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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).

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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
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