Challenges to Internationalisation of University Programmes: A Systematic Thematic Synthesis of Qualitative Research on Learner-Centred English Medium Instruction (EMI) Pedagogy
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Conceptual Framework and Literature Review
2.1. Learner-Centred Pedagogy in HE
2.2. Learner-Centred Pedagogy in HE and EMI
“For EMI courses, the delivery of content, whole-class interaction, the learning materials, and the demonstration and assessment of learning outcomes (such as oral presentation, assignments, or tests) should be in English. Other languages may be used in a principled and limited way in specific circumstances, for example, student-to-student and teacher-to-student interaction during pair work and group work may sometimes take place in languages other than English to aid mutual comprehension and idea generation. However, students should be asked to present their discussion outcomes in English and lecturers should ensure that at least 70% of class communication takes place in English”.
3. Materials and Methods
3.1. Literature Search and Selection
- TOPIC: (English medium instruction) AND TOPIC: (teaching) AND TOPIC: (students) AND TOPIC: (perceptions) AND TOPIC: (university).
- TOPIC: (EMI) AND TOPIC: (pedagogy) AND TOPIC: (students) AND TOPIC: (views) AND TOPIC: (higher education).
3.2. Quality Appraisal
3.3. Data Synthesis
- All included papers were read thoroughly by three authors.
- The first author then extracted and summarised the documents regarding their definition and context of EMI, country of research, sample size, characteristics of academic subjects, study design, methods of analysis, and key research questions (see Table 4).
- Data from the results sections of the articles were independently and inductively coded by two authors (M.I., Y.Y, N.D.) line-by-line using MAXQDA Ver. 2020TM, a software programme designed for computer-assisted qualitative and mixed-method data, text, and multimedia analysis (see Figure 3).
- The results of open coding were organised into descriptive themes. Researchers (M.I. and T.K.F.C.) then compared the developed themes inductively and established the primary analytical domains [63].
4. Results
4.1. Meta/Linguistic Domain
4.2. Instructional Domain
4.3. Socio-Cultural Domain
4.4. Meta/Cognitive Domain
4.5. Affective Domain
4.6. Institutional Domain
5. Discussion: Empirical and Pedagogical Implications
5.1. Context-Dependency
5.2. Multi-Dimensionality
5.3. Domain Interdependence
5.4. Teacher-Centredness by Default
5.5. Sustaining the Effectiveness of EMI on All Levels
- On a micro-level, the success of both HE internationalisation and EMI pedagogy depends on how effectively such programmes can create inclusive environments to sustain students’ learning, motivation, and classroom engagement. As we observed from numerous studies, even ‘small’ issues such as ‘fear of losing face’ or ‘multiple accents in multicultural EMI classrooms’ can impair student learning and satisfaction in the long run when not addressed [13,68,77,95].
- On a meso-level, implementing an effective and learner-centred EMI pedagogy requires a sustainable institutional strategy to train and possibly certify content lecturers. Crucially, such measures could also focus on facilitating collaboration and coordination between content lecturers and language instructors in a systematic manner [3,4,5,6].
- On a macro-level, the success of EMI ultimately depends on how faculty and university administrators perform on the previous two fronts, as they are critical for sustaining international student mobility and inter-university partnerships as strategic objectives of the internationalisation of HE [2].
