations at different times. The research site is located in an EMI programme at a Japanese university, where, for international students, EMI opens a gateway to the university, Japanese ability not being required at the entry point, whereas the same policy plays a gatekeeping role for Japanese students, a high English proficiency level based on native English speaker (NES) norms being required. However, for international students with plans to work for Japanese companies after graduation, their low Japanese ability starts playing a gatekeeping role for their future career, contrary to the situation at the outset. In contrast, Japanese students, who initially struggle to get used to EMI, after a few years, become empowered by their ability to use English as a lingua franca (ELF), which becomes a gateway to new career opportunities. Thus, the same EMI policy could play opposing roles for different student populations at different times, a gateway turning gatekeeper for one group, while for another, the initial gatekeeper turning gateway after some time. The exploration is mostly based on our interview data with EMI graduates at both undergraduate and graduate levels. Implications for language policy will also be discussed.

日本語概要

本稿は、特定の EMI 言語政策が異なる時期に異なる学生集団に対してゲート・キーパーとゲート・ウェイ双方の異なる役割を演じるという事象を分析する。本研究は日本の一大学の EMI プログラムを取り上げ、留学生と日本人学生の入学時、卒業時に求められる言語の役割に注目する。そこでは、留学生にとって EMI は大学の入り口を開くゲート・ウェイであり、入学時に日本語能力が求められない。一方、その言語政策は一般的な日本人学生に対しては、英語ネイティブ・スピーカーを規範とする高い英語能力が求められ、ゲート・キーピングの役割を果たす。ところが、卒業後に日本企業で働くことを希望する留学生にとっては入学時の状況とは逆に、低い日本語能力が将来のキャリアに対してゲート・キーピングの役割を果たし始める。一方、当初は EMI 環境に適応するのに苦労する日本の学生は、数年後に ELF 使用能力を向上させ、その能力が将来のキャリアへのゲート・ウェイとなる。つまり、同一の EMI 言語政策は異なる時期に異なる学生集団に対して異なる役割を果たすことがあり、あるグループにとってはゲート・ウェイがゲート・キーパーに、別のグループにとっては最初のゲート・キーパーが後にゲート・ウェイにダイナミックに変化しうる。本研究は、主に学部、大学院レベル双方の EMI 卒業生とのインタビュー・データに基づき分析され、言語政策への示唆も議論される。

Keywords: ELF; EMI; gatekeeper; gateway; language policy
キーワード: EMI; ELF; 言語政策; ゲート・キーパー; ゲート・ウェイ
Corresponding author: Kumiko Murata, Waseda University, 1-6-1 Nishi-Waseda, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 169 8050, Japan, E-mail:

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the editors of this special issue, Alessia Cogo and Ute Smit, and the reviewers for their helpful comments on the earlier versions of the paper.

  1. Research Funding: This research was supported by JSPS-kakenhi funding (No. 19H01290).

References

Bayyurt, Yasemin & Nicos C. Sifakis. 2015. ELF-aware in-service teacher education: A transformative perspective. In Hugo Bowles & Alessia Cogo (eds.), International perspectives on English as a lingua franca. Pedagogical insights, 117–135. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.10.1057/9781137398093_7Search in Google Scholar

Björkman Nylén, Beyza. 2023. Life after English-medium instruction (EMI): The effects of EMI in the use of English as a business lingua franca in a multinational corporation. Special talk given online at Waseda University. November.Search in Google Scholar

Bourdieu, Pierre. 1991. Language & symbolic power. Cambridge: Polity Press.Search in Google Scholar

Braun, Virginia & Victoria Clarke. 2006. Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology 3(2). 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa.Search in Google Scholar

Cabrini Simões Calvo, Luciana, Alessia Cogo, Michelle Salles El Kadri & Telma Gimenez. 2022. “English gradually” and multilingual support in EMI: Insights from lecturers in two Brazilian universities. Journal of English as a Lingua Franca 11(2). 147–170. https://doi.org/10.1515/jelf-2022-2081.Search in Google Scholar

Canagarajah, Suresh. 2018. Translingual practice as spatial repertoires: Expanding the paradigm beyond structuralist orientations. Applied Linguistics 39(1). 31–54. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amx041.Search in Google Scholar

