Opportunities and constraints: phenomenological insights into

students’ experiences of learning through English-medium instruction

(EMI) in Bangladeshi higher education

Naureen Rahnuma

June 2021

This thesis is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree

of Doctor of Philosophy.

Department of Educational Research,

Lancaster University, UK.

This thesis results entirely from my own work and has not been offered

previously for any other degree or diploma.

The word count for this thesis, excluding references, is 46907 words.

i
Abstract

English medium instruction (EMI) is analogous to internationalisation in higher

education (HE) today. The present study contributes to a growing body of

literature in EMI by focusing on Bangladeshi students’ beliefs and a

sociocultural perspective of their identity in a private university in Bangladesh.

In examining how Bangladeshi HE students conceptualise learning using

English as a second language (ESL), this study employs a qualitative inquiry

to explore complex social phenomena, as experienced by students, for a

more profound and meaningful understanding. As the current study aims to

describe experiences, events, processes or culture from the perspective of

HE students at a private university, a hermeneutic phenomenological

approach was taken to interpret the students’ overlapping version of reality.

The data consisted of eighteen student interviews, six teacher interviews,

twenty-one documents, and eight sets of field notes. Findings confirmed that

students' view of EMI is construed by the perceived benefits of English in

providing enhanced job prospects by creating a global workforce. The findings

have important implications for developing explicit language-in-education

policies at Bangladeshi higher education institutions (HEIs) conducive to

acquiring bilingual language competence. It also has implications for ELT,

EAP practitioners, and content teachers to advance the internationalisation

agenda in HEIs through the adoption and implementation of EMI through

translanguaging practices.

i
Table of Contents

Abstract ........................................................................................................... i

Acknowledgements .................................................................................... viii

List of abbreviations...................................................................................... x

List of Figures ............................................................................................... xi

List of Tables .............................................................................................. xiii

Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................. 1

1.1 Research background and context ............................................................................. 3

1.1.1 Bangladesh- challenges and development prospects............................................ 3

1.1.2 Language ecology and the attitude towards English .............................................. 5

1.1.3 Bangladeshi HE and the development of EMI ........................................................... 6

1.1.4 Internationalisation and English medium instruction (EMI) ............................... 10

1.2 Aims of the study and research questions ............................................................ 11

1.3 Rationale for the study ................................................................................................... 12

1.4 Significance of the study ............................................................................................... 15

1.5 Overview of the thesis .................................................................................................... 16

ii
Chapter 2: Literature Review ...................................................................... 18

2.1 English medium instruction (EMI) – Definition, Development Trends and

Driving Forces ........................................................................................................................... 19

2.1.1 The development of EMI in higher education as a global trend ..................... 23

2.1.2 EMI as an internationalisation agenda in the development of a global

knowledge economy ......................................................................................................................... 29

2.1.3 World Englishes and EMI................................................................................................... 31

2.1.4 EMI as a language planning and policy tool in a transnational world .......... 34

2.1.5 Driving forces behind the implementation of EMI .................................................. 40

2.2 Perceived benefits of EMI .............................................................................................. 43

2.3 Students’ perceptions and attitudes towards EMI in higher education .... 44

2.4 EMI research in Bangladesh......................................................................................... 47

2.5 Chapter Summary ............................................................................................................. 51

Chapter 3: Theoretical framework .............................................................. 53

3.1 Pedagogical translanguaging in EMI ........................................................................ 54

3.2 Measures of academic literacy (AL) and deep learning ................................... 58

3.3 The linguistic ecology, identity and Bourdieusian linguistic capital ......... 64

iii
 3.4 Chapter Summary ............................................................................................................. 72

Chapter 4: Research Design and Methodology ........................................ 73

4.1 Research design ................................................................................................................ 74

4.2 The essence of EMI experiences- a phenomenological perspective ......... 75

4.3 The researcher’s philosophical stance and position ........................................ 80

4.4 Data Collection ................................................................................................................... 85

4.4.1 Documents ................................................................................................................................ 85

4.4.2 Observations ............................................................................................................................ 88

4.4.3 Interviews ................................................................................................................................... 90

4.5 Sampling ............................................................................................................................... 93

4.6 Piloting of the interviews ............................................................................................... 96

4.7 Data Analysis ...................................................................................................................... 98

4.7.1 Documents ................................................................................................................................ 99

4.7.2 Observations .......................................................................................................................... 100

4.7.3 Interviews ................................................................................................................................. 101

4.8 Ensuring trustworthiness and authenticity ........................................................ 107

iv
 4.9 Ethical considerations ................................................................................................. 109

4.10 Impact of COVID-19..................................................................................................... 112

4.11 Chapter Summary........................................................................................................ 112

Chapter 5: Findings ................................................................................... 114

5.1 Learning through EMI – challenges of academic literacy ............................ 116

5.1.1 Communication challenges ............................................................................................. 117

5.1.2 Vocabulary gap ..................................................................................................................... 119

5.1.3 Academic writing struggles ............................................................................................. 121

5.1.4 Challenges in academic reading .................................................................................. 122

5.2 Language and identity ................................................................................................. 124

5.2.1 The disempowered narratives – the case of linguistic capital ....................... 124

5.2.2 Previous learning experiences ...................................................................................... 127

5.2.3 Students’ belief about learning through EMI .......................................................... 129

5.2.4 Translanguaging strategies ............................................................................................ 135

5.3 State and institutional influences on the implementation of EMI ............. 136

5.3.1 Macro-language planning, institutional realities and EMI ................................ 137

v
 5.3.2 EMI provisions in teaching and learning practices in UoB .............................. 142

5.4 Chapter Summary .......................................................................................................... 149

Chapter 6: Discussion ............................................................................... 151

6.1 Students’ challenges of learning through EMI .................................................. 153

6.2 Translanguaging spaces in EMI – exploring issues of identity and

linguistic equity ...................................................................................................................... 155

6.3 Teaching content or language? - Teacher professional development and

capacity building in EMI ..................................................................................................... 163

6.4 Formulating bilingual language planning and policy (LPP) ........................ 172

6.5 EMI, linguistic capital and Bangladesh’s knowledge-economy initiatives

....................................................................................................................................................... 175

6.6 Chapter Summary .......................................................................................................... 181

Chapter 7: Conclusion and recommendations ....................................... 182

7.1 Limitations ........................................................................................................................ 184

7.2 Contributions of the study to the field of EMI and applied linguistics ... 186

7.3 Recommendations......................................................................................................... 187

7.4 Suggestions for further research ............................................................................ 192

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 7.5 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 193

References ................................................................................................. 197

Appendix One: Institutional Ethics Approval .............................................. 1

Appendix Two: Institutional Ethics Approval ............................................. 2

Appendix Three: Institutional Ethics Approval ........................................... 3

Appendix Four: Non-participant observation field notes........................... 4

Appendix Five: Participant Information Sheet ............................................ 5

Appendix Six: Consent Form ....................................................................... 7

Appendix Seven: Pilot Interview Guides ..................................................... 8

........................................................................................................................ 8

Appendix Eight: Interview Summary Form ................................................. 9

Appendix Nine: Students’ Interview Guide ............................................... 10

Appendix Ten: Teachers’ Interview Guide ................................................ 13

vii
Acknowledgements

I would like to extend my sincerest gratitude to my supervisor, Professor Jo

Warin, for her constructive feedback, invaluable guidance, understanding, and

tireless moral support.

I would also like to express my heartfelt thanks to Dr. Ann-Marie Houghton,

who has supported the whole PhD journey with tremendous support,

especially during the tribulations of writing.

I would like to express my appreciation to all the participants in my research

for their cooperation. A particular thank you goes to the students who were

the informants in this study. While remaining anonymous, the six teachers,

who participated in this research, deserve special thanks because of their

patience and support. I greatly value your participation and your willingness to

share your experiences.

I would like to thank my peers Anoud Abusalim, Helen Meek, Mohammed

Islam, and Rachel Elmslie for invaluable suggestions for reading, advice, and

moral support.

I am greatly indebted to my parents – Saleh and Daulat, for their unconditional

love, encouragement, endless prayers, and continued support. Especially my

Abbu, whom I nearly lost during the COVID-19 pandemic – this PhD has been

his biggest dream. I owe him a debt of gratitude for not clipping my wings and

letting me soar high on the wings of my dreams.

viii
My most special thanks go to my beloved husband Talal for always being my

guiding light. I would like to express my most profound appreciation for his

optimism, humour, patience, love and for handling the lion’s share of

parenting duties and responsibilities. Thank you for being my rock and

anchor, keeping me grounded when I felt like I might otherwise be swept

away.

Finally, I dedicate this thesis to the love of my life, my children – Samara and

Irhan. I owe everything to them for the times not shared.

ix
List of abbreviations

CBI Content-based Instruction

CLIL Content and language integrated learning

ELF English as lingua franca

EMI English-medium instruction

EAL/ESL English as an/a additional/second language

HE Higher Education

HEI Higher Education Institution

L1 Mother tongue/native language

L2 Second language

LEP Language-in-education policy

LPP Language planning and policy

MOE Ministry of Education

MOI Medium of instruction

NEP National Education Policy 2010

UoB University of Bangladesh

x
List of Figures

Figure 1.1: Location of Bangladesh ............................................................. 4

Figure 1.2: Skill areas where universities need more focus ...................... 8

Figure 2.1: Language and Content Continuum ......................................... 21

Figure 2.2: Framework of content-based instruction models (Miller et al.,

2021) ............................................................................................................. 22

Figure 2.3: World Englishes- Kachru’s Three Concentric Circles of

English (1985) .............................................................................................. 32

Figure 2.4: Language policy and planning goals- an integrative

framework .................................................................................................... 37

Figure 2.5: Stages and Levels of Language Planning .............................. 38

Figure 3.1: The ‘iceberg’ representation of language proficiency

(Cummins, 1984, p. 138) ............................................................................... 61

Figure 3.2: The LCT framework model of academic literacy (Short, 2002)

...................................................................................................................... 63

Figure 3.3: Theoretical Framework ............................................................ 72

Figure 4.1: A screenshot of the coding framework in NVivo ................. 106

xi
Figure 5.1 The adoption of EMI in a Bangladeshi private HEI ............... 144

Figure 6.1: Dutro and Moran’s (2003) conceptual model from CALP to

functions, forms, and fluency ................................................................... 167

Figure 6.2: BICS and CALP Quadrant of Academic Language .............. 168

Figure 6.3: The Disciplinary Literacy Matrix ............................................ 170

Figure 6.4: 2021 Global Services Location Index (GSLI) ........................ 178

Figure 6.5: Top 20 origins (right) and destinations (left) of international

migrants in 2019 (in millions) ................................................................... 179

xii
List of Tables

Table 1:1 Higher education institutions and student numbers,

Bangladesh 2019/20 ...................................................................................... 7

Table 4:1: Datasets used in addressing the research questions ............ 75

Table 4:2: Student Participants’ Profiles ................................................... 95

Table 4:3: Teacher Participants’ Profiles................................................... 96

Table 4:4: Excerpt from Codebook .......................................................... 105

Table 4:5: Establishing trustworthiness during each phase of thematic

analysis ...................................................................................................... 109

xiii
Chapter 1: Introduction

Deeply influenced by globalisation, a key reality in the 21st century, higher

education (HE) is increasingly being placed high on the policy agenda in many

developing nations, enabling the transfer of knowledge, driven by

technological innovation. This is further shaped by an increasingly integrated

world economy, digital communication, the emergence of an international

knowledge network, and the unprecedented rise of the English language as

the dominant language of scientific communication (Altbach et al., 2009;

Altbach, 2009). Promoted as ‘a desirable attribute’ by national governments in

various parts of the world, proficiency in English, in particular, is perceived to

be ‘intertwined with the overall economic development of a country’ (Ali, 2013).

This entails the provision of English teaching as a subject (Baldauf et al.,

2012) and English as a medium of instruction (Tollefson & Tsui, 2004; Tsui &

Tollefson, 2007) while maintaining the status of local languages (Graham &

Eslami, 2019) at various levels of education in non-dominant English-speaking

countries. Considering the crucial role of English language skills in economic

success and international mobility, governments and higher education

institutions (HEIs) have repositioned their English-medium instruction (EMI)

policies as a bi-/multilingual language-planning tool to ensure equitable quality

education, one of the key United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals

(SDGs) while connecting local workforce and industries to the global economy.