6. Conclusions
6.1. Overview of Findings
6.2. Strengths and Limitations
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
Appendix A
# | Author Year [Ref] Document Type | Location | Sample Size, EMI Subject | Design (Data Collection; Data Analysis) | Key Research Question(s) | Quality Appraisal | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
CASP 10-Item Check List [60] | COREQ 32-Item Check List [61] | ||||||
1. | Alhassan et al. 2021 [91] Journal article | Sudan | N = 21 Business | Ethnographic research (Semi-structured Interviews, observations, and collection of documents; Content analysis). | What challenges do Sudanese EMI business students experience in EMI courses? To what extent do these problems impact students’ academic performance? | Passed | Passed |
2. | Baker & Fang 2020 [98] Journal article | Mainland China (and UK) | N = 45 Various EMI courses | A qualitative interpretive design (Open-ended questionnaire responses, interviews and focus groups; Thematic framework approach). | To what extent do students develop an awareness of and/or identity as an intercultural citizen because of undertaking EMI programmes in a university abroad? | Passed | Passed |
3. | Chalapati et al. 2018 [79] Journal article | Taiwan | N = 64 International tourism and hospitality | A qualitative design (Semi-structured, focus group interviews; Thematic framework approach). | What are the learning experiences of local and international students, and what barriers do they face in an EMI degree programme at a private university? | Passed | Passed |
4. | Ding & Stapleton 2016 [81] Journal article | Hong Kong SAR | N = 9 Various EMI courses | A qualitative multiple case study design (semi-structured interviews, classroom observation; Thematic framework approach). | What major problems do students encounter while adapting to the EMI education? | Passed | Passed |
5. | Doiz & Lasagabaster 2018 [68] Journal article | Spain | N = 28 Various EMI courses | A qualitative interpretive design (Focus group interviews and discussions; Thematic framework approach). | How are teachers’ and students’ ideal L2 self-manifested in EMI? What are the teachers’ and students’ reflections on the EMI experience? | Passed | Passed |
6. | Doiz et al. 2013 [70] Journal article | Spain | N = 27 Various EMI courses | A qualitative interpretive design (Focus group discussions; Thematic framework approach). | What does internationalisation mean to the university community? How much does the community value EMI? | Passed | Passed |
7. | Fareed et al. 2019 [66] Journal article | Pakistan | N = 104 Various EMI courses | A qualitative interpretive design (In-depth interviews; Thematic framework approach). | What are the perceptions of school, college and university teachers and students about the medium of instruction? | Passed | Passed |
8. | Galloway & Ruegg 2020 [89] Journal article | Japan and Mainland China | N = 29 Various EMI courses | A qualitative interpretive design (Open-ended questionnaire responses, interviews and focus groups; Thematic framework approach). | What are the core principles of EMI? How can students studying through the medium of English be supported? What are the needs of the international student body? | Passed | Passed |
9. | Hamid et al. 2013 [76] Journal article | Bangladesh | N = 54 Various EMI courses | A qualitative interpretive design (semi-structured interviews, classroom observations; Inductive content analysis). | How do teachers and students develop language practices, ideologies and institutional othering in a private university in Bangladesh? | Passed | Passed |
10. | Han et al. 2020 [95] Journal article | Mainland China | N = 25 Various EMI courses | A qualitative interpretive design (In-depth interviews; Thematic framework approach). | What challenges do local students experience when working with international students? | Passed | Passed |
11. | He & Chiang 2016 [86] Journal article | Mainland China | N = 60 Various EMI courses | A qualitative interpretive design (Open ended reports; Thematic framework approach). | English-medium education aims in accommodating international students in Mainland Chinese universities, and how well are they working? | Passed | N/A (No interviews/focus groups used) |
12. | Henry & Goddard 2015 [69] Journal article | Sweden | N = 32 Various EMI courses | A qualitative discourse analysis (Semi-structured interviews; Discursive analysis). | Does identity play a role in explaining Swedish students’ enrolment in an EMI programme? | Passed | Passed |
13. | Hino 2017 [85] Book chapter | Japan | N = 4 Various EMI courses | A qualitative interpretive design (Case studies, class observation, class video recording, open-ended questionnaire; Content analysis). | How could EMI help students acquire communicative abilities in EIL, including linguistic, sociolinguistic, and interactive? | Passed | N/A (No interviews/focus groups used) |
