Startseite Linguistik & Semiotik English Medium Instruction or Exploitative Models of Income? International students’ experiences of EMI by default at an Australian university
Artikel
Lizenziert
Nicht lizenziert Erfordert eine Authentifizierung

English Medium Instruction or Exploitative Models of Income? International students’ experiences of EMI by default at an Australian university

  • Carly Steele ORCID logo EMAIL logo , Ana Tankosić ORCID logo und Sender Dovchin ORCID logo
Veröffentlicht/Copyright: 6. August 2024
Journal of English as a Lingua Franca
Aus der Zeitschrift Journal of English as a Lingua Franca Band 13 Heft 1

Abstract

International education is Australia’s largest services export, and third largest export altogether, generating between $22 billion and $40 billion per year over the last few years. Higher education represents half of this ‘market’ with over 25 % of students being from overseas. Despite the important role that international students play in the fabric of Australian society and specifically in higher education, the findings from our linguistic ethnographic study of international students at an Australian university showed that the English language learning needs of these students were frequently unmet. Using James Scott’s theory of official and hidden transcripts, we reveal that students reported feeling that their “English is not good enough” and assumed personal ‘(ir)responsibility’ for this outcome. In this broad English Medium Instruction (EMI) context, where English is not the first language, but it is used as the language of instruction and as the lingua franca amongst international students, English-dominant perspectives acted to marginalise international students, impacting their academic performance and confidence for social networking. In this paper, we describe the shifts in higher educational policy in Australia over the last few decades to provide context to the current neoliberal educational climate for international students. We draw on principles of social justice to examine the present-day system and argue that Australian universities need to shift from an EMI by default model to a genuine EMI offering.

Sažetak

Međunarodno obrazovanje u Australiji je najveći izvoz usluga i uopćeno treći najveći državni izvoz, pridonoseći između 22 i 40 milijardi dolara godišnje u posljednjih nekoliko godina. Visoko obrazovanje predstavlja polovinu ovog ‘tržišta’, pri čemu preko 25 % studenata dolazi iz inostranstva. Uprkos važnoj ulozi međunarodnih studenata u australijskom društvu, a naročito u visokom obrazovanju, rezultati našeg lingvističkog etnografskog istraživanja međunarodnih studenata na australijskom univerzitetu otkrili su da su potrebe učenja engleskog jezika ovih studenata često bile neispunjene. Koristeći Scottovu teoriju službenih i skrivenih transkripta, otkrivamo da su studenti izvještavali da osjećaju da im „engleski nije dovoljno dobar“ i preuzimali su ličnu ‘(ne)odgovornost’ za taj rezultat. U kontekstu engleskog kao medijuma instrukcije (EMI) gdje engleski nije prvi jezik, ali se koristi kao jezik instrukcije i kao ‘lingua franca’ među međunarodnim studentima, perspektive engleskog kao dominantnog jezika djelovale su na marginalizaciju međunarodnih studenata, utičući na njihovu akademsku uspješnost i samopouzdanje u društvenom kontekstu. U ovom radu opisujemo promjene u politici visokog obrazovanja u Australiji u toku posljednjih nekoliko decenija kako bismo pružili kontekst sadašnjem neoliberalnom obrazovnom okruženju za međunarodne studente. Koristimo principe društvene pravde kako bismo ispitali današnji sistem i tvrdimo da australijski univerziteti trebaju preći sa modela EMI koji prati standardni obrazac na EMI model koji će uzeti u obzir prave potrebe međunarodnih studenata.

Keywords: Australian higher education; English language learning; English Medium Instruction (EMI); international students; linguistic ethnography; social justice
Ključne riječi: australijsko visoko obrazovanje; društvena pravda; engleski kao medijum instrukcije (EMI); lingvistička etnografija; međunarodni studenti; učenje engleskog jezika
Corresponding author: Carly Steele, School of Education, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Perth, Western Australia, 6945, Australia, E-mail:

Funding source: Australian Research Council (ARC)

Award Identifier / Grant number: DE180100118

Funding source: Curtin University Humanities/Curtin International Postgraduate Research Scholarship (CIPRS)

Acknowledgments

We acknowledge we live, work, and learn on unceded Whadjuk Noongar Boodja (Country) and pay our respects. Our heartfelt thanks to our participants. We are grateful to the anonymous reviewers and the editor for their valuable feedback. Any errors are our own.

  1. Research funding: This work is supported by the Australian Research Council (ARC) grant awarded to Sender Dovchin [grant number DE180100118] and (6282) Curtin University Humanities/Curtin International Postgraduate Research Scholarship (CIPRS) awarded to Ana Tankosić.