1
It stands to reason that the emergence of English as an international language

has considerably impacted educational policies and pedagogical practices

across the globe in the past decades (Nunan, 2003). The implementation of

EMI in national education policies are considered to be closely linked to

modernisation agendas, particularly with regard to the internationalisation of

HE (Galloway & Rose, 2021). Adopting English-medium instruction or EMI in

higher education in non-Anglophone countries has become a growing global

phenomenon (Galloway, Numajiri, et al., 2020). This significant trend in HE

has gained prominence in many European nations and Asian countries,

including Indonesia, Korea, and China, where English is traditionally taught as

a foreign language. EMI has been introduced into courses and programmes in

most private universities in Bangladesh over the past three decades. Despite

its widening adoption, the effectiveness of EMI programmes appears to vary

owing to Bangladeshi students’ overall English language proficiency and the

absence of an explicit national educational language policy.

The current study focuses on students’ experiences of EMI in a private

Bangladeshi university, undertaking EMI courses and programmes in the field

of Business Studies, Computer Science and Engineering, English language

teaching, social and biological sciences. The study aims to unearth how

translanguaging practices used in the classroom enhance learners’ academic

literacy and contribute to positive identity development. The study also

examines lecturers' attitudes towards EMI and fluid, translingual practices

while teaching these students.

2
1.1 Research background and context

In the following section, the background to the current research on EMI in

higher education (HE) is discussed with reference to the social, political, and

educational context of Bangladesh.

1.1.1 Bangladesh- challenges and development prospects

Home to a vast population of more than 164 million inhabitants, Bangladesh is

a low-lying, riverine country located in South Asia, on the northern littoral areas

of the Bay of Bengal, making the nation extremely susceptible to flooding

annually due to monsoon and tropical storm surges besides heavy runoff

compounded by climate-change-induced sea-level rise. A large part of the

nation lies in Asia’s largest delta stretched from the Ganges, Brahmaputra,

and Meghna rivers while being surrounded by India on the west, north, and

east sides, the Bay of Bengal on the south, and the mountainous border of

Myanmar in the south-east (see Figure 1.1). Despite worsening environmental

conditions and ominous poverty challenges, Bangladesh has made

remarkable progress in reducing the same and has experienced strong and

steady Gross Domestic Product growth rates of above six percent in the past

few years.

3
 Figure 1.1: Location of Bangladesh
Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica

In realising an inspiring vision of Bangladesh’s future, the UN General

Assembly has recently adopted a resolution allowing the nation to graduate to

become a developing country in 2026 from a least developed country. Looking

towards the future, Vision 2041 is the blueprint for Bangladesh’s ambitious

economic transformation providing a roadmap for the nation’s development

over a period of 20 years. Among various strategic objectives comprising

futureproofing the service sector, export-oriented manufacturing and

agriculture, the major transformation is primarily driven by establishing

Bangladesh as a knowledge hub country. Having envisioned to build a

‘knowledgeable, fair and just society and digital Bangladesh’, the Bangladeshi

government continues to make ‘great effort in modernising Bangladesh’s

education system through the use of ICT, promoting technology-based

teaching and learning as a strategic lever to achieving Bangladesh’s Vision

2021’ (Ministry of Education, 2019).

4
1.1.2 Language ecology and the attitude towards English

In Bangladesh, Bengali is spoken as the du jure national language (Banu &

Sussex, 2001) amongst a linguistically homogenous population in domains of

governance, education, law, mass media, and everyday communication

(Imam, 2005). English was brought to the Indian subcontinent as part of the

colonial rule (Jenkins, 2009, p. 16) as a language of power and social mobility

(Erling et al., 2013). Following the decolonisation in 1947, India was divided as

the state of Pakistan was formed. While its two regions, West and East

Pakistan (now Bangladesh), were split along geographical lines of over 1000

miles of Indian territory, the cultural and linguistic rift grew wider with the

Language Movement on 21 February 1952 that sparked protests as well as

bloodshed to uphold not Urdu but Bengali, also known by its endonym Bangla,

as the only state language.

This Bengali-only language movement was instrumental in shaping the

linguistic identity that forged a national identity that eventually created

Bangladesh as an independent nation in 1971(Mohsin, 2003; Musa, 1996).

Between national identity and learning, resistance towards the standing of

English eventually resulted in a severe lack of English proficiency among the

people in general (Hamid & Baldauf, 2014). Neither did English fulfil a lingua

franca function within society as in other South Asian countries (Banu &

Sussex, 2001). Later in 1992, the English language was reintroduced into the

national curriculum as a mandatory subject from Class 1- 12 and then

5
simultaneously as an MOI, besides Bengali, at the primary, secondary and

tertiary level of education (Chowdhury & Kabir, 2014). However, policymakers

started realising the ‘damage’ (Hamid, Jahan, et al., 2013b, p. 150) done to

English teaching and learning due to such nationalist policies over the next

decade.

1.1.3 Bangladeshi HE and the development of EMI

In the same year, the government of Bangladesh legislated the privatization of

HE through the promulgation of the Private University Act owing to escalating

social demand for HE, resulting from domestic socio-economic factors and

global trends. As a pathway to HE reforms through a shift towards

neoliberalism in education (Harvey, 2006; Kabir, 2012), this privatisation of HE

is considered a milestone in the exclusive usage of English-medium instruction

(EMI) as almost all the private universities have proclaimed its adoption even

though there is no clear directive in the Act apart from the choice of using

either Bengali or English reading resources in HE teaching and learning. As of

now, Bangladesh’s HE system comprises 46 publicly funded and 105 private

universities which enrolled more than 1.17 million in 2020 (please see Table

1.1), commensurate with an increase in the Gross Enrolment Ratio from 13.7

percent to 22.8 percent, as estimated by UNESCO Institute of Statistics, in the

HE sectors in Bangladesh between 2011 and 2020.

6
 Type of University No. of University Students (Million)
Public 46 0.82
Private (with EMI 105 0.35
provisions)
International 2 0.003
Total 153 1.17

Table 1:1 Higher education institutions and student numbers, Bangladesh

2019/20

Despite improvements in access and participation (Ahmed, 2016), millions of

youths face the prospect of lost opportunity and lower wages because the

education system, particularly at the tertiary level, is failing to ensure learning

outcomes and basic English language proficiency. In spite of continued

economic growth, Bangladesh faces challenges in relation to a skills gap in its

vast human capital and there are growing concerns about the employment

prospects of recent university graduates in Bangladesh. According to a recent

World Bank report (Haven, 2019), nearly 39 percent of graduates remain

unemployed for as long as two years. employers found graduates lacking skills

that mainly include English language and communication skills, Information

and Communications Technology (ICT), and the essential, transferable skills

(see Figure 1.2) that scaffold the utilisation of theoretical learning into real-

world problems (World Bank, 2018).

7
 Figure 1.2: Skill areas where universities need more focus
Source: Asian Development Bank (2019)

This high rate of prolonged unemployment among graduates raises concerns

about the job-readiness of graduates and the relevance of skills, putting

pressure on Bangladeshi universities to be relevant and responsive to societal

needs through quality teaching, learning and research. Studies have also

exhibited the dire state of teaching and learning in English (Hamid, 2011) in

the context of Bangladesh and have indicated that the average English

language skill level of a university student is equivalent to Grade 7 at the

secondary level (Imam, 2005), while their ability to engage in academic writing

across disciplines is predominantly found to be very unsatisfactory and full of

grammatical, lexico-syntactic and organisational inaccuracies (Afrin, 2016;

Chowdhury & Kabir, 2014; Uddin, 2014).

Evidently, the quality of HE in Bangladesh also remains low in comparison to

international standards, given that only two public HEIs out of four universities

8
made it to the QS World University Rankings 2022 and one in the top World

University Rankings 2022 listed by The Times Higher Education, ranked

between 801-1200 among 1300 and 1600 universities respectively from

around the world. Comparatively, thirty-five Indian universities, eleven

Pakistani and two Sri Lankan universities have found their place in the world

league table in 2022. In contrast, eight Bangladeshi private universities were

featured in the QS Asia University Rankings 2022. Only two Bangladeshi

private universities appeared on the list of the top universities worldwide. Still,

there was no Bangladeshi university in the list of Top 100 world universities in

Asia in 2022 (QS University Rankings, 2022), owing to low academic rankings

and reputation. Clearly, Bangladeshi HEIs lags behind universities from

several other South-East Asian countries such as Singapore, China

(Mainland), Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan, South Korea, Thailand,

besides India and Pakistan, whose research productivity and global rankings

are significantly higher than that of Bangladesh.

Nonetheless, through quality education provisions following international

standards, the Bangladeshi government should strategically choose its

pathways to nurture enlightened, globally competent and ‘internetized’

(Pesando et al., 2021) citizens fulfilling its development goals. To do so by

enhancing the quality of HE through the implementation of EMI, the

government should promote the internationalisation of Bangladeshi HE, raising

the reputation and competitiveness of Bangladeshi universities in the regional

and global HE market.

9
Addressing these issues, the government of Bangladesh enacted the first-ever

National Education Policy (Ministry of Education, 2010) and subsequently

developed a Quality Assurance Framework as part of its Strategic Plan for

Higher Education 2018–2030 to foster quality assurance and enhancement in

line with international HE standards. Despite placing internationalisation at the

top of its HE reformation agenda, the nation should recognise the centrality of

English as an international language as it stands at the crossroads of a

transformative society founded by strengthening and fostering greater national

and international collaborative partnerships with HEIs by sharing knowledge

and ideas to achieve common goals.

1.1.4 Internationalisation and English medium instruction (EMI)

The growing trend of using an EMI policy (Doiz et al., 2012; Tollefson & Tsui,

2014) in education among polities that try to enhance the capabilities of

English usage in the university setting has become important in the

determination of the internationalisation index of HE (Galloway & Rose, 2015,

p. 230; Maringe, 2010; Mok, 2007). Adopted as an explicit policy by

universities to improve rankings and gain a worldwide reputation,

internationalisation aims to increase the number of alliances and agreements

with universities based in different nation-states worldwide (Moncada-Comas

& Block, 2019). And occurring outside of English-speaking countries, this

internationalisation process has been considered to be synonymous with

‘Englishisation’ (Galloway, Numajiri, et al., 2020), more pertinent particularly to

10
HE institutions where non-language academic subjects are taught in English.

In particular, the agenda of internationalisation has widened its focus from

student and teacher mobility to more vital linkage between international

research and education network through the establishment of consortia

besides curriculum and staff development, quality assurance mechanisms,

and the use of ICT (van Der Wende, 2001).

Notably, the drive for EMI primarily comes from the link between

internationalisation and English in HE (Jenkins, 2014; Liddicoat, 2016),

wherein programmes taught in English are perceived as ‘higher’ status and

thus more attractive to increasingly mobile student populations (OECD, 2014)

across geographical boundaries. Therefore, universities adopt EMI as a top-

down strategy to improve their international profiles and curricula (Kuteeva &

Airey, 2014) to enhance the academic reputation manifested by global and

regional rankings within the international academic community.

1.2 Aims of the study and research questions

The main aims of this current study are to present an overview of the

challenges experienced by Bangladeshi HE students and their attitudes

towards EMI, besides providing insight into the current practices of EMI in

Bangladeshi universities. While gaining insight into how their previous learning

experiences impact the way they learn through EMI and shape their identity,

the study was guided by the following overarching research questions:

11
1. What are the perceived challenges students face that affect teaching and

learning practices in an English medium instructional context and how do

students respond to these challenges?

2. How do students’ perceptions about their identities and previous learning

influence their learning experiences through English as a second/additional

language?

3. How do state and institutional influences impact EMI adoption in

Bangladeshi HEIs?

1.3 Rationale for the study

In recent years, the EMI trend has increasingly gained prominence in many

European nations and received much research attention (Macaro et al., 2017)

than in Asian countries (Baker & Hüttner, 2019; Fenton-Smith, Humphreys, et

al., 2017), particularly in South Asia. While this leaves a considerable

geographical gap in EMI research, it also indicates a need to understand the

various perceptions of learning through EMI, particularly among Bangladeshi

students.