14. | Holi Ali 2020 [65] Journal article | Oman | N = 12 Engineering | A qualitative interpretive design (Semi-structured interviews; Inductive content analysis). | How did Omani engineering students respond to EMI challenges? | Passed | Passed |
15. | Hua 2020 [52] Journal article | Taiwan | N = 30 Psychology | A qualitative interpretive design (Qualitative open-ended questionnaire and focus group discussions; Content analysis). | What are the factors facilitating or hindering local students’ EMI learning? What are their suggestions to facilitate EMI experiences? | Passed | Passed |
16. | Huang & Jhuang 2015 [88] Journal article | Taiwan | N = 11 Various EMI courses | A grounded theory (Classroom observations and semi-structured interviews; Thematic framework approach). | What types of affordances do students in these two types of EMI contexts perceive and accept? What factors might inform these affordances? | Passed | Passed |
17. | Huang 2018 [84] Journal article | Taiwan | N = 4 International Business, Accounting | A qualitative multiple-case study design (semi-structured interviews, learning stories and class observations; Reconstructive thematic analysis). | What constitutes learner resistance during studying at an EMI course? Why do learners construct their resistance, and in what ways? | Passed | Passed |
18. | Karakaş 2017 [80] Journal article | Turkey | N = 20 Various EMI courses | Mixed methods with qualitative data as a primary instrument (Semi-structured interviews; Thematic framework approach). | Do students prefer NESTs, NNESTs, or both for content and language-focused courses? What factors influence students’ preferences towards NNESTs and NESTs? | Passed | Passed |
19. | Kuteeva 2019 [78] Journal article | Sweden | N = 5 Various EMI courses | A qualitative interpretive design (In-depth interviews; Content analysis). | What are local and international students’ conceptualisations of English and positioning in the context of an English-medium university? | Passed | Passed |
20. | Lan 2020 [77] Journal article | Taiwan | N = 42 Various EMI courses | Narrative approach (Semi-structured interviews and reflective journals; Thematic framework approach). | How did the participants invest in non-native speaker intercultural interaction? What were the participants’ imagined communities? | Passed | Passed |
21. | Lin 2017 [73] Journal article | Taiwan | N = 82 Various EMI courses | Ethnographic research (semi-structured interviews; Thematic framework approach). | How do local and international students perceive, interpret, and adapt their in-class behaviours in multicultural EMI classrooms? | Passed | Passed |
22. | Malavska 2017 [75] Journal article | Latvia and Russia | N = 24 Various EMI courses | A qualitative interpretive design (Open ended questionnaire, Semi-structured interviews; Thematic framework approach). | To what extent does the note-taking process depend on students’ skills or lecturers’ competence in delivering coherent and cohesive EMI lectures? | Passed | Passed |
23. | Pitkänen et al. 2013 [71] Journal article | Finland | N = 60 Various EMI courses | A qualitative interpretive design (open-ended electronic questionnaire; Content analysis). | Why do Finnish students apply to study in graduate EMI programmes? What challenges, advantages and disadvantages do they perceive when doing so? Do they feel linguistically able to cope with their studies? | Passed | N/A (No interviews/focus groups used) |
24. | Rowland and Murray 2019 [53] Journal article | Italy | N = 18 Biomedical sciences | A qualitative interpretive design (Semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions; Content analysis). | What are lecturers’ and students’ perceptions concerning the adequacy of their own and each other’s English language proficiency? | Passed | Passed |
25. | Sahan 2020 [94] Journal article | Turkey | N = 120 Engineering | Classroom observation (Audio recording and observation; Thematic framework approach). | How do teachers and students use code-switching to support content learning in an ELF classroom setting? | Passed | N/A (No interviews/focus groups used) |
26. | Salaberri-Ramiro & Sánchez-Pérez 2018 [64] Journal article | Spain | N = 310 Various EMI courses | A qualitative interpretive design (Open ended questionnaire survey; Thematic framework approach). | What are the factors that motivated students to participate in a bilingual course? What changes would they introduce to feel more motivated to participate in bilingual courses in the future? | Passed | N/A (No interviews/focus groups used) |
27. | Sibomana 2016 [82] Journal article | South Africa | N = 21 Education | A grounded theory (semi-structured interviews; assignment tasks, lecturer feedback; Thematic framework approach). | What is the nature of challenges faced by the students? What are the students’ coping strategies? What are the effects of support offered by the university? | Passed | Passed |
28. | Somniso et al. 2016 [93] Journal article | South Africa | N = 9 Various EMI courses | A qualitative interpretive design (semi-structured interviews; Thematic framework approach). | What coping strategies do students from the DRC employ to overcome their learning challenges in English Medium Instruction? | Passed | Passed |