Cogo, Alessia. 2021. ELF and translanguaging: Covert and overt resources in a transnational workplace. In Kumiko Murata (ed.), ELF research methods and approaches to data and analyses: Theoretical and methodological underpinnings, 38–54. Oxon: Routledge.10.4324/9781003021650-5Search in Google Scholar

Coleman, James A. 2006. English-medium teaching in European higher education. Language Teaching 39(1). 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1017/s026144480600320x.Search in Google Scholar

Dafouz, Emma & John Gray. 2022. Rethinking the roles of ELT in English-medium education in multilingual university settings: An introduction. ELT Journal 76(2). 163–171. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccab096.Search in Google Scholar

De Costa, Peter I., Curtis Green-Eneix & Wenjing Li. 2021. Embracing diversity, inclusion, equity and access in EMI-TNHE: Towards a social justice-centered reframing of English language teaching. RELC Journal 52(2). 227–235. https://doi.org/10.1177/00336882211018540.Search in Google Scholar

Dewey, Martin. 2021. Transnational education in the Anglophone university: A viewpoint article. RELC Journal 52(2). 323–333. https://doi.org/10.1177/00336882211009612.Search in Google Scholar

Doiz, Aintzane, David Lasagabaster & Juan Manuel Sierra (eds.). 2013. English-medium instruction at universities: Global challenges. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.10.21832/9781847698162Search in Google Scholar

García, Ofelia & Wei Li. 2014. Translanguaging: Language, bilingualism and education. Houndmills, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.10.1057/9781137385765_4Search in Google Scholar

García, Ofelia, Nelson Flores, Kate Seltzer, Wei Li, Ricardo Otheguy & Jonathan Rosa. 2021. Rejecting abyssal thinking in the language and education of racialized bilinguals: A manifesto. Critical Inquiry in Language Studies 18(3). 203–228. https://doi.org/10.1080/15427587.2021.1935957.Search in Google Scholar

Hoey, Michael. 2018. The internationalization of higher education: Some ethical implications. In David Law & Michael Hoey (eds.), Perspectives on the internationalisation of higher education, 43–49. Oxon: Routledge.10.4324/9781315160870-7Search in Google Scholar

Hultgren, Anna Kristina. 2020. Introduction: Global English and social justice. Nordic Journal of English Studies 19(3). 1–7. https://doi.org/10.35360/njes.573.Search in Google Scholar

Hutchby, Ian & Robin Wooffitt. 2008. Conversation analysis. Cambridge: Polity.Search in Google Scholar

Iino, Masakazu & Kumiko Murata. 2016. Dynamics of ELF communication in an English-medium academic context in Japan – From EFL learners to ELF users. In Kumiko Murata (ed.), Exploring ELF in Japanese academic and business contexts: Conceptualization, research and pedagogic implications, 111–131. Oxon: Routledge.Search in Google Scholar

Jenkins, Jennifer. 2014. English as a lingua franca in the international university – The politics of academic language policy. Oxon: Routledge.10.4324/9780203798157Search in Google Scholar

Jenkins, Jennifer & Constance Leung. 2019. From mythical “standard” to standard reality: The need for alternatives to standardized English language tests. Language Teaching 52(1). 86–110. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0261444818000307.Search in Google Scholar

Kachru, Braj Bihari. 1985. Standards, codification and sociolinguistic realism: The English language in the outer circle. In Randolph Quirk & Henry G. Widdowson (eds.), English in the world: Teaching and learning the language and literatures, 11–30. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Search in Google Scholar

Khan, Sarah. 2021. The secret life of English-medium instruction unraveled. In David Block & Sarah Khan (eds.), The secret life of English-medium instruction in higher education. Examining microphenomena in context, 120–131. Oxon: Routledge.10.4324/9781003005667-6Search in Google Scholar

Konakahara, Mayu, Kumiko Murata & Masakazu Iino. 2017. From academic to business settings: Changes of attitudes towards and opinions about ELF. Waseda Working Papers in ELF 6. 129–147.Search in Google Scholar

Kubota, Ryuko. 2016. The multi/plural turn, postcolonial theory, and neoliberal multiculturalism: Complicities and implications for applied linguistics. Applied Linguistics 37(4). 474–494. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amu045.Search in Google Scholar

Lanvers, Ursula & Anna Kristina Hultgren. 2018a. The Englishization of European education. European Journal of Language Policy 10(1). 1–6. https://doi.org/10.3828/ejlp.2018.1.Search in Google Scholar