  2. Competing interests: The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.

References

Alhasnawi, Sami. 2021. English as an academic lingua franca: Discourse hybridity and meaning multiplicity in an international anglophone HE institution. Journal of English as a Lingua Franca 10(1). 31–58. https://doi.org/10.1515/jelf-2021-2054.Suche in Google Scholar

Arkoudis, Sophie, Mollie Dollinger, Chi Baik & Allan Patience. 2019. International students’ experience in Australian higher education: Can we do better? Higher Education 77(5). 799–813. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-018-0302-x.Suche in Google Scholar

Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS]. 2023. International trade: Supplementary information, calendar year. https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/economy/international-trade/international-trade-supplementary-information-calendar-year/latest-release (accessed 31 August 2023).Suche in Google Scholar

Australian, Government. 2023. Australian universities accord – interim report. CC BY 4.0 International.Suche in Google Scholar

Australian Government: Department of Home Affairs. 2022. Adult migrant English program. https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/settling-in-australia/amep/aboutthe-program (accessed 25 September 2022).Suche in Google Scholar

Baker, Will & Julia Hüttner. 2016. English and more: A multisite study of roles and conceptualisations of language in English medium multilingual universities from Europe to Asia. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 38(6). 501–516. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2016.1207183.Suche in Google Scholar

Bates, Simon. 2014. Personalised learning: Implications for curricula, staff and students. Paper presented at the Universitas 21 (U21) Educational Innovation Conference. Sydney, Australia.Suche in Google Scholar

Bodis, Agnes. 2021. The discursive (mis)representation of English language proficiency. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics 44(1). 37–64. https://doi.org/10.1075/aral.19039.bod.Suche in Google Scholar

Braun, Virginia & Victoria Clarke. 2013. Successful qualitative research: A practical guide for beginners. London: Sage.Suche in Google Scholar

Canagarajah, Suresh. 2013. Translingual practice: Global Englishes and cosmopolitan relations. London: Routledge.10.4324/9780203073889Suche in Google Scholar

Chahal, Dana. 2023. Academic language and learning in higher education: A call to derridean hospitality. Critical Studies in Education. 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/17508487.2023.2239294.Suche in Google Scholar

Choi, Tae-Hee. 2017. Hidden transcripts of teacher resistance: A case from South Korea. Journal of Education Policy 32(4). 480–502. https://doi.org/10.1080/02680939.2017.1290280.Suche in Google Scholar

Copland, Fiona & Angela Creese. 2015. Linguistic ethnography: Collecting, analysing and presenting data. London: Sage.10.4135/9781473910607Suche in Google Scholar

Curtin, University. 2022. Higher degree by research (HDR) supervision procedures. https://s30991.pcdn.co/about/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2022/12/Higher_Degree_by_Research_HDR_Supervision_Procedures.pdf (accessed 30 September 2023).Suche in Google Scholar

de Wit, Hans. 2019. Internationalization in higher education, a critical review. SFU Educational Review 12(3). 9–17. https://doi.org/10.21810/sfuer.v12i3.1036.Suche in Google Scholar

Dobinson, Toni & Paul Mercieca. 2020. Seeing things as they are, not just as we are: Investigating linguistic racism on an Australian university campus. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 23(7). 789–803. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2020.1724074.Suche in Google Scholar

Dobinson, Toni, Stephanie Dryden, Sender Dovchin, Qian Gong & Paul Mercieca. 2024. Translanguaging and “English only” at universities. Tesol Quarterly 58(1). 307–333. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.3232.Suche in Google Scholar

Dovchin, Sender & Min Wang. 2024. The resistance to translanguaging, spontaneous translanguagers and native speaker saviorism. Critical Inquiry in Language Studies. 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/15427587.2024.2336469.Suche in Google Scholar

Dovchin, Sender, Rhonda Oliver & Li Wei (eds.). 2024. Translingual practices: Playfulness and precariousness. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/9781009072779Suche in Google Scholar

Dryden, Stephanie & Sender Dovchin. 2022. Translingual English discrimination: Loss of academic sense of belonging, the hiring order of things, and students from the Global South. Applied Linguistics Review 15(4). 1231–1252. https://doi.org/10.1515/applirev-2022-0065.Suche in Google Scholar

Dryden, Stephanie, Ana Tankosić & Sender Dovchin. 2021. Foreign language anxiety and translanguaging as an emotional safe space: Migrant English as a foreign language learners in Australia. System 101. 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2021.102593.Suche in Google Scholar