29. | Song & Lin 2020 [96] Journal article | Mainland China | N = 20 Various EMI courses | Ethnographic research (Observation and interviews; Content analysis). | How do students in EMI programmes engage in translingual practices in different social spaces? | Passed | Passed |
30. | Song 2020 [97] Journal article | Mainland China | N = 51 Political studies | Grounded theory (Classroom observations, Semi-structured interviews; Thematic framework approach). | How has being critical been understood and practiced in relation to students’ intercultural experiences in EMI Master’s degree programmes? | Passed | Passed |
31. | Soruç & Griffiths 2018 [12] Journal article | Turkey | N = 39 International Relations, Psychology | A qualitative interpretive design (videorecording, open-ended questionnaire, stimulated-recall interviews; Thematic framework approach). | What difficulties do students generally have in an EMI classroom? What strategies do they use to deal with difficulties? What are their views regarding the EMI phenomenon in Turkey? | Passed | Passed |
32. | Studer 2014 [87] Journal article | Switzer-land | N = 40 Natural Resource Sciences | A qualitative interpretive design (Focus group discussions, stimulated recall method; Thematic framework approach). | What are German-speaking students’ perceptions of their lecturers’ L2 (EMI) competence in the science classroom? | Passed | Passed |
33. | Sung 2017 [74] Journal article | Hong Kong SAR | N = 1 Various EMI courses | A narrative inquiry approach (in-depth interviews, elicited written self-reports, class observations; Content analysis). | How did the student negotiate her identities in the L2 university classroom when participating in various classroom oral activities? How did the student’s classroom participation change over time? | Passed | Passed |
34. | Tatzl 2012 [72] Journal article | Austria | N = 74 Business, Engineering | A qualitative interpretive design (open-ended questionnaire; semi-structured interviews; Content analysis). | What are Austrian lecturers’ and students’ attitudes towards EMI-based master’s programmes? What are the perceived best practices? How do they perceive the challenges of EMI implementation? | Passed | Passed |
35. | Trent 2008 [92] Journal article | Hong Kong SAR | N = 8 English for business and economics | Ethnographic study (semi-structured interviews, class observations and recordings of classroom interaction; Content analysis). | How can oral classroom participation by undergraduate students be promoted in English-medium universities? | Passed | Passed |
36. | Wang & Curdt-Christiansen 2018 [67] Journal article | Mainland China | N = 37 Business management | Ethnographic research (Semi-structured Interviews, classroom observations, and collection of documents; Content analysis). | What are the contexts and pedagogical realities that gave rise to translanguaging practices in EMI programmes? How are students as individual agents engaged in translanguaging practices? | Passed | Passed |
37. | Yeon 2018 [83] Doctoral thesis | South Korea | N = 15 Various EMI courses | A qualitative interpretive design (semi-structured in-depth interviews; class observation; Content analysis). | How do learners accept and act on the identities, practices and resources available to them in EMI courses at a large public university in South Korea? | Passed | Passed |
38. | Yeung 2020 [90] Journal article | Hong Kong SAR | N = 79 Various EMI courses | A qualitative interpretive design (Focus groups and in-depth interviews; Thematic framework approach). | Do teachers and students have difficulties using EMI? How do they cope with these difficulties? | Passed | Passed |
39. | Yu & Wright 2017 [6] Journal article | Hong Kong SAR | N = 124 Various EMI courses | A qualitative interpretive design (Focus group interviews; Content analysis). | How do local, Mainland Chinese and international students perceive the main challenges to academic adaptation? | Passed | Passed |
40. | Yu et al. 2020 [13] Journal article | Macao SAR | N = 14 Various EMI courses | A qualitative interpretive design (Semi-structured interviews and reflective journals; Thematic framework approach). | What are the perceived benefits and losses of Mainland Chinese students during EMI learning? | Passed | Passed |
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Pedagogical Frameworks in HE | Key Attributes |
---|---|
Principles of good practice in higher education Chickering & Gamson (1987) [18] |
|
Keys to change toward learner-centred practice Weimer (2002) [19] |
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First principles of instruction Merrill (2002) [20] |
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Principles of effective teaching in higher education Ramsden (2003) [21] |
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Framework of ‘Constructive Alignment’ Biggs & Tang (2007) [22] |
|