Despite an upsurge in the provision of EMI programmes and courses globally,

the adoption of EMI programmes in Bangladesh has been spurred through the

establishment of private HEIs. Even though all the private universities in

Bangladesh have officially adopted EMI practices, it is indispensable to

investigate the challenges faced by the students as the majority of students in

12
these private universities come from Bangla medium schooling with overall

inadequate national competence in English (Mahmud & Gazi, 2012). This

indicates a need to understand the various perceptions of EMI that exist

among Bangladeshi HE students. In addition, this current study addresses the

realities of education, training, assessment, and support needs from the

different stakeholders’ perspectives (Chang et al., 2017; Guarda & Helm,

2017), including academics, administrators, students, researchers,

policymakers besides community members, about the impact of EMI on

students’ access to HE, their identities, various aspects of learning, teaching

and content delivery besides the educational implications of learning through

ESL/EAL. Considering the paucity of studies investigating Bangladeshi HE

students’ learning experiences through EMI, this study primarily aims to fill

research gaps and is expected to add value while being beneficial to

academics and practitioners at the meso level pertaining to EMI

implementation and the design and delivery of university courses in English.

However, the rationales of this study originated from the author’s personal

experiences of English language teaching in the Bangladeshi HE context.

Having been involved in language teaching in private HEIs since 2007 and

having first-hand experiences of students’ poor language proficiency, the

author’s affiliation with the institution under scrutiny allowed emic perspectives.

Following the privatisation of Bangladeshi HE, EMI has gathered momentum,

as seen by an increased number of EMI programmes and courses in

13
Bangladeshi private tertiary institutions in the absence of explicit EMI policies

at the national policymaking level. However, the current practice of EMI in the

Bangladeshi context is not fully informed by research evidence. There has not

been much learner-focused research (Hamid, Jahan, et al., 2013a; Hamid,

Jahan, et al., 2013b; Islam, 2013; Murtaza, 2016; Sultana, 2014a) to

understand teaching and learning practices in the light of student

interpretations and conceptualisations of using EMI (Rahman & Singh, 2019,

2021; Rahman et al., 2020), in a Bangladeshi HEI setting Hamid et al. (2014).

A few studies have investigated Bangladeshi university teachers’ preferences

for using Bengali as an MOI in public universities, contrary to the usage of EMI

in private universities (Karim et al., 2021). Other studies have noted the

misalignment between clear language-in-education policies and language

teaching and learning (Rahman, Islam, et al., 2019) and have looked at

teachers’ perceptions of using MOI as a tool for universities to produce

knowledgeable and skilled graduates (Karim et al., 2021). Apart from these

studies, little research has investigated how students perceive EMI, their

academic challenges, and how they think EMI will benefit their learning and

future careers.

Hence, the focus of this study originated from a desire to underpin the need for

a policy of language across the curriculum where all subject teachers ought to

play a pivotal role in the enhancement of linguistic, communicative, pragmatic,

and cognitive competence of their students. Given the state of affairs in the

14
local Bangladeshi context, there is a pressing need to seek evidence to see

whether EMI programmes in Bangladeshi private universities prove beneficial

for students or create more challenges than benefits for students. As such, the

current study aims to provide deep insight into the effectiveness of EMI

programmes in Bangladeshi HE from students’ perspectives. This study will

also explore the macro-, meso- and micro-level policy implementation of EMI

in Bangladesh, alongside an investigation of implementation challenges.

1.4 Significance of the study

The current study contributes to the limited research on EMI in universities in

Bangladesh, providing insights into students’ experiences of EMI in HEIs.

While exploring the perspectives and experiences of students at a large EMI

tertiary institution in Bangladesh, this study will address the challenges that

students experience in constructing their preferred identities in an EMI

environment and how they negotiate such challenges. More specifically,

lessons learned from these experiences will assist in informing practices

regarding macro, meso, and micro-level language planning for Bangladeshi

HEIs. Since the growth in student mobility requires HEIs and governments to

increasingly adopt English-taught programmes, not solely as a linguistic

change in HE but as a geopolitical and economic phenomenon that impact

HEIs more broadly, the critical role EMI now plays within the political framing

of the knowledge economy is worth attention.

15
Using conclusions drawn from the data, this study will help respond to the

inevitability of explicit national language policy goals in monolingual states like

Bangladesh regarding EMI provision, operationalised at the institutional and

classroom level, with consideration to the quality of provision and the

stakeholders’ perceptions of this burgeoning trend (Galloway, Numajiri, et al.,

2020). Providing governments, university administrators, curriculum, and

course designers with insights into ways to implement successful EMI

programmes, this study will enable policymakers to address the inadequacy of

explicit macro-level EMI language-in-education planning policies throughout

Asia and beyond.

1.5 Overview of the thesis

The thesis consists of seven chapters. This first chapter outlines the research

rationale, the overarching research questions, and the sociolinguistic

background in Bangladesh regarding the use of English in Bangladesh’s HE.

Following this, the structure of the thesis is provided. Chapter two reviews the

relevant literature in relation to EMI, internationalisation, language planning,

and experiences of learning through EMI. Chapter three presents the

theoretical framework of this study and embraces translanguaging theory and

linguistic capital while theorising the notion of identity to explain the influence

of students’ socio-economic backgrounds in their learning experiences. This is

followed by chapter four which introduces the methodology of the study. It

16
begins with a discussion of the epistemological and ontological position that

informs the inquiry.

Chapter four then presents phenomenology as a research approach, the

choice of documents analysis, observation, and interviews as data collection

methods, approaches used for data analysis in the institutional context,

sampling strategies, participants’ profile, and the researcher’s position. Prior to

data management and analysis, preliminary research in the form of a pilot

study is discussed. Issues of trustworthiness and authenticity are also

discussed in this chapter. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the

ethical considerations and limitations of the study. Chapter five presents the

empirical findings and highlights how institutional policies and practices affect

teaching and learning at the university in question. Chapter six explicitly

discusses students’ learning challenges and translanguaging practices that

negotiate their identity in an EMI context. The chapter uses the concept of

linguistic capital and presents the findings of the influence of the previous

educational background of the students. The chapter explicitly discusses how

linguistic capital is transmitted to the students and their learning experiences.

The chapter also discusses the findings of the influence of teachers’

pedagogical strategies on the students’ learning experiences in the classroom

in the light of relevant literature. The final chapter concludes the thesis with a

summary of the essential findings and their implications for language

educational practice in EMI. After this, the key themes relating to the main

research question are addressed to gain a holistic understanding of the

17
students’ learning experiences through EMI. The contribution of the study is

then presented. The chapter concludes by explaining the limitations of the

research and offers recommendations for future research for practitioners and

policymakers alike.

Chapter 2: Literature Review

The overarching aim of this chapter is to provide the rationale for this study

and situate it within existing literature related to students’ experiences of

learning in HE through EMI. By identifying the relationship between ideas and

practices and establishing the context of the topic or problem, this literature

review section provides the groundwork of the study by highlighting issues

related to internationalisation and EMI, the key ideas, themes, debates around

its implementation, and seminal research within the field. By synthesising

existing literature in terms of their methodologies, research designs, key

findings, and their pedagogical and theoretical implications, this section helps

gain a new perspective in discovering central themes relevant to this study:

students’ perceptions of learning in HE through EMI, students’ challenges and

attitude towards EMI, students’ coping strategies and their experiences of the

EAL/ESL foundation programmes. In sum, this section aims to establish a gap

in the literature that this present study attempts to address.

18
2.1 English medium instruction (EMI) – Definition, Development Trends

and Driving Forces

The medium of instruction (MOI) refers to the adoption of a language used to

deliver contents of specialised academic subjects such as Mathematics,

Science, Engineering, and Medicine, including Business and Management,

amongst other subjects that do not explicitly teach language. A considerable

amount of literature, over the last decades, have emphasised that learning

achievement is enhanced when children are taught in their first language (L1)

for at least the first six years of primary school before the second language

(L2) is introduced as a medium of instruction (Ball, 2011; Benson, 2004). In

such bilingual education models, students use both L1 and L2 as languages of

instruction for various academic subjects throughout primary and secondary

schooling. Although there is convincing evidence that use of the L1 in the initial

years of schooling helps reach socially and educationally marginalised

populations, improving their enrollment, attendance, and achievement

(Pinnock, 2009), bilingual and/or multilingual education has been found to

increase a student’s self-confidence and self-esteem and is now the

recommended strategy for primary and secondary education in fulfilling

learning goals (Cots et al., 2014; UNESCO, 2016).

English medium instruction or EMI encompasses the teaching of academic

contents across various disciplines or subjects exclusively in English ‘in

countries or jurisdictions where the first language of the majority of the

19
population is not English’ (Dearden, 2015). More commonly being used for

educational programmes at tertiary levels, EMI practices involve teaching

informational content through English to enhance students’ discipline-specific

academic knowledge and skills and English (Altbach et al., 2009; Coleman,

2006). The adoption of EMI covers a range of different linguistic situations

such as international preschools and kindergartens, immersions schools,

university courses in English besides multilingual situations that uses English

as a lingua franca (ELF) for education and daily communication in academic

contexts (Ducker, 2019). Recent decades have seen an unprecedented

spread of ELF to foster multilingual communication among non-native

speakers of English in a profoundly interconnected world (Seidlhofer, 2017).

As a consequence, there is a ‘fast-moving worldwide shift’ from English being

taught as a foreign language (EFL) to English being the medium of instruction

(MOI) for specialised academic subjects such as science, mathematics,

geography, and medicine, especially in HE (Dearden, 2015, p. 4). Owing to

globalisation, English-taught programmes as opposed to exclusive native

language MOI only for communicative purposes has become a ‘new normal’ in

HE (Fenton-Smith, Humphreys, et al., 2017, p. 2).

The teaching of content through the medium of English has evolved over the

past three decades, from Content-based Instruction (CBI) to Content and

Language Integrated Learning (CLIL). The use of both CBI and CLIL refers to

programmes where academic content is taught through a second or an

additional language. Defined as ‘the concurrent study of language and subject

20
matter, with the form and sequence of language presentation dictated by

content material’ (Brinton et al., 1989, p. vii), CBI's origins are associated with

Canadian immersion programmes (Cenoz, 2015). As defined by Snow (2014),

CBI is

….an umbrella term for a multifaceted approach to [second/foreign

language] teaching that differs in terms of factors such as educational

setting, program objectives, and target population but shares a common

point of departure—the integration of language teaching aims with

content instruction. (p. 439)

Originated in Europe (Costa & Coleman, 2013; Lasagabaster & Sierra, 2009;

Wannagat, 2007), CLIL has ‘...a dual-focused educational approach in which

an additional language is used for the learning and teaching of both content

and language’ (Coyle et al., 2010, p. 1), particularly in primary and secondary

schools but could also be taught through any L2 besides English. Both the

approaches of CBI and CLIL are on a continuum that ranges from the most

content-driven end to the most language-driven end, as shown in the

continuum of EMI in Figure 2.1 below (Thompson & McKinley, 2018, p. 3).

Figure 2.1: Language and Content Continuum

Adapted from: Thompson and McKinley (2018)

21
However, how these instructional approaches are interpreted and

implemented varies. A more recent CBI model based on Brinton and Snow’s

(2017) visual representation, further developed by Miller et al. (2021),

redefines how CBI approaches vary owing to the integration of language and

content as new contexts emerge in different polities (see Figure 2.2). More

recently, EMI has become popular in HE in countries where English is not an

official language and ‘…is labelled in a variety of ways, such as content-based

learning, content, and language integrated learning (CLIL), immersion

education, theme-based language teaching, and bilingual education’ (Richards

& Pun, 2021).

Figure 2.2: Framework of content-based instruction models (Miller et al., 2021)

Often referred to as a tertiary education variant of CLIL, EMI refers to content

instruction delivered in the students’ second or additional language (Pecorari &

Malmström, 2018). Although the emergence of EMI is a growing global

phenomenon, it is more widely used in private rather than public education

22
(Dearden, 2015) and is part of the broader role of English as a lingua franca,

particularly in the academic domain (Galloway et al., 2017).

