English language policy in an English-medium instruction setting: A qualitative study of a Thai university

Abstract

English has become a global lingua franca in multilingual settings where speakers are from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. An English-medium instruction (EMI) programme is a good example of such setting where the multilingual communication takes place because the EMI participants not only use English to communicate among themselves, but also speak and use other languages as well. However, given such multilingual nature of the programme, EMI literature tends to ignore the multilingualism inherent in EMI setting, consequently, shows a lack of understanding of how multilingual communication works in EMI classrooms. Also, the notion of English is often taken for granted in previous EMI studies, and/or when it is mentioned, it is often used to refer to the standard native English which is preferred and promoted by the top-down language policy in such multilingual EMI setting. This study examines English language policy of an EMI programme in a Thai university in higher education from English as a lingua franca (ELF) perspective. Particularly, it explores the way in which English is actually enacted inside its EMI classrooms by both teachers and students at the bottom-up level. Also, the study looks into the teachers’ and students’ orientations towards the EMI policies and practices in the local Thai context, and the effects of these policies and practices that may have on EMI participants are also examined. The study takes a qualitative or critical approach to study the EMI policies and practices. It mainly draws on classroom observation and interviews. This three-month study involved 34 EMI participants: 14 were teachers, 16 students, and four administrative staff. Regarding the classroom observation, I visited 10 classrooms featuring a wide range of different disciplines. I carried out semi-structured interviews with teachers and students after I had observed their classroom interactions. The findings reveal that English was used only and/or exclusively as the medium of instruction by the teachers when teaching inside their EMI classrooms. When looking into the kind of English that was practiced by both teachers and students, it showed that it was not the native English that was supported and promoted by the top-down policy, but it was English as a lingua franca (ELF) and/or English as a Multilingua Franca (EMF) that were actually used in EMI communication at the bottom-up level inside EMI classrooms. The findings also reveal that not only was English used, but also other languages were found to be used during the course of classroom interaction between the teacher and students. This means there was a mismatch between policy and practices. Translanguaging was mainly used to facilitate the overall comprehension of students who seemed to have a low level of English proficiency. Also, the analysis shows a wide range of roles of different languages such as English, Thai and Chinese in this EMI setting. While these roles were mostly positive, some were negative resulting in a kind of exclusion of some EMI student participants. In addition, in terms of the participants’ orientations towards their English and use of other languages, the findings show a strong negative attitude towards not only their ELF use, but also their use of other languages as well. As a result, the teachers and students seemed to suffer from self-doubt and show a lack of confidence in their own language abilities. Overall, the findings highlight the role of English as a global lingua franca in multilingual EMI setting, demonstrate the important roles of other languages in EMI teaching and learning, although the EMI participants seemed to perceive their use of these languages negatively. The study contributes to both theoretical and pedagogical implications for EMI language policy in Thailand. From a theoretical perspective, it is argued for a new way of understanding and conceptualising English in EMI multilingual communications when other languages also present. This links to the change in EMI policy as it is argued that other languages should receive a formal and official role alongside English in EMI setting. This leads in turn to the pedagogical contributions that not only English should be emphasized, but also other languages should be given the importance in classroom teaching and learning, and be encouraged in EMI communication.

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