Post-2015 standards of learner-centred education Schweisfurth (2015) [23] |
|
Key elements of student-centred learning Jacobs, Renandya & Power (2016) [38] |
|
Category | Possible Alternatives to be Used in Search Strings |
---|---|
Learning environment | (English medium instruction | EMI | English-medium instruction | English medium of instruction | English as the medium of instruction | English as a medium of instruction | English language as medium of instruction | English-medium education | English-medium higher education | English-medium teaching | English-medium university | English-medium courses | English-medium programmes | English-medium programs | English as the lingua franca medium of instruction | English medium content classes) (CLIL | Content and Language Integrated Learning | Content-Language Integrated Learning | Content-Based Instruction | Content-Based Language Teaching | Immersion Education | English for Specific Purposes | English for Academic Purposes) |
Pedagogical approaches | (pedagogy | pedagogical | pedagogic | teaching | classroom-based | interactive | didactic | learner-centred | student-centered | student-centred | teacher-centered | teacher-centred) |
Participants | (students | learners |needs | perceptions | views | challenges | experiences | obstacles | difficulties) |
Educational level | (higher education | university | college | tertiary education) |
Type | Category | Definition |
---|---|---|
Search and selection | Participants | Literature addressing student needs when studying academic subjects using English; learners’ perspectives on challenges and obstacles (as opposed to faculty or administrator views). |
Search and selection | Learning environment | Literature entitled or described as Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) or Immersion, but nonetheless following the ‘Country’ criterion below. |
Search and selection | Publication date | Published or made accessible from database inception to February 2021. |
Selection | Country | Literature presenting studies of which the whole research or significant parts were conducted in countries or jurisdictions in which the first language of the population was not English. (For example, the synthesis included studies from South Africa, which may fairly be considered an English-speaking country. However, according to official information (https://www.gov.za/, accessed on 21 April 2021), the country has 11 official languages, with over one quarter (25.3%) of population speaking isiZulu). |
Selection | Education phase | Literature findings focus on students in higher education: undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral levels, excluding professional faculty and continuing education. |
Selection | Document type | Published (e.g., journal articles, books, and book chapters which did not duplicate journal articles) and ‘grey literature’, that is, unpublished or published in non-commercial forms (e.g., conference proceedings, dissertations, and reports). |
Selection | Language | No restrictions |
Domain and Themes Names | Sample Quotations/Authors’ Comments from Selected Primary Qualitative Studies [Ref.] | N (%) of Total Articles (within Theme) | Articles Reporting the Themes [Ref.] | N (%) of Total Articles (within Domain) |
---|---|---|---|---|
META/LINGUISTIC DOMAIN | ||||
Themes related to the use of medium of instruction (MOI) | ||||
Impracticality of EMI for some content disciplines | “For those of us who study Law, English is not meaningful, and we would rather prefer other languages like Italian that provides a context closer to Spanish law” [64]. | 11 (28) | [12,53,64,65,66,67,68,69,70,71,72] | 35 articles (88%) |
Divergent perceptions of English | “I told one of my [local] lab mates, ‘You are good in English, you have many vocabularies. So why you don’t speak with me?’ He said he is not confident from himself. And, this is why he feels shy to speak in front of me. And, I told to him, ‘Also I am Arabic. My native language is Arabic, not English, but I can speak English.’ So, he said ‘No, you are … something different” [73]. | 5 (13) | [70,73,74,75,76] | |
Students’ low (general) English proficiency | “The major problem I am having now is about my language proficiency… so I found it difficult to study all the common courses in English by the time I began to study in university. I couldn’t even understand what my professor was talking about in the tutorial sessions” [6]. | 12 (30) | [6,12,64,66,74,76,77,78,79,80,81,82] | |
Lecturers’ low English proficiency | “I sometimes even thought it would be better if she had just let the class be open to whole group discussions rather than giving lectures herself. I know she is a professional in the field but because of her language barrier, it is almost impossible to understand her lecture” [83]. | 10 (25) | [12,53,72,75,79,81,83,84,85,86] | |
Lecturers’ non-standard language functions | “[The problem is] pronunciation of some specific words because the way they are pronounced by the lecturer differs from how I am used to pronouncing them” [75]. | 7 (18) | [53,67,75,81,86,87,88] | |
