Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T04:31:47.679Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Language ideology of English-medium instruction in higher education

A case study from Bangladesh

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 August 2019

Mohammad Mosiur Rahman  and
Manjet Kaur Mehar Singh
Mohammad Mosiur Rahman*
Affiliation:
School of Languages, Literacies and Translation, Universiti Sains Malaysia BRAC Institute of Languages, BRAC University
*
Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

English-medium instruction (EMI) has been perceived as a key strategy through which universities, propelled by academic, political, social and economic motives, respond to the influence of globalisation (Altbach & Knight, 2007). This has been fuelled by the fact that English, defined as the global common language, is needed to create the knowledge base in global tertiary education (Fishman, 2000). In the process, English has become the universal second language of advanced education (Brumfit, 2004), due to the value attached to the language in present times and the advantage of using the language in the existing global language order (Zhang, 2017). These motivations have contributed to the global phenomenon of English being the medium of instruction (MOI), and higher education has been the venue where EMI could be implemented more consistently (Dearden, 2014). This has resulted in the generation of a growing body of work on how universities plan their language policies (Liddicoat, 2016).

Type
Research Article
Information
English Today , Volume 36 , Issue 4 , December 2020 , pp. 40 - 46
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ali, L. H. 2013. ‘A changing paradigm in language planning: English-medium instruction policy at the tertiary level in Malaysia.’ Current Issues in Language Planning, 14(1), 73–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Altbach, P. G. & Knight, J. 2007. ‘The internationalisation of higher education: Motivations and realities.’ Journal of Studies in International Education, 11 (3/4), 290–305.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bolton, K., Graddol, D. & Meierkord, C. 2011. ‘Towards developmental world Englishes.’ World Englishes, 30(4), 459–80.Google Scholar
Botha, W. 2015. ‘English in China's universities today.’ English Today, 30(1), 3–10.Google Scholar
Bradford, A. 2016. ‘Toward a typology of implementation challenges facing English-medium instruction in higher education: Evidence from Japan.’ Journal of Studies in International Education, 20(4), 339–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brumfit, C. 2004. ‘Language and higher education: Two current challenges.’ Arts and Humanities in Higher Education, 3(2), 163–73.Google Scholar
Costa, F. & Coleman, J. A. 2013. ‘A survey of English-medium instruction in Italian higher education.’ International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 16(1), 3–19. doi:10.1080/13670050.2012.676621CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Creswell, J. W. & Poth, C. N. 2017. Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing among Five Approaches (4th edn.) Los Angeles, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Dearden, J. 2014. English as a Medium of Instruction: A Growing Phenomenon. London: British Council.Google Scholar
Evans, S. & Morrison, B. 2017. ‘Adjusting to higher education in Hong Kong: The influence of school medium of instruction.’ International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 4, 1–14.Google Scholar
Fang, F. 2018. ‘Review of English as a medium of instruction in Chinese universities today: Current trends and future directions.’ English Today, 34(1), 32–7. doi:10.1017/S0266078417000360CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fishman, J. A. (ed.) 2000. Can Threatened Languages Be Saved? Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Haidar, S. 2018. ‘The role of English in developing countries.’ English Today, 35(3), 42–8. doi:10.1017/S0266078418000469CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamid, M. O. & Baldauf, R. B. 2014. ‘Public-private domain distinction as an aspect of LPP frameworks: A case study of Bangladesh.’ Language Problems and Language Planning, 38(2), 192–210. doi:10.1075/lplp.38.2.05hamCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamid, O. & Erling, E. J. 2016. ‘English-in-education policy and planning in Bangladesh: A critical examination.’ In Kirkpatrick, R. (ed.), English language education policy in Asia. Switzerland: Springer International Publishing, pp. 25–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamid, M. O., Jahan, I. & Islam, M. M. 2013. ‘Language, identity, and social divides: Medium of instruction debates in Bangladeshi print media.’ Comparative Education Review, 59(1), 75–101.Google Scholar
