English as a medium of instruction in Kazakhstani higher education: a case study

IF 1.7 1区文学 Q2 EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

Current Issues in Language Planning Pub Date : 2022-02-23 DOI:10.1080/14664208.2022.2043064

Kymbat Yessenbekova

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引用次数: 7

Abstract

ABSTRACT In the era of the globalization of the English language, Kazakhstan has strategically implemented English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) in higher education. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to explore teachers’ and students’ perceptions of their EMI experiences, focusing on the interplay between language management (LM), language practices (LP) and language ideology (LI) (Spolsky, 2004). Thus, a qualitative case study design was employed wherein four teachers and six undergraduate students from one Department of Natural Sciences were interviewed. Moreover, information from the official website and policy documents of the university were used for document analysis of its EMI policy. The findings revealed that participants had a positive LI towards EMI as this is helpful for language development, although many of them encountered challenges during LP due to their low mastery of English. The university’s LM system was unsuitable as administrators neglected to address the participants’ linguistic difficulties related to EMI which led to the use of the translanguaging method for comprehension purposes during LP activities. The participants also reported that continuing LP in EMI and teachers’ emotional support contributed to students’ language improvement. Ultimately, this study suggests that administrators improve the quality assurance of the EMI policy.

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英语作为哈萨克斯坦高等教育教学语言的个案研究

在英语全球化的时代，哈萨克斯坦在高等教育中战略性地实施了英语作为教学媒介(EMI)。因此，本研究的目的是探讨教师和学生对其EMI体验的看法，重点关注语言管理(LM)、语言实践(LP)和语言意识形态(LI)之间的相互作用(Spolsky, 2004)。因此，本研究采用质性个案研究设计，对一个自然科学系的四名教师和六名本科生进行访谈。此外，从官方网站和大学的政策文件的信息被用于文件分析其EMI政策。研究结果显示，参与者对EMI有积极的LI，因为这有助于语言发展，尽管他们中的许多人在LP期间由于英语掌握程度低而遇到了挑战。大学的LM系统并不合适，因为管理人员忽视了参与者与EMI相关的语言困难，导致在LP活动中使用翻译方法来理解目的。参与者还报告说，在EMI中持续的LP和教师的情感支持有助于学生的语言进步。最后，本研究建议管理者提高EMI政策的质量保证。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Current Issues in Language Planning Multiple-

CiteScore

4.80

自引率

16.70%

发文量

期刊介绍： The journal Current Issues in Language Planning provides major summative and thematic review studies spanning and focusing the disparate language policy and language planning literature related to: 1) polities and language planning and 2) issues in language planning. The journal publishes four issues per year, two on each subject area. The polity issues describe language policy and planning in various countries/regions/areas around the world, while the issues numbers are thematically based. The Current Issues in Language Planning does not normally accept individual studies falling outside this polity and thematic approach. Polity studies and thematic issues" papers in this journal may be self-nominated or invited contributions from acknowledged experts in the field.