Native vs. non-native English-speaking lecturer preferences | “I’d definitely go for a NEST [native English-speaking teacher]. It is because they have nothing to do with language issues while NNESTs experience troubles in delivering courses.” [80].“I think if it is an engineering course I would probably prefer a Turkish lecturer/…/because the other one is a “native speaker” he often speaks too fast without realizing it/…/especially he frequently uses unfamiliar terms” [80]. | 4 (10) | [53,71,80,88] | |
Lecturers’ poor language awareness and support | “Because the professor is from Hong Kong, many students just spoke Cantonese to respond to questions. But the professor required us to speak in English. The students didn’t seem to like it and stuttered so much when they spoke” [74]. | 9 (23) | [53,68,69,74,78,83,88,89,90] | |
Extensive code-switching and translanguaging | “Sometimes like even during the lectures when you’re like commenting on- on something, I usually do that in Swedish. It’s not necessarily English. It’s like switching back and forth. It really depends, so […]” [78]. “If we needed to say something and the subject was a bit more difficult, we spoke in Italian” [53] (code-switching).“They get caught up with their own language. That happened to me in my Civil Engineering practical work. We were a group of nine people and I was the only non-local and everyone just spoke Cantonese” [6] (translanguaging). | 12 (30) | [6,12,53,64,66,67,74,75,76,78,89,91] | |
Extensive use of L1 in classroom | “Yes, our mother tongue was a great help for us in translation and interpreting technical terms and concepts. I use dictionaries to help me translate technical words into Arabic… The teacher was an Arabic speaker and I used to understand and comprehend 97% of the lectures” [65]. | 6 (15) | [13,65,66,67,78,90] | |
Speaking and oral presentation skills | “It may already be difficult to talk about a graph in Spanish, so what do I say now in English? Yes, I’m twice as nervous” [68]. | 14 (35) | [6,12,52,53,64,66,68,73,74,81,82,89,91,92] | |
Inadequate English vocabulary | “I used dictionaries to look up every word in the lesson when I did not understand what the professor was saying” [13]. | 10 (25) | [12,13,65,67,68,81,90,91,93,94] | |
Academic writing skills | “I think people have got problems with writing. People can’t write. They know for instance, the word and they pronounce it but they can’t write it. This is a real problem. You find someone talks about the topic and understands the topic and when it comes to writing they make mistakes. You feel there are problems with structure, grammar, and clarity” [91]. | 9 (23) | [6,53,65,72,81,82,83,90,91] | |
Lecture comprehension | “If the lecture is held in our first language, even when we are doing our own things, we can still get the content… However, it is totally different when the language changes to English… Thus, if I do not focus on the lecture, then the lecture becomes a background sound, like birding humming in the background. I wouldn’t care what the content is” [52]. | 11(28) | [12,52,53,66,75,81,82,86,88,90,91] | |
Bilingual instructional materials | “We sometimes translate the whole handout [into Arabic] to understand it in a better way” [65].“Wordy and complex texts” [67]. | 6 (15) | [12,13,53,65,67,79] | |
INSTRUCTIONAL DOMAIN | ||||
Themes related to content lecturer competence and instructional strategies | ||||
Monologic, non-interactive lecturing | “I think the lecturer’s teaching approach is very rigid, and inflexible, with the same pattern all the time. She just literally reads from the textbook and covers the material in the textbook. Nothing special for her teaching approach. This results in the class atmosphere being completely dead [literal translation “Dead Air”]” [52]. | 10 (25) | [6,12,52,53,64,67,79,84,86,87] | 21 articles (53%) |
Assessment issues | “[Course Title] has multiple choice questions … So if you can do exercises, it’ll be okay. And for [Course Title], you need to do every exercise. The test questions are similar (to those in the textbook) … Just memorise the test questions, and input, output. I forgot after the exam” [84]. | 10 (25) | [6,53,64,65,66,67,72,78,84,88] | |
Attending to students’ diverse needs/abilities | “So … in the first class we took SAT test, and it was not difficult for us [ local students]. Just a few words we don’t understand … I think it’s for talented junior high students …. So what the instructor taught is not difficult for us, but rather difficult for international students. The instructor needs to make a balance” [84]. | 6 (15) | [6,12,52,79,82,84] | |
Non-attending to students’ personal qualities and cultural sensitivities | “The professor, like: ‘Come on, say something.’ ‘You have, you have something to say, right?’ And you’re like, really? Nothing (laughs). […] I think they are more soft with the local because the local don’t speak, they think that the international would do it, so they put you in the corner” [73]. | 4 (10) | [6,73,82,83] | |