2.1.1 The development of EMI in higher education as a global trend

A rapid expansion of English-medium instruction (EMI), predominantly in HE,

is legitimated in many countries, where English is not the first language (L1), to

support students’ mobility (Jenkins, 2014; Wächter & Maiworm, 2014),

opportunities of studying and working abroad to increase national

competitiveness (Dearden, 2015) as well as cultural exchange across borders.

The prime objectives of EMI provisions are to equip human resources with

competency in professional knowledge and proficiency in the English language

for global integration (Vo, 2017). The phenomenal growth of EMI worldwide

has been described as an ‘unstoppable train’ (Macaro, 2015), heading towards

an internationalised future in HE. Owing to a remarkable upsurge in EMI

programmes across European universities, driven primarily by

internationalisation (Kirkpatrick, 2011), a multitude of approximately 8,100

courses were offered in English in 2014, compared to 725 in 2001 as reported

in a survey conducted by Wächter and Maiworm (2014). Further survey

studies on EMI conducted in Italy (Broggini & Costa, 2017; Costa & Coleman,

2013) highlighted the benefits of English-taught courses in improving

international profiles of Italian HEIs while preparing Italian students for global

markets with strong English proficiency and intercultural communication.

Through a questionnaire differentiating between CLIL and EMI, followed by

23
lecturer interviews, another study conducted by Aguilar (2017) shed light on

how engineering EMI lecturers teaching at a Spanish university viewed their

teaching practices through language integration within the current

internationalisation trend of offering English courses and programmes.

Originated in Europe in countries such as Germany, Finland, Sweden, the

Netherlands, and Turkey since the early 2000s (Björkman, 2008; Healey,

2008), EMI is increasingly being adopted over content and language

integrated learning (CLIL) in HEIs across non-native, English-speaking, East

Asian nations like Hong Kong, China, Japan, Taiwan, and Korea (Chang,

2010; Cho, 2012; Kym & Kym, 2014; Nunan, 2003; Pun & Macaro, 2019)

besides Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam.

Over the past few decades, setting ambitious targets for future growth in HE in

becoming a knowledge-based economy, there has been an emerging trend of

using EMI across HE in East Asian countries, reported through studies

conducted in China (Fang, 2018; Hu & Lei, 2014; Jiang et al., 2019; Song,

2018; Yang, 2019; Zhang, 2018), Hong Kong (Evans & Morrison, 2018; Lo &

Lo, 2014; Wannagat, 2007), Japan (Aizawa & Rose, 2019), Korea (Kim, Choi,

et al., 2017), Taiwan (Chang, 2010; Wu, 2006; Yang, 2015; Yeh, 2014),

Singapore (Bolton et al., 2017), Malaysia (Ali, 2013; Gill, 2006), Vietnam

(Manh, 2012; Phan, 2018; Vu & Burns, 2014) and Pakistan (Khan, 2013).

Singapore has long been seen within the Asian region to have ‘an unmatched

record of success’ in implementing EMI at all levels of education, including

24
colleges and universities (Bolton et al., 2017). It stands out as a country that

has long promoted internationalisation as a national policy (Daquila, 2013). An

inherently international character of policymaking in Singapore, and the state’s

approach to capitalising on globalisation as a means to national economic

development, brought the global knowledge economy front and centre in its

educational priorities (Sanders, 2019). And having quality education to nurture

a talented workforce in attracting multinational companies as the economic

means of survival (Koh, 2011) has been peremptory for Singapore’s existence.

As part of a retooling of its national education system to effectively meet the

needs of the global knowledge economy, Thinking Schools, Learning Nation

initiative was launched in 1997. Borrowed heavily from Gardner’s models of

teaching and learning – wherein the content areas of the curriculum were

taught through the English language, the initiative was extensively supported

by tools of instructional technology (Gopinathan, 2007; Saravanan, 2005). In

light of this, English was promoted as the sole teaching medium at all levels of

education (Bolton et al., 2017), contributing to Singapore’s noteworthy

achievement of the highest levels of English proficiency in the Asian region

(Bolton, 2008). As Singapore’s economy has developed over the past five

decades, educational priorities have shifted accordingly from labour-intensive

manufacturing to skill-intensive production and eventually excelling in the

global knowledge economy while attracting innovative engineering and

scientific companies to establish themselves in Singapore (OECD, 2011, p.

160). Language planning and language management have played an

25
indispensable role in developing Singapore’s knowledge economy (Cavallaro

& Ng, 2014). Moreover, English ‘has contributed to the making of modern

Singapore’ as the preference for English in education contributed to the rapid

development of Singapore as an international financial and technological hub

(Chew, 2014, pp. 28-31). While English education has valorised the Singapore

government’s strategic cosmopolitanism (Choo, 2014, p. 677), it has also

shaped the discursive practices of Singapore’s HEIs by emphasising societal

aspirations of being internationally competitive and globally oriented (Teo,

2007).

Owing to globalisation and the global spread of English, the adoption of EMI in

private HEIs has made Malaysia one of the first Asian countries to rigorously

internationalise its HE (Gill & Kirkpatrick, 2013). Education and language-in-

education policy has been reinvented in Malaysia as part of Vision 2020 to

transform Malaysia into an international education hub by establishing EMI

programmes in private HEIs, prompting public universities to transition to EMI

through the enactment of the Education Act, 1996. English language, however,

is offered as a compulsory subject at all levels of education, implying its

existence as an additional language in a pluralist society, widely used in

speaking besides official usages in ‘politics, the media, jurisdiction, higher

education, and other such domains’ (Thirusanku & Melor, 2013).

EMI has witnessed an unprecedented expansion in China over the last two

decades (Tong et al., 2020) and has shifted away from bilingual education

26
models towards English-only programmes between 2003 to 2019 (Rose,

McKinley, et al., 2020). The Chinese government has actively promoted EMI in

private and state-funded public universities. This was administered by the

Chinese MOE that stipulated 5-10% of university courses to be taught in

English, recognising EMI as an essential component of internationalising the

nation’s HE sector to gain access to cutting-edge science and technology (Hu

et al., 2014).

Japan also faces a growing push to foster local students with calibre to

participate in the international workforce (Aizawa & Rose, 2019), averting the

pervasive ‘sakoku’ attitude of exclusiveness and insularity (Morita, 2015). As a

preliminary initiative in 2009, Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports,

Science, and Technology launched the heavily funded Global 30 Project,

which aimed to increase the number of international students and

internationalise Japanese HE with an explicit emphasis on an increase in EMI.

Recent HE policies have been developed to attract high-quality researchers,

teachers, and students from abroad (Doiz et al., 2011). Additionally, Japan has

taken up the Top Global University Project, intending to enhance the

international compatibility and competitiveness of its HE as EMI increasingly

gains momentum. Despite the widespread adoption of EMI policies, little

research has been conducted to examine the implications of such macro

language planning, even amongst Japanese students (Bradford & Brown,

2017; Rose & McKinley, 2018).

27
Likewise, in Korean HE, the notion of internationalisation has been translated

into the policy of English usage in classroom teaching. Initiated and

implemented by the government and the policymakers of individual

universities, EMI has been viewed as a primary instrument to ultimately raise

the universities’ competitiveness in the global educational market and draw

more international students into the campuses (Byun et al., 2011). As the trend

of EMI becomes more prominent in Korean HE, studies, mostly conducted

through survey questionnaires and interviews, have looked into Korean

students’ anxiety with acculturation (Kim, Choi, et al., 2017), both students and

instructors’ reactions to EMI courses (Chang et al., 2017; Cho, 2012; Jon &

Kim, 2011; Kim, 2011) and issues regarding its successful implementation.

In summary, this section has described the development of EMI as a global

trend in HE. Even though many Asian countries have experienced this surging

trend in the development and growth of EMI implementation, there is a

pressing need to examine how EMI provisions are operationalised at the

national, institutional and classroom levels and their impact on students’

disciplinary and language learning (Galloway, Numajiri, et al., 2020). The

following section will refer to the development of EMI to drive the

internationalisation of HE worldwide, providing the rationale behind the

development of a global knowledge economy.

28
2.1.2 EMI as an internationalisation agenda in the development of a

global knowledge economy

The Englishisation of HE (Galloway & McKinley, 2021; Kirkpatrick, 2011) as a

global phenomenon is built on the notion that EMI and internationalisation are

inseparably intertwined (Aizawa & McKinley, 2020).With the spread of

globalisation over the past four decades, the emergence of a global

knowledge-based economy, marketisation and massification have dramatically

changed the face of HE, bringing internationalisation to the forefront of many

agendas (Sanders, 2019). As a global knowledge economy is foregrounded,

internationalisation has become a key meta-discourse in education policy

(Vidovich, 2004). Significantly, it has been ‘one of the most prevailing forces at

work within higher education around the world during the last two decades’

(Rumbley et al., 2012). Knight (2004) suggests a detailed interpretation of the

whole process of internationalisation which influences an HEI’s mission, core

values, purpose and functions, evident through its quality assurance exercises,

staffing, admission, research, curriculum, student support, contract, project

work, and finances. Advancing the internationalisation agenda in HEIs involves

adding an international dimension to HEI with ‘a perspective, activity or

programme which introduces or integrates an international/intercultural/global

outlook into the major functions of a university or college’ (Knight & De Wit,

1995, p. 15). As a ‘process of integrating an international, intercultural or

global dimension into the purpose, functions or delivery of post-secondary

29
education’ (Knight, 2003, p. 2), internationalisation is critically positioned in

university agenda, not only in the West but also in Asia (Knight, 2004).

Sanders (2019) further elucidates that the narrower interpretation of the

process emphasises the traditional international activities of student, faculty

and staff mobility, internationalisation of the curriculum, transnational

education (i.e., branch campuses), international partnerships (research, joint

programs, etc.), and more significantly the adoption of English for teaching,

research, and administration. On the other hand, the broader interpretation

could reposition an institution’s frame of reference and operational context

from the local or national to the international (Hawawini, 2016), taking

advantage of globalisation (Altbach & Knight, 2007b). Hence, The International

Association of Universities (2012) notes:

Irrespective of contextual differences within and between countries,

nearly all higher education institutions worldwide are engaged in

international activities and are seeking to expand them. Engaging with

the world is now considered part of the very definition of quality in

education and research.

Arguably, the internationalisation of education involves complex

interrelationships of economic, cultural, and social dimensions within a

multicultural, international context governed by a common lingua franca

(Galloway & Rose, 2015). The impact of internationalisation on the

language planning and management of universities can be seen in all

30
areas of academic work, from administration to teaching and learning and

research. In teaching and learning, the primary language-planning issue

confronting institutions in many countries is the question of the medium of

instruction (Liddicoat, 2016), as elaborated in the subsequent section (see

2.1.5).

2.1.3 World Englishes and EMI

In reality, the internationalisation of universities has become one of the

main drivers of global English (Graddol, 2006), attracting a more

significant number of international students as a key indicator of HEI

internationalisation (QS Intelligence Unit, 2019). Hence, the work of

universities driving internationalisation is fundamentally mediated by the

diverse linguistic context in which they operate, and there has been

growing interest in how universities should plan their language use (Bull,

2012; Cots et al., 2012; Gill, 2006; Källkvist & Hult, 2016). As elucidated in

the next section, the focus on universities as language-planning actors

represents how language is planned at the meso and micro-levels

(Baldauf, 2006; Kaplan & Baldauf, 1997a), where universities as

institutions are conceptualised as language-planning actors at many

levels.

Higher education institutions (HEIs) emerge as language-planning actors

in linguistically diverse societies to develop more explicit language policies

in response to a changing language context. Kachru’s model of ‘World

31
Englishes’ (Kachru, 1985) depicted the worldwide spread of the English

language through three concentric circles: the Inner Circle, the Outer

Circle, and the Expanding Circle (see Figure 2.3 below).