Ferguson, Hazel & Harriet Spinks. 2021. Overseas students in Australian higher education: A quick guide. Australian Parliament House. https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/library/prspub/6765126/upload_binary/6765126.pdf (accessed 12 July 2024).Suche in Google Scholar

Fraser, Nancy. 2001. Recognition without ethics? Theory, Culture & Society 18(2/3). 21–42. https://doi.org/10.1177/02632760122051760.Suche in Google Scholar

Freeman, Brigid, Ian Teo, Peodair Leihy & Dong Kwang Kim. 2022. Review of Australia’s response to international student needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Australian Universities Review 64(1). 6–16. https://doi.org/10.3316/aeipt.230329.Suche in Google Scholar

Frenkel, Michal & Yehouda Shenhav. 2006. From binarism back to hybridity: A postcolonial reading of management and organization studies. Organization Studies 27(6). 855–876. https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840606064086.Suche in Google Scholar

Gomes, Catherine. 2020. Outside the classroom: The language of English and its impact on international student mental wellbeing in Australia. Journal of International Students 10(4). 934–953. https://doi.org/10.32674/jis.v10i4.1277.Suche in Google Scholar

Greenhouse, Carol. 2005. Hegemony and hidden transcripts: The discursive arts of neoliberal legitimation. American Anthropologist 107(3). 356–368. https://doi.org/10.1525/aa.2005.107.3.356.Suche in Google Scholar

Heller, Monica. 2008. Doing ethnography. In Li Wei & Melissa G. Moyer (eds.), The blackwell guide to research methods in bilingualism and multilingualism, 249–262. Oxford: Blackwell.10.1002/9781444301120.ch14Suche in Google Scholar

Heller, Monica. 2010. The commodification of language. Annual Review of Anthropology 39. 101–114. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.anthro.012.Suche in Google Scholar

Holliday, Adrian. 2015. Native-speakerism: Taking the concept forward and achieving cultural belief. In Anne Swan, Pamela Aboshiha & Adrian Holliday (eds.), (En)Countering native-speakerism: Global perspectives, 11–25. Hampshire: Palgrave MacMillan.10.1057/9781137463500_2Suche in Google Scholar

Horne, Julia. 2020a. How universities came to rely on international students. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/how-universities-came-to-rely-on-international-students-138796 (accessed 12 July 2024).Suche in Google Scholar

Horne, Julia. 2020b. Mass education and university reform in late twentieth century Australia. British Journal of Educational Studies 68(5). 671–690. https://doi.org/10.1080/00071005.2020.1804526.Suche in Google Scholar

Horne, Julia. 2022. International students in Australia since the early 1900s. In Julia Horne & Matthew A. M. Thomas (eds.), Australian universities: A conversation about public good, 103–117. Sydney: Sydney University Press.10.2307/j.ctv31svrqv.13Suche in Google Scholar

Hotson, Brian & Stevie Bell. 2022. Friends don’t let friends studiosity (without reading the fine print). Canadian Writing Centres Association, vol. 4. https://cwcaaccr.com/2022/09/01/friends-dont-let-friends-studiosity/ (accessed 15 July 2024).Suche in Google Scholar

Joseph, Dawn & Kay Hartwig. 2020. Insights from academics teaching international students in Australia. Qualitative Report 25(11). 4127–4145. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2020.4476.Suche 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.Suche in Google Scholar

Keddie, Amanda. 2012. Schooling and social justice through the lenses of Nancy Fraser. Critical Studies in Education 53(3). 263–279. https://doi.org/10.1080/17508487.2012.709185.Suche in Google Scholar

Macaro, Ernesto. 2020. Exploring the role of language in English medium instruction. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 23(3). 263–276. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2019.1620678.Suche in Google Scholar

Mauranen, Anna, Niina Hynninen & Elina Ranta. 2010. English as an academic lingua franca: The ELFA project. English for Specific Purposes 29(3). 183–190. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2009.10.001.Suche in Google Scholar

Ober, Teresa M., Blair A. Lehman, Reginald Gooch, Olasumbo Oluwalana, Jaemarie Solyst, Geoffrey Phelps & Laura S. Hamilton. 2023. Culturally responsive personalized learning: Recommendations for a working definition and framework. ETS Research Report Series 2023(1). 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1002/ets2.12372.Suche in Google Scholar

Pennycook, Alastair. 2017. The cultural politics of English as an international language. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.10.4324/9781315225593Suche in Google Scholar

Piller, Ingrid. 2016. Linguistic diversity and social justice: An introduction to applied sociolinguistics. Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press.10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199937240.001.0001Suche in Google Scholar