Lanvers, Ursula & Anna Kristina Hultgren. 2018b. The Englishization of European education: Concluding remarks. European Journal of Language Policy 10(1). 1–5.10.3828/ejlp.2018.1Search in Google Scholar

Law, David & Michael Hoey. 2018. Perspectives on the internationalisation of higher education. Oxon: Routledge.10.4324/9781315160870Search in Google Scholar

Li, Wei. 2018. Translanguaging as a practical theory of language. Applied Linguistics 39(1). 9–30. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amx039.Search in Google Scholar

Macaro, Ernesto, Samantha Curle, Jack Pun, 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

Makoni, Sinfree & Alastair Pennycook. 2012. Disinventing multilingualism: From monological multilingualism to multilingual francas. In Marilyn Martin-Jones, Adrian Blackledge & Angela Creese (eds.), The Routledge handbook of multilingualism, 439–453. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.Search in Google Scholar

McKinley, Jim, Heath Rose & Sihan Zhou. 2021. Transnational universities and English medium instruction in China: How admissions, language support and language use differ in Chinese universities. RELC Journal 52(2). 236–252. https://doi.org/10.1177/00336882211020032.Search in Google Scholar

McNamara, Tim. 2024. A challenge for language testing: The assessment of English as a lingua franca. In Kumiko Murata (ed.), ELF and applied linguistics: Reconsidering applied linguistics research from ELF perspectives, 191–206. Oxon: Routledge.10.4324/9781003391463-16Search in Google Scholar

MEXT. 2011. An interim report of the Council on Promotion of Human Resource for Globalization Development. https://warp.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/12251721/www.kantei.go.jp/jp/singi/global/1206011interim_report.pdf (English) (accessed 5 July 2024).Search in Google Scholar

Murata, Kumiko (ed.). 2019. English-medium instruction from an English as a lingua franca perspective: Exploring the higher education context. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.10.4324/9781351184335Search in Google Scholar

Murata, Kumiko & Masakazu Iino. 2018. EMI in higher education: An ELF perspective. In Jennifer Jenkins, Will Baker & Martin Dewey (eds.), The Routledge handbook of English as a lingua franca, 400–412. Oxon: Routledge.10.4324/9781315717173-33Search in Google Scholar

Murata, Kumiko, Masakazu Iino & Mayu Konakahara. 2019. Realities of EMI practices among multilingual students in a Japanese university. In Jennifer Jenkins & Anna Mauranen (eds.), Linguistic diversity in international universities, 149–171. Oxon: Routledge.10.4324/9780429020865-7Search in Google Scholar

Murata, Kumiko, Mayu Konakahara & Tomokazu Ishikawa. 2022. Acceleration of diversity in business contexts vs prevalence of NES monolingual value in school contexts: Results from a BP questionnaire. JACT ELF SIG Journal 6. 29–52.Search in Google Scholar

Otheguy, Ricardo, Ofelia García & Wallis Reid. 2015. Clarifying translanguaging and deconstructing named languages: A perspective from linguistics. Applied Linguistics Review 6(3). 281–307. https://doi.org/10.1515/applirev-2015-0014.Search in Google Scholar

Piller, Ingrid & Jinhyun Cho. 2013. Neoliberalism as language policy. Language in Society 42. 23–44. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0047404512000887.Search in Google Scholar

Scharoun, Lisa. 2018. Short-term study tours as a driver for increasing domestic student mobility in order to generate global work-ready students and cultural exchange in Asia Pacific. In David Law & Michael Hoey (eds.), Perspectives on the internationalisation of higher education, 102–108. Oxon: Routledge.10.4324/9781315160870-15Search in Google Scholar

Seidlhofer, Barbara. 2011. Understanding English as a lingua franca. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Search in Google Scholar

Smit, Ute. 2010. English as a lingua franca in higher education: A longitudinal study of classroom discourse. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.10.1515/9783110215519Search in Google Scholar

Soler, Josep & Sergi Morales-Galvez. 2022. Linguistic justice and global English: Theoretical and empirical approaches. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 277. 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1515/ijsl-2022-0026.Search in Google Scholar

Song, Yang. 2019. English language ideologies and students’ perception of international English-medium-instruction (EMI) Master’s programmes: A Chinese case study. English Today 35(3). 22–28. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0266078418000408.Search in Google Scholar