The Expanding Circle

English as a forerign language
Germany China Egypt
Indonesia Japan Korea
Vietnam Cambodia Israel
Nepal Saudi Arabia Taiwan
Russia Thailand Zimbabwe
South Africa Caribbean Islands

The Outer Circle

English is a second language
Bangladesh Kenya Pakistan
Ghana Sri lanka Malaysia
Phillipines Tanzania India
Singapore Nigeria Hong Kong

The Inner Circle

English is first
language
UK USA Canada
Australia
New Zealand

Figure 2.3: World Englishes- Kachru’s Three Concentric Circles of English (1985)

The Circles model manifest ‘the type of spread, the pattern of acquisition,

and the functional domains in which the English language is used across

cultures and languages’ (p. 12). The innermost circle represents countries

that use English as the primary language in government institutions and

daily social communication: the United Kingdom, the United States,

Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and Australia. The expanding outer circle

32
is made up of countries in the ‘periphery’ (Canagarajah, 2000) such as

China, Egypt, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Korea, Nepal, Russia, Saudi

Arabia, Taiwan, and various South American countries where people learn

English as a foreign language (EFL). Historically, countries in the outer

circle are former and current colonies of Anglophone colonial powers

which use ‘English as an additional institutionalised, official language,

though not a mother tongue’ (Kachru, 1998; Xiaoqiong & Xianxing, 2011).

These English societies include East Asian nations such as Brunei,

Malaysia, the Philippines, Hong Kong and Singapore, and South Asian

countries such as Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, among

other African nations such as Tanzania and Kenya, Zambia, Nigeria and

South Africa.

English has been retained as an institutionalised additional or second

language (EAL/ESL) in most outer-circle countries with some degree of

official recognition as an official, legal, or academic language (Bolton,

2006). Characteristically, English is also widely used throughout the mass

media besides government, law, and educational domains in some of

these nations, such as Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, the Philippines, and

Singapore, all of which have a lively daily life press. In addition to print

media, such societies often have English-language radio and television

channels, such as Hong Kong, Singapore, and the Philippines. Such

linguistically diverse communities are also characterised by the functional

utilisation of a high frequency of code-switching, code-mixing, borrowing,

33
and translanguaging between English and regional varieties of native

languages in informal domains (Bolton, 2008), leading to the emergence of

different variants of world Englishes.

Translanguaging, in particular, has become almost commonplace in

everyday life as languages are no longer considered to be interfering with

one another or are kept markedly separate and pure (Wei, 2014, p. 172),

emanating from firmly rooted purist language ideologies (Lin, 2013). Aimed

at improving content and multilingual language competencies using

resources from multilingual learners’ ‘whole linguistic repertoire’ (Cenoz &

Gorter, 2022), translingual practices like ‘pedagogical translanguaging’ is

an instructional and theoretical approach further discussed in the next

chapter. While the changing of the language through translanguaging is

strategic and deliberate, the aim is to engage the dominant language

helping learners develop the weaker language towards a balanced

language proficiency (Tai, 2021a).

2.1.4 EMI as a language planning and policy tool in a transnational world

Language planning and policy decisions significantly impact language ecology

by establishing and regulating linguistic practices. Drawing on the relationship

between a language and its social and political context, language planning

involves ‘deliberate efforts to influence the behaviour of others with respect to

the acquisition, structure, or functional allocation of their language codes’

(Cooper, 1989, p. 45). As a long-term, sustained and complex, ‘activity

34
undertaken by the state,’ language planning is carried out by a well-

coordinated team of critical stakeholders typically led by governments or

official administrative bodies (Ho & Wong, 2000, p. 1) and is therefore

considered as (Baldauf, 2005b);

systematic, future-oriented change in language code (corpus planning),

use (status planning), learning and speaking (language-in-education

planning) and/or language promotion (prestige planning) undertaken by

some authoritative organisation – most frequently by governments, but

increasingly by other organisations – with some community of speakers

Corpus planning deals with the development and modification of the writing of

grammar and the standardisation of spelling. In contrast, status planning deals

with the official decision about the choice of language, including attitudes

toward alternative languages and the political implications of such decisions .

However, the most crucial language planning decision in education is

language acquisition planning and the choice of medium of instruction

(Tollefson & Tsui, 2004). First used by Einar Haugen, the term ‘language

planning’ has broadened its scope and is nowadays associated with

multilingual societies (Davies & Ziegler, 2015) while being increasingly driven

by internationalisation and globalisation issues in the 21st century. Kaplan and

Baldauf (2003) clarify that ‘language planning’ and ‘language policy’ are

different processes where language planning refers to the preparatory work

that leads to the formulation of a language policy. To further contextualise this,

35
a fourfold matrix (see Figure 2.4), initially developed by Haugen (1983),

elaborates the four stages or processes with regards to conscious and explicit

efforts of language planning, executed mainly by governments alongside

institutions, groups, and individuals.

Having had incorporated the work of Cooper (1989), Ferguson (1968),

Hornberger (1994b), Kloss (1968), Nahir (1984) and Neustupny (1974), this

evolving framework reinforces the idea that language maintenance is both

about the relations between language and society. Not necessarily following

any logical progression or linear sequence, language planning and

policymaking is a massive and complex exercise, authorised by the

government but in the presence of language specialists, expert curriculum

developers and educational officials involved in language-in-education

planning. Since governments worldwide increasingly regard the education

system as a vital component of the nation-building process, language policy

36
 Function (language
Approaches Form (Policy Planning)
cultivation)
Status Standardisation of status Revival
planning Officialisation Maintenance
(about uses Nationalisation Interlingual communication
of language International
in society) Intranational
Spread
Corpus Codification Language’s Elaboration
planning form Language’s function
(about (standardisation procedures) (functional development)
language)
Corpus Lexical Modernisation
Graphisation Stylistic Modernisation
Grammatication Renovation (new forms,
Lexication old functions)
Purification
Auxiliary code Reform
Graphisation Stylistic simplification
Grammatication Terminology unification
Lexication Internationalisation
Language- Selection Implementation
in- Language’s formal role in Language’s functional role in
education society society
planning Education Reacquisition
(about • Access Policy Maintenance
language • Curriculum Policy Foreign/Second/Additional
acquisition • Methods and Materials Language/ Literacy
and Policy Shift
learning) Community Policy
• Literary
• Religious
• Mass media
• Work
Prestige Language Promotion Intellectualisation
planning Official/Government Language of Science
(about Institutional Language of Professions
image) Individual Language of High Culture
Language of Diplomacy

Figure 2.4: Language policy and planning goals- an integrative framework

Source: Baldauf (2005a, p. 960)

37
plays a crucial role in developing a common lingua franca, a language for

international communication and languages to focus on identity (Chua, 2004).

Figure 2.5 illustrates a non-linear process of language planning and policy

(LPP) where the multiple forces, as exhibited by different actors, explicit and

hidden alike, at different levels, coherently facilitate and shape language

management in other nation-states. The three distinct groups of actors in the

process of LPP are the state at the macro/national level, the institutions, such

as schools, universities, media, private and public and business organisations

at the meso level and teachers at the micro-level.

Figure 2.5: Stages and Levels of Language Planning

Source: Catherine Chua Siew and Baldauf Jr. (2011, p. 940)

In view of the stages of language planning as mentioned above, a number of

six key issues have been suggested which language planning efforts typically

include (Baldauf, 2012, pp. 238-239):

38
 …migration and the treatment of new minorities, re-emerging polities

and the emergence of supra-states, deconstructing monolingual

identities, micro language planning, agency and language power, and

medium of instruction

Much research on EMI policy implementation focuses on both constraints and

opportunities. Several studies investigating the policy implementation have

been carried out in the European context (Doiz et al., 2012; Smit, 2012)

alongside Brazil (Guimarães, 2020; Martinez, 2016) and a few Arabic-

speaking countries (Al-Bakri, 2013; Belhiah & Elhami, 2015). Numerous

studies have conducted an investigation of EMI implementation affordances

and challenges in the East Asian context, in countries such as Korea (Byun et

al., 2011; Cho, 2012; Kim, Kweon, et al., 2017), Malaysia (Ali, 2013), Japan

(Rose & McKinley, 2018), China (Jiang et al., 2019; Zhang, 2018), Indonesia

(Zacharias, 2013), and Vietnam (Nguyen et al., 2017).

On the contrary, a few researchers have sought to examine the nature of

language-in-education policies in Bangladesh to investigate how it is enacted

at the macro (national), meso (university) and micro (individual) levels in

practice. In the past decade, a small number of studies in the context of

Bangladesh has provided a historical overview of English in education policy

from British colonial rule to Pakistani rule to the post-independence period to

contextualise the English language-in-education policies, its implementation

and ‘dismal’ outcomes (Hamid & Erling, 2016; Hamid & Nguyen, 2016). To that

39
end, the following section addresses, in greater detail, the standing of English

as a medium of instruction and the driving forces behind its implementation

under the realities of economic globalisation and the internationalisation of HE.

2.1.5 Driving forces behind the implementation of EMI

Reasons which have driven universities in non-Anglophone educational

contexts, as well as regional or national governments towards Englishisation,

allude to seven essential aspects of EMI (Coleman, 2006, p. 4):

CLIL (content and language integrated learning), internationalisation,

student exchanges, teaching and research materials, staff mobility,

graduate employability and the market in international students.

EMI is often chosen as many universities see it as a ‘two for one approach’

(Lightbown, 2014, p. 10) - an opportunity for students to develop a foreign

language and content knowledge efficiently as they enter an increasingly

competitive global labour market. However, much of the spread of EMI has

been driven by various societal factors such as improved quality of education,

higher domestic enrollment, potential revenue from international students,

proficiency in intercultural communication, increased employment/mobility

opportunities, domestic enrollment, etc. (Airey et al., 2017; Galloway, Numajiri,

et al., 2020). Government policy is often the impetus for such EMI

implementation (Graham & Eslami, 2019). For instance, the MOE’s policy in

China stipulates that 5–10% of a university’s undergraduate courses are

40
taught in English (Walkinshaw et al., 2017, p. 4). Likewise, the MOE in Japan

has made funding available to universities stipulating that the universities

increase the ‘ratio of foreign faculty and students’ and the number of ‘lectures

in English’ (MEXT Ministry of Education, 2014). Similarly, the MOE in Taiwan

offers incentives to drive universities to create EMI programmes by providing

funding for teaching assistants and overseas training to instructors who run

these EMI courses (Fenton-Smith, Stillwell, et al., 2017).

In the same way, many programmes throughout the Gulf are exclusively

taught in English, such as science-based majors in Kuwait (Malallah, 2000)

and Oman (Al-Issa, 2006, 2020) and a flagship initiative of Education City in

Qatar (Anderson, 2015) with branch campuses of some of the world’s leading

educational institutes. In the United Arab Emirates, however, EMI has been

dominant since the 1980s (Cook, 2016) as the nation has shifted towards

English as a lingua franca (ELF) over the past 40 years (Burden‐Leahy, 2009).

Even in Saudi Arabia, where language policy dictates instruction to be offered

in Arabic, universities have moved towards implementing EMI to catalyse a

transition toward a knowledge-based economy (Al-Kahtany et al., 2016).

In general, governments worldwide have pushed universities to offer EMI

courses to raise global profiles of universities as a response to international

HE competition (Graham & Eslami, 2019). With students and programmes

gaining mobility across borders in a globalised knowledge-based economy,

universities in many nations have been inevitably driven to implement

41
internationalisation strategies to improve quality and build an international

reputation by attracting talented students from abroad while retaining local

students (Hou et al., 2013).

With HEIs around the world seeking to internationalise by introducing or

expanding their EMI programmes, the need for change at the policy (macro),

institutional (meso), and classroom (micro) level is vital as enablers of effective

and sustainable language policy implementation. Accordingly, Macaro and

Akincioglu (2018, p. 256) maintains,

EMI is inextricably linked to the establishment of English as an

international language of communication resulting in greater student

mobility across countries leading to the need for the Medium of

Instruction (MOI) to be English.