Lecturers’ speaking rate | “There was a problem in the accounting courses. For instance, we couldn’t understand from the teacher of Financial Accounting course in semester one. Even those who graduated from the school here and who have business backgrounds faced a problem with understanding the teacher… she was fast” [91]. | 5 (13) | [12,52,75,90,91] | |
Lack of clarification and corrective feedback from lecturers | “I think EMI leaves too much pressure on Korean students, and I feel like I have to survive on my own. I am sure my assignments submitted in English are full of grammar errors, but I don’t get any feedback on my writing from the instructor. I sometimes feel frustrated that there is little support for Korean students whose mother tongue is Korean and who is not familiar at all with learning in English” [83]. | 5 (13) | [13,65,75,83,90] | |
SOCIO-CULTURAL DOMAIN | ||||
Themes related to students’ learning in CMGs and out-of-class environments | ||||
Communication among home/international students | “… we have a [Mainland] Chinese girl in our class, and she has a bit of problems with English, so she doesn’t understand what I’m telling her so when we, we were in the same group and she didn’t understand what I wanted from her so we had a misunderstanding in the group work which resulted in a worse grade” [78]. | 9 (23) | [6,12,77,78,79,81,82,83,85] | 21 articles 53% |
In-group pressures | “Similarly, following just one incident of working in a mixed group which included two students from [Mainland] China, Sam had avoided working in such groups in the EMI programme: ‘since then I have sort of tried to find at least people who speak Swedish or English” [78]. | 6 (15) | [73,74,77,78,84,95] | |
Multiple and/or unfamiliar accents | “At first, I did have great difficulties in understanding international students from Pakistan or India. They had a very good grasp of knowledge and spoke quite fluently, but I did not understand what they said due to their accents” [95]. | 6 (15) | [6,12,71,77,85,95] | |
Peer support | “Even in peer learning groups they preferred to work together as Rwandans. One reason for this… was that South African students looked down on them because they were not proficient in English” [82]. | 4 (10) | [78,82,88,95] | |
Divergent attitudes toward class participation | “I mean my basic think is there is a question, the teacher is asking, and I’m, like, thinking, ‘Do I have anything to say, regardless of who is there and what they do and think?’ […] And if I feel like I have something to say, I say it.” [73]. | 5 (13) | [73,74,84,85,86] | |
Collaborative learning and teamwork | “If a student in my secondary school refused to do anything when s/he was doing a project, they would be caught and punished. But in university, professors won’t care about which student is a free rider. They only care about how good their students’ group project is and give marks based on the quality of the project” [6]. | 5 (13) | [6,78,96,97,98] | |
META/COGNITIVE DOMAIN | ||||
Themes related to students’ content learning and comprehension | ||||
Processing and comprehension of difficult content | “[When concepts were complex to explain] ‘even for the lecturers, it sometimes became a bit tricky” [53].“Like in the textbook a section requires us to reflect on the theory …. Provide examples …. But the instructor skipped it …. But with reading by myself, I can take time to think” [84]. | 11 (28) | [12,52,53,65,67,68,69,75,76,79,84] | 19 articles (48%) |
Poor background knowledge | “…Students with weaker English, coupled with a weaker background in science, could sometimes struggle with the extensive reading required on the MSc” [53]. | 4 (10) | [52,53,88,91] | |
Over-simplification of content | “What is taught [via EMI] will be relatively easy and the test is easier” [84]. “The emphasis on learners’ inadequate English proficiency compels the instructors to lower their expectations about student performance” [88]. | 3 (8) | [74,84,88] | |
Extensive use of technical language | “It is common that we don’t know what is being taught in the lecture so we need to spend a lot of time on looking up the meaning of some technical words so we understand what will be taught before the lecture begins” [6]. | 7 (18) | [6,12,72,75,88,91,94] | |
Lack of practical demonstration/application of knowledge | “Seriously, for the content of the course, I have no idea how it influences me … I feel like I am still a test-taking machine, studying those theories. I can barely see how it makes my life better; it’s kind of no use to my daily life” [84]. | 3 (8) | [67,74,84] | |
Poor rhetorical and critical thinking skills | “When it comes to discussion, it’s usually just silence and until someone breaks it, it’s always really reluctant. From my experience in the UK, people are a lot more engaged and argumentative, so that’s one thing that really stands out [6]. “Everyone expected you to give a critical opinion, but nobody trained you how to do a critical assessment. The school system that I went through didn’t train you how to be critical, like outside the box” [97]. | 3 (8) | [6,83,97] | |