Hamid, M. O., Nguyen, H. T. M. & Baldauf, R. B. Jr. 2013. ‘Medium of instruction in Asia: Context, processes and outcomes.’ Current Issues in Language Planning, 14(1), 1–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
He, J. J. & Chiang, S. Y. 2016. ‘Challenges to English-medium instruction (EMI) for international students in China: A learners’ perspective: English-medium education aims to accommodate international students into Chinese universities, but how well is it working?’ English Today, 32(4), 63–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hu, G. W. & Lei, J. 2014. ‘English-medium instruction in Chinese higher education: A case study.’ Higher Education, 67, 551–67.Google Scholar
Hu, G., Li, L. & Lei, J. 2014. ‘English-medium instruction at a Chinese university: Rhetoric and reality.’ Language Policy, 13(1), 21–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Islam, M. M. 2013. ‘English medium instruction in the private universities in Bangladesh.’ Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 3(1), 126–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kim, J. & Tatar, B. 2018. ‘A case study of international instructors’ experiences of English-medium instruction policy in a Korean university.’ Current Issues in Language Planning, 1–15.Google Scholar
Kirkpatrick, A. 2014. ‘The language(s) of HE: EMI and/or ELF and/or multilingualism?’ The Asian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 1(1), 4–15.Google Scholar
Lee, K. & Lee, H. 2018. ‘Korean graduate students’ self-perceptions of English skills and needs in an English-medium instruction context.’ Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 39(8), 1–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liddicoat, A. J. 2016. ‘Language planning in universities: Teaching, research and administration.’ Current Issues in Language Planning, 17(3–4), 231–41. doi:10.1080/14664208.2016.1216351Google Scholar
Lo Bianco, J. 2010. ‘The importance of language policies and multilingualism for cultural diversity.’ International Social Science Journal, 61(199), 37–67.Google Scholar
Macaro, E. 2017. ‘English medium instruction: Global views and countries in focus–ADDENDUM.’ Language Teaching, 50(3), 439.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Macaro, E., Curle, S., Pun, J., An, J. & Dearden, J. 2018. ‘A systematic review of English medium instruction in higher education.’ Language Teaching, 51(1), 36–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Merriam, S. B. 1998. Qualitative Research and Case Study Applications in Education. Revised and Expanded from ‘Case Study Research in Education’. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers.Google Scholar
Philipson, R. 1992. Linguistic Imperialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Piller, I. & Cho, J. 2013. ‘Neoliberalism as language policy.’ Language in Society, 42(1), 23–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rahman, M. M. & Pandian, A. 2018. ‘A critical investigation of English language teaching in Bangladesh: Unfulfilled expectations after two decades of communicative language teaching.’ English Today, 34(3), 43–49. doi:10.1017/S026607841700061XCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rahman, M. M., Singh, M. K. M. & Karim, A. 2018. ‘English medium instruction innovation in higher education: Evidence from Asian contexts.’ Journal of Asia TEFL, 15(4), 1156–1164. doi:10.18823/asiatefl.2018.15.4.20.1156Google Scholar
Rahman, S. 2015. ‘English language policy initiatives and implementation in Bangladesh: Micro political issues.’ Asian EFL Journal, 88, 59–96.Google Scholar
Rose, H., & McKinley, J. 2018. ‘Japan's English-medium instruction initiatives and the globalization of higher education.’ Higher Education, 75(1), 111–129.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Song, Y. 2018. ‘English language ideologies and students’ perception of international English-medium-instruction (EMI) Master's programmes: A Chinese case study.’ English Today, 35(3), 22–8. doi:10.1017/S0266078418000408Google Scholar
Spolsky, B. 2009. Language Management. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sultana, S. 2014. ‘English as a medium of instruction in Bangladesh's higher education: Empowering or disadvantaging students?’ Asian EFL Journal, 16(1), 11–52.Google Scholar
Yin, R. K. 2015. Qualitative Research from Start to Finish. New York: Guilford Publications.Google Scholar
Zhang, Z. 2017. ‘English-medium instruction policies in China: Internationalisation of higher education.’ Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 1–14.Google Scholar