Many non-English-speaking countries in Asia have adopted EMI as one of the

essential strategies to internationalise their universities, leading to rapid growth

in EMI courses and degree programmes (Altbach & Knight, 2007a; Tamtam et

al., 2012). As education is a powerful driver of language change (Kaplan &

Baldauf, 1997b), nations employ a language-in-education planning (LEP)

framework and apply policies by stipulating a primary medium of instruction

(MOI) besides local languages, which impact students’ social, academic,

occupational and economic prospects (Tollefson & Tsui, 2004). To further

elaborate, language planning occurs at three different levels: at a macro level,

governments predominantly stipulate a particular MOI in institutions; at a meso

42
level, institutions plan for implementation of the prescribed MOI; and at a

micro-level, academics and students use the mandated MOI in formal

educational settings within the LEP framework (Kaplan & Baldauf, 2003).

2.2 Perceived benefits of EMI

Driven by internationalisation (Galloway, Numajiri, et al., 2020), EMI in HE is

perceived to bring several benefits to students, such as enabling local students

to acquire a good command of English due to prolonged exposure, equipping

them with intercultural competency and adaptability besides global

competency, facilitating them to study abroad, as well as to get better positions

in the job market (Kelly, 2010; Tamtam et al., 2012). It is also seen to create a

favourable learning environment with extensive exposure to English besides

opportunities for its meaningful use to negotiate the curricular content, thus

leading to better acquisition (Galloway et al., 2017).

Despite issues such as funding, lack of qualified teaching staff, lack of

students’ understanding, interest and cultural opposition, the adoption of EMI

witnessed tremendous success in non-English-speaking European countries

than universities in Asia and Africa, as examined in a comparative study

conducted by Tamtam et al. (2012) exploring the implementation of EMI in

Europe, Asia and Africa. Widely adopted by universities in Europe, EMI is

perceived to have several benefits that include an improved international

profile of the institution, student exchanges, staff mobility (Knight, 2008),

graduate employability, strengthening of collaboration with foreign partner

43
HEIs and greater assistance for international students (Wächter & Maiworm,

2014). The primary objective of such EMI programmes is to equip national

human capital with both competencies in professional knowledge and

proficiency in the English language, enhancing students’ learning satisfaction,

increasing employability, facilitating international mobility as well as promoting

long-term national development (Chang, 2006; Coleman, 2011; Coleman,

2006; Kym & Kym, 2014). Moreover, the ever-increasing dominance of English

in academic publishing (Lillis & Curry, 2013) means that students’ access to

contemporary learning resources is often mediated by their competence in the

language.

Additionally, EMI is often perceived to help push HEIs upwards while

contesting for a place in domestic, regional, and global league tables (Hu,

2019), playing a crucial role in university rankings and eligibility for government

funding while attracting high-quality academics and enhancing the

employability of graduates.

2.3 Students’ perceptions and attitudes towards EMI in higher education

Over the past decades, several studies on EMI in HE in non-dominant English-

speaking countries have investigated perceptions and attitudes of students

and lecturers towards EMI through quantitative surveys (Aguilar & Rodríguez,

2012; Airey, 2011b; Başıbek et al., 2014; Collins, 2010; Jensen & Thøgersen,

2011; Tatzl, 2011). Existing literature on students’ perceptions of EMI have

primarily drawn evidence from Turkey (Ekoç, 2020; Kirkgöz, 2014; Sert, 2008),
44
Hong Kong (Flowerdew & Miller, 1992; Li et al., 2001; Lo & Macaro, 2012;

Pun, 2017, 2021), Taiwan (Chang, 2010; Huang, 2009; Wu, 2006), the

Emirates (Solloway, 2016; Troudi & Jendli, 2011), Oman (Ali, 2017), Pakistan

(Ahmed, 2012) but little from South Asian nations like India, Bhutan, Sri Lanka,

and Bangladesh (Hasan & Sultana, 2021; Islam, 2013; Murtaza, 2016;

Rahman & Singh, 2019; Rahman et al., 2020; Sultana, 2014a).

A considerable amount of EMI literature has examined teachers and students’

perceptions regarding EMI. Previous research on students’ perceptions of EMI

has shown an overall positive attitude towards the effectiveness of EMI,

particularly in improving English proficiency (Chang, 2010; Huang, 2009;

Hudson, 2009; Kym & Kym, 2014). Studies have reported that teachers and

students believe that EMI brings better career prospects of working in

international businesses and organisations (Zhang, 2018) and have examined

students’ motivation to enrol in EMI programmes (Belhiah & Elhami, 2015;

Ellili-Cherif & Alkhateeb, 2015; Graham & Eslami, 2019; Kim, Kweon, et al.,

2017; Lasagabaster et al., 2018). Similarly, students and lecturers in non-

dominant English-speaking European countries acknowledged the benefits of

EMI provision in HE in terms of career prospects, academic mobility, study-

abroad opportunities, and overall linguistic proficiency (Ball & Lindsay, 2012;

Coleman, 2006; Costa & Coleman, 2013; Doiz et al., 2012). Tatzl (2011), for

example, conducted a survey on sixty-six students and eight lecturers,

followed by lecturer interviews, from three EMI graduate programmes in the

faculty of Engineering and Business Studies at an Austrian university.

45
Respondents voiced support for EMI programmes, instrumental in the

enhancement of institutional profile. They recapitulated several benefits of EMI

in preparing graduates for the global workplace and further education while

increasing their self-confidence through higher English language proficiency.

In contrast, learning challenges, primarily language-related, are perceived to

be ‘insurmountable, if not unmanageable’ in EMI classrooms, where the

learning of English is ‘not prioritised nor usually supported’ (Soruç et al., 2021).

Challenges faced by students in EMI classrooms are typologically

characterised in four major categories, namely language-related challenges,

institutional/organisational challenges, nationality/culture-related challenges,

and materials-related challenges (Aizawa et al., 2020; Bolton & Kuteeva,

2012). Students' insufficient English language proficiency is seen to have

detrimental consequences on students' learning (Galloway, Curle, et al., 2020)

and students face challenges mostly in the productive skills area, namely

speaking and writing (Rose, Curle, et al., 2020). Yıldız et al. (2017) identified

the biggest student language-related problems to be difficulties in the

comprehension of technical vocabulary, lecturers’ speech, and continuous

lecturer code-switching. EMI students have reported linguistic challenges

associated with reading and understanding lectures and teaching materials

besides using appropriate academic styles to articulate ideas in class (Cho,

2012; Evans & Morrison, 2011). Students with self-perceived inadequate

English proficiency have been found to experience high levels of learning

anxiety (Huang, 2015), leading to lower academic attainment in EMI courses.

46
Ekoç (2020) investigated challenges faced by students enrolled in EMI

programmes at a technical university in Turkey and evaluated their

perceptions of lecturers’ English proficiency, the majority of whom mainly

teach contents in Turkish after explaining in English or teaching EMI courses

in Turkish throughout. The study, administered through a questionnaire,

revealed students’ discontentment about EMI courses offered at the HEI.

While EMI has gained widespread popularity, particularly throughout East Asia

and the Gulf, a few studies have shown that it has some undesirable effects on

the effectiveness of learning (Hou et al., 2013), leading to less interaction

between faculty and students, lower comprehension of subject content (Jon &

Kim, 2011; Marsh et al., 2000), hindered discussions among students in class

and low English proficient students strongly feeling disadvantaged besides

lowered graduation rates (Byun et al., 2011; Collins, 2010). Even though

probing into students’ learning experiences in educational programmes has

been of great interest to HE specialists, policymakers and drivers, there is a

scarcity of evidence that delves deep into the educational implications that

learning through EMI can have for students.

2.4 EMI research in Bangladesh

While teaching English as a second language has received much attention

from many researchers in Bangladesh, there is a general lack of research in

EMI studies related to its adoption and implementation or the lack thereof.

Given that there is a lack of an explicit medium of instruction (MOI) policy in

47
Bangladesh’s HE, the practice observed across institutions shows that Bangla

dominates humanities and social sciences. Even though English is prevalent in

science, technology, engineering, and medicine (Hamid, 2006), it is not

officially implemented as the medium of instruction in most Bangladeshi public

universities (Hamid & Jahan, 2015), creating an axiomatic divide between the

public and private sectors in Bangladeshi HE. However, since the Bangladeshi

government maintains a nationalist ideology of monolingualism and does not

promote the exclusive use of EMI in state-funded (public) universities, most

EMI research in Bangladesh is based on the context of private universities,

which have adopted English exclusively as an MOI since their inception.

Language education research has started to experience a ‘social turn’ (Block,

2003) from traditional second language acquisition research in the twentieth

century. It has shown immense interest in L2 learners and their biographies

(Benson, 2005) with a focus on their language learning experiences, beliefs,

views of classroom instruction and pedagogy, learning strategies, learner

agency, investment, and identity (Cervatiuc, 2009; Norton & Kamal, 2003;

Norton & Toohey, 2002) mainly from native English-speaking countries.

Despite several attempts at understanding students’ interpretations of teaching

and learning practices in EMI in Bangladeshi HE (Hamid, Jahan, et al., 2013b;

Islam, 2013; Murtaza, 2016; Rahman & Singh, 2021; Rahman et al., 2020;

Sultana, 2014b), there is a lack of evidence that addresses how fluidic social

identities are constructed in the utilisation of EMI using translanguaging as a

theoretical framework (Rahman & Singh, 2021; Sultana, 2015).

48
A significant study on EMI explored the policy and practice of using English as

an MOI in ten Asian polities, including Bangladesh, Hong Kong, India,

Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Maldives, Nepal, Timor-Leste and Vietnam

(Hamid, Nguyen, et al., 2013). Using a framework to elucidate the context,

goals, actors, implementation process, and outcomes of EMI, this study

emphasised the significance of using English as an MOI from a language

policy and planning and an educational perspective. In another significant

study, Sultana (2014a) found that Bangladeshi HE students perceived

themselves as being deficient and felt that they were ‘systematically excluded

from the classroom discussions and activities’ due to the usage of EMI. Taking

a mixed-method approach that explored the effect of EMI, a questionnaire

survey of 115 students and interviews with first-year students from three

private and two public universities were conducted. The paper proposed the

need for a balanced English language policy in Bangladeshi HE as EMI was

seen to severely hinder students’ possibilities of learning and the development

of identity.

In recent times, however, EMI research in Bangladesh has focused on

analysing publicly available HE institutional policy statements of private

universities besides interviewing policymakers, faculty members and students

to understand the management and practices of languages in HEIs (Rahman

& Singh, 2019; Rahman et al., 2020). A more recent study by Rahman et al.

(2021) explores the beliefs and attitudes of lecturers towards EMI in

Bangladeshi and Malaysian HE. While lecturers from both Bangladesh and
49
Malaysia supported the adoption of EMI in HE, Malaysian lecturers

acknowledged its implementation rooted in the ‘motive to internationalise HE’

owing to ‘Malaysia’s aspiration to become a global leader in research and

teaching at the tertiary level’ (p. 1222). Considering Malaysia's desire to

become a regional hub of quality HE to recruit international students, this

small-scale study reported how the national government's adoption of EMI

policies has positively shaped Malaysian lecturers' beliefs towards its

implementation. However, the implementation of EMI in the privately-owned

Bangladeshi HEIs is primarily driven by the aspiration of ‘producing local

English-speaking students who will be capable of global mobility’ (p.1223).

Despite this, the Bangladeshi lecturers are unwilling to focus on students’

English-related problems and feel they should only focus on content. Although

EMI has been exclusively adopted in the private sector of Bangladesh’s HE

since the early 1990s (Macaro et al., 2017), the findings of the study show that

the participating lecturers used Bengali as an MOI in the classroom due to the

English proficiency of the students and the lecturers themselves. It was

evident that the Malaysian lecturers mostly used English in class as they

believed it would be inappropriate to use the official Malay language as it might

preclude the participation of international students.

Most EMI research in Bangladesh has mainly drawn on studies conducted in

private universities with EMI provisions (Hamid, Jahan, et al., 2013b; Islam,

2013; Rahman & Singh, 2019; Rahman et al., 2020) to examine how students

and teachers constructed their perception towards the adoption of EMI policy
50
while viewing English proficiency development to be efficacious and beneficial

for individuals and societies. In contrast, a few studies have examined

lecturers’ perceptions of using EMI in state-owned universities by critically

examining English language practice and the implementation of EMI policy

within the context of Bangladeshi HE. Rahman, Singh, et al. (2019) studied the

linguistic, ideological stance lecturers take in public and private HEIs and

found a deep sense of nationalism driving strong support towards Bengali as

the preferred MOI in HE. The lecturers viewed mother tongue as conducive to

knowledge construction and innovative thinking rather than ‘teaching in a

foreign tongue’ as the internationalisation agenda did not drive the focal public

university.