AFFECTIVE DOMAIN | ||||
Themes related to students’ socio-emotional responses toward EMI | ||||
Lack of confidence | “I feel shy. Embarrassed. I can’t catch up with the teacher because my English is not good, and my memory is not so strong to keep all information” [12]. | 6 (15) | [12,13,52,64,79,82] | 16 articles (40%) |
Fear of losing face | “My English is not so good, so I find myself suffering a lot when sitting in EMI classrooms. I did not ask questions in class because I was afraid that I cannot make myself understood. When the instructors asked “are you with me”? I would always say “yes”, even though I was not. If I said “no”, I was afraid that I could not understand the instructors’ further explanations.” [13]. | 5 (13) | [12,13,64,68,74] | |
Teacher–student rapport | “Yet this is not the case with teachers who are native speakers of English. We dared not ask them for clarification after class because we cannot understand their English” [13]. | 2 (5) | [13,95] | |
Frustration | “Some students do not understand what the teacher says and that interrupts the flow of the class that becomes really slow and some of us feel frustrated” [64]. | 6 (15) | [6,12,64,74,79,95] | |
Dissatisfaction | “Though those who earn the first place in the department will attend classes, showing their passion, but in general … I see classmates are using smartphones. I don’t want to be like that [skip classes], but I feel it boring and cannot listen to anything” [84]. | 5 (13) | [68,74,79,84,87] | |
Anxiety and stress | “I could understand only 10%–20% of the lectures in the first few weeks. The teacher for our core course speaks English with a strong Hong Kong accent. I was very nervous. But the more nervous I was, the harder it was for me to understand the teacher” [81]. | 5 (13) | [6,52,64,68,81] | |
Boredom | “It’s just like senior high school, listening during the class, one-way delivering, and back to home study, finally aiming to score high on the test. I cannot figure out what’s the difference between college and senior high school. This kind of feeling continues in [Course Title]” [84]. | 3 (8) | [12,52,84] | |
Fatigue | “What made the situation worse is that the lecturer would continue the lesson without any breaks” [52]. | 2 (5) | [12,52] | |
Intrinsic motivation | “In addition to the academic reasons such as getting a “certificate” because it is essential for the future, I also like listening to “music” “in English,” and I watch TV “in English” more” [68]. | 5 (13) | [13,65,66,68,84] | |
Extrinsic motivation | “They [parents] are always telling me that English is extremely important”. “They are a drag, a pest” [68]. | 4 (10) | [12,53,68,84] | |
INSTITUTIONAL DOMAIN | ||||
Themes related to university-wide EMI policies and conditions affecting students’ learning | ||||
Ineffective curriculum designs and planning | “It [EMI course] was generally not effective; for some it was too short, for others the methodology was not suited to beginners and others considered the level of the course too low or ‘irrelevant’ to postgraduate students” [82]. | 4 (10) | [74,79,82,87] | 8 articles (20%) |
Inadequate self-access support | Both staff and students criticised support with regard to its availability, effectiveness, or, in one case, price. “While “special TOEFL classes” are sometimes offered, Sandra (Domestic student, University C) doesn’t “go to these classes as they are expensive. They are not free. 30,000 Yen” [89]. | 4 (10) | [53,82,89,93] | |
EAP courses not meeting students’ needs | “I took one such course offered by the university in order to improve my spoken English and grammar use. However, I found the instructor simply taught the course in English, pretty much like the way other marketing major-related classes were taught, rather than really targeting my spoken and grammar problems” [13]. | 3 (8) | [13,82,89] |
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Ismailov, M.; Chiu, T.K.F.; Dearden, J.; Yamamoto, Y.; Djalilova, N. Challenges to Internationalisation of University Programmes: A Systematic Thematic Synthesis of Qualitative Research on Learner-Centred English Medium Instruction (EMI) Pedagogy. Sustainability 2021, 13, 12642. https://doi.org/10.3390/su132212642
Ismailov M, Chiu TKF, Dearden J, Yamamoto Y, Djalilova N. Challenges to Internationalisation of University Programmes: A Systematic Thematic Synthesis of Qualitative Research on Learner-Centred English Medium Instruction (EMI) Pedagogy. Sustainability. 2021; 13(22):12642. https://doi.org/10.3390/su132212642
Chicago/Turabian StyleIsmailov, Murod, Thomas K. F. Chiu, Julie Dearden, Yukiko Yamamoto, and Nigora Djalilova. 2021. "Challenges to Internationalisation of University Programmes: A Systematic Thematic Synthesis of Qualitative Research on Learner-Centred English Medium Instruction (EMI) Pedagogy" Sustainability 13, no. 22: 12642. https://doi.org/10.3390/su132212642