Piller, Ingrid & Agnes Bodis. 2022. Marking and unmarking the (non)native speaker through English language proficiency requirements for university admission. Language in Society. 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0047404522000689.Suche in Google Scholar

Piller, Ingrid & Jinhyun Cho. 2013. Neoliberalism as language policy. Language in Society 42(1). 23–44. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0047404512000887.Suche in Google Scholar

Power, Sally. 2012. From redistribution to recognition to representation: Social injustice and the changing politics of education. Globalisation, Societies and Education 10(4). 473–492. https://doi.org/10.1080/14767724.2012.735154.Suche in Google Scholar

Razzante, Robert J. & Mark P. Orbe. 2018. Two sides of the same coin: Conceptualizing dominant group theory in the context of co-cultural theory. Communication Theory 28(3). 354–375. https://doi.org/10.1093/ct/qtx008.Suche in Google Scholar

Robertson, Shanthi. 2011. Cash cows, backdoor migrants, or activist citizens? International students, citizenship, and rights in Australia. Ethnic and Racial Studies 34(12). 2192–2211. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2011.558590.Suche in Google Scholar

Scott, James C. 1990. Domination and the arts of resistance: Hidden transcripts. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Suche in Google Scholar

Silverstein, Michael. 1996. Monoglot ‘standard’ in America: Standardization and metaphors of linguistic hegemony. In Donald Brenneis & Ronald K. S. Macaulay (eds.), The matrix of language: Contemporary linguistic anthropology, 284–306. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.10.4324/9780429496288-18Suche in Google Scholar

Silverstein, Michael. 2003. The whens and wheres – as well as hows – of ethnolinguistic recognition. Public Culture 15(3). 531–557. https://doi.org/10.1215/08992363-15-3-531.Suche in Google Scholar

Smyth, John. 2017. The toxic university: Zombie leadership, academic rock stars and neoliberal ideology. London: Palgrave.10.1057/978-1-137-54968-6Suche in Google Scholar

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

Sonu, Debbie. 2012. Illusions of compliance: Performing the public and hidden transcripts of social justice education in neoliberal times. Curriculum Inquiry 42(2). 240–259. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-873X.2012.00592.x.Suche in Google Scholar

Steele, Carly, Sender Dovchin & Rhonda Oliver. 2022. Stop measuring black kids with a white stick’: Translanguaging for classroom assessment. RELC Journal 53(2). 400–415. https://doi.org/10.1177/00336882221086307.Suche in Google Scholar

Tankosić, Ana, Stephanie Dryden & Sender Dovchin. 2021. The link between linguistic subordination and linguistic inferiority complexes: English as a second language migrants in Australia. International Journal of Bilingualism 25(6). 1782–1798. https://doi.org/10.1177/13670069211035561.Suche in Google Scholar

Tavares, Vander. 2022. Neoliberalism, native-speakerism and the displacement of international students’ languages and cultures. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development. 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2022.2084547.Suche in Google Scholar

The University of Melbourne. 2023. Working with my supervisors. https://gradresearch.unimelb.edu.au/roles-and-responsibilities/working-with-my-supervisors (accessed 30 September 2023).Suche in Google Scholar

Thiong’o, Ngugi wa. 1994. The language of African literature. In Patrick Williams & Laura Chrisman (eds.), Colonial discourse and post-colonial theory: A reader, 435–455. New York: Columbia University Press.Suche in Google Scholar

Troiani, Igea & Claudia Dutson. 2021. The neoliberal university as a space to learn/think/work in higher education. Architecture and Culture 9(1). 5–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/20507828.2021.1898836.Suche in Google Scholar

Wedesweiler, Madeleine. 2023. Jamie says she’s sick and tired of international students ‘being treated like cash cows’. SBS News. Available at: https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/international-student-says-shes-sick-of-being-treated-like-a-cash-cow/9b2utnxei.Suche in Google Scholar
Published Online: 2024-08-06
Published in Print: 2024-05-27

© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Artikel in diesem Heft

  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-2024-2011
Schlagwörter für diesen Artikel
Australian higher education; English language learning; English Medium Instruction (EMI); international students; linguistic ethnography; social justice

Artikel in diesem Heft

  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
Jetzt anmelden und 20% sparen
Institutioneller Zugang
Wie funktioniert Authentifizierung?
Haben Sie eine Idee, wie wir unsere Website verbessern können?
Bitte schreiben Sie uns.
© 2026 De Gruyter Brill
Heruntergeladen am 23.1.2026 von https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/jelf-2024-2011/pdf
Button zum nach oben scrollen