Recent evidence based on a spoken discourse analysis of a daylong seminar

on the “MOI Policy for HEIs” (Karim et al., 2021) highlighted university

teachers’ preferences for using Bengali as the MOI in public and private HEIs.

Even though the findings demonstrate that the participating teachers, who had

taught in both public and private universities for more than 15 years, consider

the positive role of mother tongue to produce knowledgeable and skilful

graduates with critical thinking ability, the study recommends implementing a

national language-in-education policy to promote a bilingual curriculum in

which instruction is delivered in both English and Bengali.

2.5 Chapter Summary

51
This chapter has provided a snapshot of current developments and research in

the field of EMI, exploring the driving forces behind its expansion in the global

context to provide the rationales for the adoption of EMI in HE across non-

dominant English-speaking countries with different sociocultural and linguistic

backgrounds. While a review of the seminal research on EMI in HE across

nations has manifested that there is bulk research on EMI conducted in

European contexts, it has become a significant trend in Asian countries,

including Bangladesh. However, there is a lack of research in South Asian

countries where there has been a noticeable increase in EMI provision in HE

over the last decades. Few studies report a comprehensive account of

students and teachers’ negotiated practices in EMI, particularly in EMI

contexts in Bangladesh.

In terms of the methodological approach to EMI research investigating

students’ perceptions, most studies used surveys and small-scale case studies

to gather data instead of a phenomenological approach. Hence, it is essential

to undertake more research on EMI in Asia, specifically in South Asia, besides

other countries outside Europe, to corroborate the existing findings in the

current literature.

In brief, the effect of internationalisation, driven by language planning within a

monolingual linguistic ecology, is the most relevant to the aims of this

interpretative phenomenological study, which provided a detailed examination

of the lived experience through participant’s personal experiences and

52
perceptions of objects and events related to the phenomenon of learning

through EMI in HE. Therefore, this study moves from a review of the literature

of internationalisation at the conceptual level down to an in-depth review of

EMI as a means of internationalisation, drawing on previous studies that

highlighted English-only programmes in European and East Asian nations.

Given the global stature of English as a linguistic capital, this study further

draws on translanguaging as a theoretical framework, enabling students’

identities and mediating knowledge construction in a fluid academic literacy

space. In the following chapter, the theoretical framework of this research

study is discussed in greater detail.

Chapter 3: Theoretical framework

This chapter begins by laying out the theoretical dimensions of the research

that will be instrumental in investigating Bangladeshi students’ experiences of

learning by using EMI in HE. Following the literature review, the theoretical

underpinnings are used to logically develop and understand the different but

interconnected parts of the literature review. By gaining insights about a

phenomenon, researchers use a set of logically related propositions together

while forming a ‘theory’ (White & Klein, 2008). Serving as a structural

‘blueprint’, the theoretical framework is one of the most important aspects in

the research process in relation to the development of research questions, the

conceptualisation of the literature review, the methodology and analysis of the

53
findings. A bricolage approach was taken to develop a multi-theoretical

framework that reshaped the research questions and ‘pieced together’ a set of

complex representations originating in different interpretive paradigms (Denzin

& Lincoln, 2011, p. 45) that connected the research to the field (Agee, 2009,

p. 437) of EMI, EAP/ESP and applied linguistics as a whole. As discussed in

the next section, multiple theories were deployed to comprehend the

transformative characteristics of related concepts such as pedagogical

translanguaging, academic literacy, linguistic capital and shifts in identity,

which no longer remain confined within boundaries of traditional disciplines

(Kincheloe, 2001, p. 683).

3.1 Pedagogical translanguaging in EMI

In this fast-changing world, which is exceedingly open to learning, English as a

lingua franca is increasingly being used as a tool to communicate and

construct knowledge that transcends geographical boundaries to form more

equitable societies. Standing on the brink of the Fourth Industrial Revolution,

such geographical boundaries increasingly seems to become blurred. With

phenomena like human labour substitution, resulting from an impact of

emerging technologies and automation, education systems are extremely in

need of being reshaped beside governments, institutions, public health,

manufacturing industries, and services, among many others (Schwab, 2016).

Hence, monoglossic language ideologies are now contested, which drive

educational policies that legitimise a primary language of instruction and

54
knowledge besides native language(s) in bilingual/multilingual contexts (Mazak

& Herbas-Donoso, 2014).

Translanguaging has been considered to be an effective pedagogical practice

in facilitating language and content integrated learning (Coleman et al., 2018;

García, 2009). In addition, translanguaging as a theoretical framework has

recently encouraged EMI and CLIL researchers to analyse the tension

between English as the only language in classrooms and the reality of

multilingual students speaking multiple languages to facilitate the meaning-

making processes (Macaro, 2018). As a ‘rapidly expanding conceptual-cum-

theoretical, analytical and pedagogical lens’ (Leung & Valdés, 2019),

translanguaging challenges the monolingual pedagogical principle in EMI while

encouraging the learner and the teacher to draw on their familiar and available

linguistic, semiotic, and multimodal resources to facilitate the processes of

meaning-making in the classroom (Tai & Wei, 2020b, p. 607). Replacing the

monolingual view, the bilingual/multilingual view sees languages reinforcing

each other with no rigid boundaries between languages.

In previous bilingualism frameworks (Collier, 1995), sociocultural, linguistic,

academic, and cognitive development are linked as interdependent processes.

Any one of the components depends critically on the simultaneous

development of the three. Because of this, applied linguists have begun to

theorise more fluidic conceptualisations of language practices across bilingual

communities that refer to ‘translanguaging’ as a starting point, where mixing

55
and blending two different languages simultaneously in communication are no

longer seen as a problem (Flores & Schissel, 2014).

Coined initially as part of language research undertaken in a Welsh context in

the 1980s by Cen Williams, translanguaging is a ‘framework for

conceptualising the education of bilinguals as a democratic endeavour for

social justice’ (Velasco & García, 2014, p. 7) that reflect nation-state ideologies

(Heller, 2007). Hornberger (2002) further supports the pedagogical practices of

translanguaging and elaborates:

Bi/multilinguals’ learning is maximized when they are allowed and

enabled to draw from across all their existing language skills (in two +

languages), rather than being constrained and inhibited from doing so

by monolingual instructional assumptions and practices. (p. 607)

García (2009) further advocates this dynamic coexistence of languages that

supports ‘the development of multiple linguistic identities to keep a linguistic

ecology for efficiency, equity and integration, and responding to both local and

global contexts’ (p. 119). However, it differs from the notion of code-switching

in the sense that it refers not purely to ‘a shift or a shuttle’ between two

languages,

…but to the speakers’ construction and use of original and complex

interrelated discursive practices that cannot be easily assigned to one

56
 or another traditional definition of a language, but that make up the

speakers’ complete language repertoire. (Garcia & Wei, 2014, p. 22)

Such translanguaging approaches to language practices have been proposed

to be integrated as a resource for learning in bilingualism pedagogies that

foster the development of the target language proficiency. As language

accelerates the process of developing abilities for understanding and thinking,

it is rational to believe that bilingual individuals will use all their linguistic and

experiential resources to achieve understanding and develop metacognitive

skills and critical thinking, key dispositions needed for the future workplace

(Velasco & García, 2014).

Previous research on HE students in multilingual contexts has documented

approaches that create learning opportunities where ‘students are encouraged

to draw on their various languages (even if complete fluency is not available)

as resources, rather than as barriers . . .’ (Van Der Walt & Dornbrack, 2011).

More recently, research has demonstrated that translanguaging practices can

support language development, including metalinguistic awareness and cross-

linguistic flexibility (Cenoz, 2019; García-Mateus & Palmer, 2017) and more

significant language development in the second language (L2) (Allard, 2017).

Resulting in a strengthening of metalinguistic awareness, the self-directed use

of translanguaging strategies offers possibilities for developing proficiency in

negotiating language usage (Cenoz, 2019). These translanguaging practices

are, however, not viewed as a deficiency in linguistic, cognitive, or social

57
capacities but rather demonstrated as a high level of skill in multilingual or

transnational students.

Further shaped and constrained by social norms, expectations and language

ideologies, translanguaging encompasses a range of communicative and

cultural practices through which bilinguals create identities in different social

contexts (Sayer, 2013). This maximises communicative potential while

indicating social standing, class, prestige, and access to various forms of

human capital (Bourdieu, 1991). These situating approaches of

translanguaging practices are seen to be dynamic and malleable within an

ecology of language framework, influenced by naturalistic opportunities in the

environment that help develop academic literacies among bilingual learners

through their participation in language and literacy activities (Leather & van

Dam, 2003) as discussed below.

3.2 Measures of academic literacy (AL) and deep learning

Central to understanding issues related to students’ learning experiences in

HE, academic literacy (AL) practices have been developed from the idea of

‘new literacy studies’ (Barton, 1994; Baynham, 1995; Street, 1984). The

concept of AL was originally developed regarding multiplicity as manifested

through variations in disciplinary and subject matter courses in academic

contexts. This approach to literacy focuses on the cultural and contextual

component of writing and reading practices to facilitate students to adapt to the

norms and conventions prevalent in socially positioned discourse practices

58
that vary with the milieu, culture, and genre (Barton, 1998; Street, 1984, 1995).

As theories of reading, writing and literacy have been further developed as

New Literacy Studies (Barton, 1994; Gee, 1996) and reconceptualised

employing cultural and social practices, it is important to comprehend how

academic practices are contested among students, staff and institutions in

non-English speaking countries.

More specifically, the significant component of AL constitutes meaningful

social practices bounded by knowledge of English, understanding of the

content topic, and knowledge of how the tasks are to be accomplished across

disciplines. In many countries, the development of AL (Lea & Street, 1998)

encompasses two or more languages - the local language and English, where

a balance between the two disciplinary languages is directly influenced by the

acquisition of disciplinary knowledge (Airey, 2011b). In view of this, disciplinary

literacy has been conceptualised as ‘the ability to appropriately participate in

the communicative practices of a discipline’ that entails developing

communicative competence for the academy, the workplace, and society

(Airey, 2011a).

The variation in contextual usage of language has significant educational

implications, unfolding into two dimensions of language proficiency: Cognitive

Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) and Basic Interpersonal

Communication Skills (BICS) (Cummins, 1980). CALP stands in contrast to

everyday informal speech students use outside the classroom environment. It

59
is used in more abstract, context-reduced communications to understand and

discuss academic topics in the classroom and to read and write about them in

university assignments and examinations while showing a deeper

understanding of concepts. On the contrary, BICS, purely context-embedded,

is used in everyday life, such as in conversations with family members and

friends, informal interactions with shop assistants during shopping or casual

conversation on Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter or various internet forums. As

non-academic language, for that matter, BICS has been termed invariably as

‘everyday, ordinary, informal, conversational, contextualised, cognitively

undemanding, interpersonal, basic, playground, and even street language’

(Bunch, 2014). By creating meaningful activities or experiences that are

cognitively challenging (Baker, 2001), it is important to provide ample support

and explicit guidance to students as they embrace the fluid nature of language

practices (Garcia & Wei, 2014), moving from the everyday spoken mode to the

formal academic written or speaking mode in their academic studies.

In reality, CALP proficiency does not come naturally and requires explicit

instruction even for native learners (Derewianka, 2014, p. 165). This CALP, as

suggested by Cummins, is associated with cognitive and memory skills that

impact critical thinking and deep learning (see Figure 3.1), and is thus a major

determinant of educational success, driving student learning experiences,

which this research study primarily endeavours to address. However, often

overlooked by many educators, knowledge of the English language is a

prerequisite to academic success and attainment of content standards.

60
Acquiring English language skills is analogous to the acquisition of literacy

skills in standard varieties (Ferguson, 2006).

Conversational
Proficiency

Cognitive Language
Process Proficiency

Knowledge Pronunciation
Comprehension Vocabulary
Application surface Grammar

deep Semantic
Meaning
Analysis
Synthesis Functional
Evaluation meaning
Cognitive/Academic proficiency

Figure 3.1: The ‘iceberg’ representation of language proficiency (Cummins, 1984, p.

