Low English proficiency impedes teachers’ hybridity in English-medium instruction

Övrigt konferensbidrag, 2024

The use of English-medium instruction (EMI) is now more common than education offered in the national language in many higher education contexts, particularly at advanced levels of study. Despite its popularity, the broader consequences of learning and teaching academic content through English remain poorly understood. Concerns have been raised about the English proficiency of EMI teachers (their ability to speak, write, read and listen in English), and the potential impact of low English proficiency on the teaching and learning environment in EMI (e.g., Dang et al., 2023; Molino et al., 2023). Classroom observations in EMI indicate that EMI teaching tends to be more teacher-centered than student-centered (Doiz & Lasagabaster, 2021) and that various elements can influence the teaching approach (Sahan et al., 2021). Despite suggestions linking linguistic communicative competence to pedagogical competence (Dang & Vu, 2020), empirical evidence on its impact is lacking. This study investigates the relationship between EMI teachers’ English language proficiency and teaching approaches. Teachers (n = 82) from three Swedish universities completed tests of productive and receptive knowledge of general and academic vocabulary knowledge, and they also answered the Approaches to Teaching Inventory (ATI), a questionnaire that indicates the variation in teacher’s approaches (Trigwell et al., 2005). The findings reveal that EMI teachers with lower levels of English proficiency were more inclined to adopt a teacher-focused approach, whereas higher proficiency did not necessarily translate to student-focused teaching. EMI instructors with higher English proficiency are more adaptable in their teaching approaches, and those with lower proficiency are less flexible. Thus, language proficiency appears to play a significant role in shaping the potential for the hybridity of teaching approaches in EMI. This research underscores the role of language in, and the complexities of flexible teaching in an EMI context.