Abstract
English-medium instruction (EMI) is increasingly becoming popular at universities in China because of globalization and a mandate from the Ministry of Education for institutions of higher education to expand their international academic exchange. The linguistic barrier to globalization and internationalization is thought to be minimized gradually if EMI is implemented effectively. This is because EMI as a policy initiative as well as a pedagogical practice in English education at universities in China has been regarded as an innovative pedagogy that serves a dual purpose: (1) improving students’ foreign language competence and (2) learning the content knowledge of the subject that students take as their major in university study. However, little has been documented about what English teachers, who are expected to teach English with an English-for-academic-purposes or English-for-specific-purposes (ESP/EAP) focus, think of such a policy and practice and how they implement it in their own classrooms. To fill this gap, we investigated a group of English teachers’ perceptions and practices with regard to an innovated ESP/EAP curriculum/syllabus, which has integrated EMI and is redesigned in response to a subject-matter EMI degree programme. The study was carried out at a local university in China, which had seen ongoing English curriculum innovation and reform in the past five years. We report on the advantages and pitfalls of EMI as a pedagogical innovation and conclude our chapter by discussing implications for other institutions that are interested in or have started implementing EMI.
Keywords
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Arnó-Macià, E., & Mancho-Barés, G. (2015). The role of content and language in content and language integrated learning (CLIL) at University: Challenges and implications for ESP. English for Specific Purposes, 37, 63–73.
Basturkmen, H., & Shackleford, N. (2015). How content lecturers help students with language: An observational study of language-related episodes in interaction in first year accounting classrooms. English for Specific Purposes, 37, 87–97.
British Council, UK. (2006). Content and language integrated learning. Retrieved February 29, 2016, from http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/content-language-integrated-learning
Bruce-Davis, M. N., Gubbins, E. J., Gilson, C. M., Villanueva, M., Foreman, J. L., & Rubenstein, L. D. (2014). STEM high school administrators’, teachers’, and students’ perceptions of curricular and instructional strategies and practices. Journal of Advanced Academics, 25(3), 272–306.
Bruner, J. S. (1990). Acts of meaning (Vol. 3). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Cai, J. (2015). ESP development in mainland China: Review, problems and tasks. Journal of Xi’an International Studies University, 23(1), 68–72.
Cenoz, J., & Ruiz de Zarobe, Y. (2015). Learning through a second or additional language: Content-based instruction and CLIL in the twenty-first century. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 28(1), 1–7.
Crandall, J. (2012). Content-based instruction and content and language integrated learning. In A. Burns & J. C. Richards (Eds.), The Cambridge guide to pedagogy and practice in second language teaching (pp. 149–160). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Creswell, J. (2013). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (3rd ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Sage.
Dalton-Puffer, C. (2007). Discourse in content and language integrated learning (CLIL) classrooms (Vol. 20). Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins Publishing.
Deng, L., Chen, Q., & Zhang, Y. (2014). Developing Chinese EFL learners’ generic competence: A genre-based process genre approach. New York, NY: Springer.
Dudley-Evans, T., & St. John, M. (1998). Developments in ESP: A multi-disciplinary approach. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Ertmer, P. A., & Glazewski, K. D. (2015). Essentials for PBL implementation: Fostering collaboration, transforming roles, and scaffolding learning. In P. A. Ertmer (Ed.), Essential readings in problem-based learning (pp. 89–106). West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press.
Graddol, D. (2006). English next: Why global English may mean the end of ‘English as a foreign language’. London, UK: British Council.
Hyland, K. (2003). Genre-based pedagogies: A social response to process. Journal of Second Language Writing, 12(1), 17–29.
Hyland, K. (2012). “The past is the future with the lights on”: Reflections on AELFE’s 20th birthday. Ibérica, 24, 29–42.
Johns, A. M. (1997). Text, role and context: Developing academic literacies. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Kirkpatrick, A. (2014). English as a medium of instruction in East and Southeast Asian Universities. In N. Murray & A. Scarino (Eds.), Dynamic ecologies of languages education in the Asia/Pacific region (pp. 15–30). Dordrecht, Holland: Springer.
Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Lo, Y. Y., & Lo, E. S. C. (2014). A meta-analysis of the effectiveness of English-medium education in Hong Kong. Review of Educational Research, 84(1), 47–73.
Lyster, R. (2007). Learning and teaching languages through content: A counterbalanced approach (Vol. 18). Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins.
Marvasti, A. B. (2013). Analysing observations. In U. Flick (Ed.), The Sage handbook of qualitative data analysis (pp. 354–367). London, UK: Sage.
Melles, G., Millar, G., Morton, J., & Fegan, S. (2005). Credit-based discipline specific English for academic purposes programmes in higher education: Revitalizing the profession. Arts and Humanities in Higher Education, 4(3), 283–303.
Ministry of Education. (2010). The outline of China’s national plan for medium and long-term education reform and development (2010–2020). Retrieved from www.gov.cn/jrzg/2010-07/29/content_1667143.htm
Ministry of Education. (2011). English curriculum standards for compulsory education. Beijing: People’s Education Press.
Ministry of Education, China. (2001). English curriculum standards for full time compulsory education and senior middle schools. Experimental ed. Beijing: People’s Education Press.
Puntambekar, S. (2015). Distributing scaffolding across multiple levels: Individuals, small groups, and a class of students. In A. Walker, H. Leary, C. Hmelo-Silver, & P. A. Ertmer (Eds.), Essential readings in problem-based learning (pp. 207–221). Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press.
Räsänen, A. (2008). Tuning ESP/EAP for mobility, employability and expertise. In I. Fortanet-Gómez & C. Räisänen (Eds.), ESP in European higher education: Integrating language and content (Vol. 4). Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins.
Savery, J. R. (2015). Overview of problem-based learning: Definitions and distinctions. In A. Walker, H. Leary, C. Hmelo-Silver, & P. A. Ertmer (Eds.), Essential readings in problem-based learning: Exploring and extending the legacy of Howard S. Barrows (pp. 5–15). Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press.
Stoller, F. L. (2004). Content-based instruction: Perspectives on curriculum planning. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 24, 261–283.
Tedick, D. J., & Wesely, P. M. (2015). A review of research on content-based foreign/second language education in US K-12 contexts. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 28(1), 25–40.
Thomas, D. R. (2006). A general inductive approach for analyzing qualitative evaluation data. American Journal of Evaluation, 27(2), 237–246.
Tollefson, J. W., & Tsui, A. B. M. (2004). Contexts of medium of instruction policy. In J. W. Tollefson & A. B. M. Tsui (Eds.), Medium of instruction policies: Which agenda? Whose agenda? (pp. 283–294). New York, NY: Routledge.
Tong, F., & Shi, Q. (2012). Chinese–English bilingual education in China: A case study of college science majors. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 15(2), 165–182.
Tsui, A. (2003). Understanding expertise in teaching: Case studies of second language teachers. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Wilkinson, R. (2013). English-medium instruction at a Dutch University: Challenges and pitfalls. In A. Doiz, D. Lasagabaster, & J. M. Sierra (Eds.), English-medium instruction at Universities: Global challenges (pp. 26–47). Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.
Yin, R. K. (2014). Case study research: Design and methods (5th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Zhang, F., & Liu, Y. (2014). A study of secondary school English teachers’ beliefs in the context of curriculum reform in China. Language Teaching Research, 18(2), 187–204.
Zhang, L. J. (2016). Reflections on the pedagogical imports of Western practices for professionalizing ESL/EFL writing and writing-teacher education. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, 39(3), 203–232.
Zhang, L. J., & Liu, Y. (2015). Implementing the college English curriculum requirements (CECR): A corpus-based study of vocabulary in college English textbooks in China. Contemporary Foreign Languages Studies, 414(6), 23–28.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2017 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Jiang, A.L., Zhang, L.J. (2017). ESP/EAP Through English-Medium Instruction: Teachers’ Perceptions and Practices. In: Reinders, H., Nunan, D., Zou, B. (eds) Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching. New Language Learning and Teaching Environments. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-60092-9_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-60092-9_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-137-60091-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-60092-9
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)