Sung, Chit Cheung Matthew. 2018. Investigating perceptions of English as a lingua franca in Hong Kong: The case of university students. English Today 34(1). 38–44. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0266078417000293.Search in Google Scholar

Takino, Miyuki. 2020. Bridging the language barrier in international business BELF and multilingual practices. In Konakahara Mayu & Keiko Tsuchiya (eds.), English as a lingua franca in Japan. Towards multilingual practices, 233–254. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.10.1007/978-3-030-33288-4_11Search in Google Scholar

Widdowson, Henry & Barbara Seidlhofer. 2024. Conceptualising ELF and applied linguistics. In Kumiko Murata (ed.), ELF and applied linguistics: Reconsidering applied linguistics research from ELF perspectives, 21–33. Oxon: Routledge.10.4324/9781003391463-3Search in Google Scholar

Yemini, Miri & Netta Sagie. 2016. Research on internationalisation in higher education – Exploratory analysis. Perspectives: Policy & Practice in Higher Education 20(2/3). 90–98. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603108.2015.1062057.Search in Google Scholar
Published Online: 2024-08-06
Published in Print: 2024-05-27

© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Introduction
  3. Introduction
  4. Articles
  5. Linguistic justice in English-medium instruction contexts: a theoretical argument
  6. The (in)justice of EMI: a critical discourse analysis of two key stakeholders’ views on the Polytechnic University of Milan court case
  7. “English is the natural language of science”: discourses and ideologies concerning EMI in two Brazilian universities
  8. English Medium Instruction or Exploitative Models of Income? International students’ experiences of EMI by default at an Australian university
  9. Our gateway is your gatekeeper: benefits and constraints of EMI for different participants in Japanese ELF contexts
  10. Enhancing equity in South Korean EMI higher education through translanguaging
  11. Impact of English proficiency and self-efficacy on EMI content learning: a longitudinal study in Taiwan
  12. EMI programmes in Vietnamese higher education: a case study of translanguaging practices for inclusive education
  13. Book Reviews
  14. Cogo, Alessia, Graham Crookes and Sávio Siqueira: English for a Critical Mind: Language Pedagogy for Social Justice
  15. Mocanu, Vasilica: Language Learning in Study Abroad: Social, Cultural, and Identity-Related Factors
  16. Alves, Ubiratã Kickhöfel & Jeniffer Imaregna Alcantara de Albuquerque: Second language pronunciation: Different approaches to teaching and training (Studies on Language Acquisition 64)
  17. Corrigendum
  18. Corrigendum to: Self-presentation as an ELF user in social media: an analysis of Japanese young adults’ online language practices
https://doi.org/10.1515/jelf-2024-2009
Keywords for this article
ELF; EMI; gatekeeper; gateway; language policy

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Introduction
  3. Introduction
  4. Articles
  5. Linguistic justice in English-medium instruction contexts: a theoretical argument
  6. The (in)justice of EMI: a critical discourse analysis of two key stakeholders’ views on the Polytechnic University of Milan court case
  7. “English is the natural language of science”: discourses and ideologies concerning EMI in two Brazilian universities
  8. English Medium Instruction or Exploitative Models of Income? International students’ experiences of EMI by default at an Australian university
  9. Our gateway is your gatekeeper: benefits and constraints of EMI for different participants in Japanese ELF contexts
  10. Enhancing equity in South Korean EMI higher education through translanguaging
  11. Impact of English proficiency and self-efficacy on EMI content learning: a longitudinal study in Taiwan
  12. EMI programmes in Vietnamese higher education: a case study of translanguaging practices for inclusive education
  13. Book Reviews
  14. Cogo, Alessia, Graham Crookes and Sávio Siqueira: English for a Critical Mind: Language Pedagogy for Social Justice
  15. Mocanu, Vasilica: Language Learning in Study Abroad: Social, Cultural, and Identity-Related Factors
  16. Alves, Ubiratã Kickhöfel & Jeniffer Imaregna Alcantara de Albuquerque: Second language pronunciation: Different approaches to teaching and training (Studies on Language Acquisition 64)
  17. Corrigendum
  18. Corrigendum to: Self-presentation as an ELF user in social media: an analysis of Japanese young adults’ online language practices
Sign up now to receive a 20% welcome discount
Institutional Access
How does access work?
Have an idea on how to improve our website?
Please write us.
© 2025 De Gruyter Brill
Downloaded on 24.9.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/jelf-2024-2009/html
Scroll to top button