138)

Students who take a surface approach, on the other hand, tend to memorise

concepts/ideas without understanding and are strictly constrained by specific

learning tasks. The main difference between deep and surface learning

approaches lies in how learners conceptualize learning and why they do so

(Marton & Säljö, 1976). A deep approach to learning is more likely to result in

effective learning. In contrast, a surface approach - strongly driven by fear of

failure- is expected to lead to a low level of understanding and ineffective

learning (Entwistle & Ramsden, 2015) exacerbated by students’ language

comprehension inabilities. In essence, students must acquire the language

related to the academic topics, learn the content concepts and perform the

tasks associated with the subject area (Short, 2002):

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 ….using English, students must read and understand expository prose

found in textbooks and reference materials, take notes, write

persuasively, and discuss information from multiple perspectives. They

must also articulate their thinking skills through English—make

predictions, interpret information, draw conclusions… generate the

format of an outline, negotiate roles in cooperative learning groups,

analyze charts and tables. (p. 18)

As ‘language is the dominant medium’ through which academic subjects are

taught and students’ knowledge of the concepts tested (Lemke, 1988, p. 81), a

Language-Content-Task (LCT) framework (see Figure 3.2) highlights the three

areas of AL around which teachers should essentially organise their instruction

that directly impacts the teaching, learning and assessment process. This

discussion of the LCT framework is pertinent to demonstrate the impact of

overall language competence in helping students gain access to knowledge

and learning. More specifically, the language circle within this LCT framework

recognise the need for content teachers to deliver explicit instruction for

students learning how to read, write, listen, and speak in English, including

language functions that students must use within various social practices as in

clarifying, persuading, justifying, negotiating meaning, and summarising beside

other language learning strategies, such as self-monitoring and using contexts.

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 Procedural Knowledge

Semantics,
Content topics syntax,pragmatics,functions,acquisition
of language skills
Interaction

Specialised
Register

Figure 3.2: The LCT framework model of academic literacy (Short, 2002)

The content circle, on the other hand, refers to the higher concepts and topics

taught in classrooms while the tasks test their comprehension and learning

through the usage of language. Interaction, in contrast, lies at the core of the

three overlapping circles, which reinforces the active role students must take,

and the explicit guidance teachers must provide in the co-construction of

knowledge in the classroom. As a whole, the language, procedural knowledge

and task circles converge, reminding teachers to focus on both the language

and process in their instructional practices of content subjects besides

providing targeted instructions for tasks while contributing to deep learning.

Therefore, the goal of instruction using English as an MOI should be to

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encourage students to adopt a deep approach, contributing positively to

learning outcomes (Zeegers, 2001) for the subjects that are important for their

professional or personal development (Felder & Brent, 2005).

To this end, several academic languages and learning studies (Gollin, 1998;

Skillen, 2006; Skillen et al., 1998) have highlighted the importance of

academic literacies having to be embedded within specific discipline courses

as part of the core curriculum, especially in the first year in HE. While EMI

researchers continue to discuss approaches as to how academic literacy can

be embedded into teaching and learning practices, there is a clear gap in the

research of second language learners’ academic literacy while studying in an

EMI context. A few studies have addressed academic literacy and examined

student writing practices (Cheng, 2008; Wingate, 2018; Yung & Fong, 2019)

and the role of content teachers in students’ academic literacy development

(Lasagabaster, 2018; McGrath et al., 2019). However, there appears to be a

shortage of literature that highlight challenges faced by students regarding

academic literacy practices in EMI programmes and researchers continue to

explore approaches as to how academic literacy can be embedded into a

range of remedial mainstream courses students are required to take.

3.3 The linguistic ecology, identity and Bourdieusian linguistic capital

The perceived status of English as the lingua franca (ELF), indexed with

internationalisation, set forth the parameters of language policies and

management in many nations. In today’s globalized world, at the core of

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language ecology paradigm, multilingualism is increasingly viewed as a

resource rather than as a problem. Hornberger (2002) focuses on three critical

aspects of the language ecology metaphor: language evolution, language

environment, and language endangerment. She suggests that languages are

understood to live and evolve in an ecosystem along with other languages,

interact with their socio-political, economic and cultural environments, and

become endangered if there is inadequate environmental support for them in

relation to other languages in the ecosystem (p. 323). Hornberger (2002)

extends the concept of ecology of language to the field of language planning,

pointing out that the ecology of language metaphor underpins a multilingual

approach to language planning and policy. However, language policy and

planning research must deal with language behaviour and identity issues at

the micro, individual level, and at the level of macro investigations (Ricento,

2000, p. 208). By all means, language ideologies include values, practices and

beliefs associated with the language used by speakers and the discourse that

constructs values and beliefs at state, institutional and global levels. Therefore,

debates about language are not about language alone (Woolard, 1998) but are

socially situated and tied to questions of identity and power in societies.

In view of the above, Bourdieu argues that the official language is bound up

with the state, both in its genesis and in its social uses: ‘It is in the process of

state formation that the conditions are created for constitution of a unified

linguistic market, dominated by the official language’ (1991, p. 45). For one

language to impose itself as the only legitimate one, the linguistic market has
65
to be unified and the different languages (and dialects) of the people

measured practically against the legitimate language (Bourdieu, 1991, p. 46):

Integration into a single ‘linguistic community’, which is a product of

the political domination that is endlessly reproduced by institutions

capable of imposing universal recognition of the dominant language, is

the condition for the establishment of relations of linguistic domination.

This linking of language, literacy, and national identity happens in several

sites, which include language planning, standardisation and educational policy,

through which it is decided which standard languages are to be employed—

and thus legitimised as capital—in the public school system (Blackledge,

2005). Bourdieu (1991) further elaborates that capital is ‘knowledge, skills and

other cultural acquisitions, as exemplified by educational or technical

qualifications.’ In the same way, linguistic capital is one of the forms of cultural

capital. As later discussed in the next chapter, it is inherited or acquired over

time, not transferable and influences one’s habitus, which is an inclusion of

attitude and dispositions.

Broadly speaking, while habitus is structured mostly by one’s past and present

situation, which includes family and the most important agency education, it is

this structuring that habitus affect in the shaping of one’s present and future

practices. As individuals are socially embedded, one is able to recognise the

power of social values, cultural beliefs and linguistic features and is able to

acquire the skills and internalise the values and beliefs while being a dweller of
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that ‘defining community’ (Taylor, 1989). Such a community is instrumental in

providing the language in which individuals understand themselves and

construe their world while 'entering into ongoing conversations between ...

people with a particular role or status in the web of relationships that make up

[the] community' (Taylor, 1989). Through social interactions, negotiations and

transactions, an individual can construct his true identity within the community

(Mead, 1934).

In essence, identity is defined as ‘the way we make sense of ourselves and

the image of ourselves that we present to others’ (Day, 2011, p. 48).

Fundamentally, identity is seen as something which is fragmentarily

constructed, inherently multifaceted and hence ‘impermanent’ and fluidic in

nature (Bendle, 2002). Giddens (1991, p. 5) further conceptualises identity as

a 'reflexively organised project' orchestrated primarily by the individual and

multiple individual choices that are 'filtered through abstract systems' as

distinct from local or visible institutions. Adding to this definition, Bucholtz and

Hall (2005) broadly describe identity as ‘the social positioning of self and other’

(p. 586), co-constructed using language as a tool. In this view of identity,

identity emerges from the specific conditions of linguistic interaction:

Identity is best viewed as the emergent product rather than the pre-

existing source of linguistic and other semiotic practices and therefore

as fundamentally a social and cultural phenomenon.

(p. 588)

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However, in today’s fast-paced digital era, the problem of identity is ‘primarily

how to avoid fixation and keep the options open' (Bauman, 2011, p. 18) as

individual identities are reconstructed and redefined while being inherently

fluidic, fragmented and transient, ‘like a chameleon that changes its colour

according to its environment’ (Warin, 2011) Thus, Castells (2004, p. 1) sees

identity as an active process of construction and illustrates how ‘our world, and

our lives, are being shaped by the conflicting trends of globalisation and

identity’. In view of these concepts, acquiring a particular language in a

specific accent, for instance, hinges on how much a speaker is exposed to

people around them speaking in a specific accent. However, Bourdieu argues

that (in Bourdieu and Wacquant 1992) access to legitimate language is not

equal and some monopolise that linguistic competence.

In relation to Bangladeshi HE students’ learning experiences through EMI,

access to discourses and discursive practices of various subjects/disciplines is

negotiated and differentially accessible using English. For those students who

enter classrooms with linguistic competence in the discursive practices of

English, access to discipline is made more easily. Simultaneously, such

students are more likely to be constructed as successful students based on

the teacher's judgement of their ability. A language background is a form of

capital that can be transformed into an academic reward within this context.

However, for students with low linguistic competence in English, identity

formation can be a distressing process that requires them to adopt an altered

68
worldview with different values and emotional orientations (Costello, 2005).

This internal experience of psychological conflict has been termed identity

dissonance. Identity dissonance occurs when an individual encounters

difficulty as he seeks to reconcile the identity of himself as he becomes ‘aware

of disharmonious experiences of self’ (Warin et al., 2006, p. 237). Creating a

significant emotional disruption, identity dissonance can contribute to students

questioning their values, ambitions, abilities, and ‘their very self-worth’

(Costello, 2005, p. 26). ‘Self-building’ in nature, identity can be created through

‘increased social awareness’ (Warin, 2011, p. 811) involving life experiences,

thoughts and beliefs, relationships and connections as well as human

disposition itself. On the whole, identity is constructed by marking difference by

using binary oppositions of self and the other ‘…through the symbolic systems

of representation, and through forms of social exclusion’ (Woodward, 1997, p.

29). While identity dissonance can be significant emotional disruption arising

from a negative experience of learning through EMI, it can contribute to

students questioning their values, ambitions, abilities, and their very self-worth

(Joseph et al., 2017). Such experience of discordance can activate a more

complex narrative sensitivity of self which then functions to accommodate

competing feelings about past, present and future as well as mismatches

between existing and preferred selves (Warin et al., 2006, p. 237).

Exploring the impact of English on students’ EMI learning experiences in HE,

this research study further shed light on how students from diverse gender,

region and educational backgrounds interacted with peers, teachers in ESL

69
classrooms as influenced by the HEI and how these interactions affected their

learning experiences. In order to examine HE students’ learning experiences,

the study utilised the Bourdieusian notion of cultural capital in a structural,

institutionalised form to understand the influence of academic credentials and

qualifications and linguistic competence (Sullivan, 2001), among other factors.

Viewing learning as a social phenomenon (Becher & Trowler, 2001), learning

experiences are influenced by various elements of social structures, such as

power relations, identity, social class, gender and ethnicity (Trowler, 2009).

Moreover, viewed as ‘intellectual and social skills attained through

communication experiences in more than one language and/or style’ (Yosso,

2005), linguistic capital can be defined as ‘fluency in, and comfort with, a high

status…language which is used by groups who possess economic, social and

political power and status in local and global society’ (Morrison & Lui, 2000).

According to Bourdieu, a field is a social space, where social relations regulate

actions and behaviours of actors through sets of rules or ‘regularities, that are

not explicit or codified’ (Bourdieu & Wacquant, 1992, p. 98). Within tthese

adjacent and ‘overlapping social fields’ (Albright & Luke, 2007), rules are

instead interpreted and practised by social actors and not predetermined

scripts guiding action and behaviour.

Capital, in contrast, comes in a range of forms, from economic, cultural to

social capital, including cultural goods, educational qualifications, familial and

social networks (Bourdieu, 1986). A social actor is considered to have

70
linguistic capital that can be utilised to accrue other forms of capital when he

can use the field’s legitimate language with appropriate linguistic registers

(Bourdieu, 1991). In the field of education, actors gain insider knowledge and

understandings of a field over time and can generate strategies that conform

to rules of the game as part of the machinery and mastery of a feel of the

game (Bourdieu & Wacquant, 1992).

As a whole, language has been viewed as a special kind of field transcending

all fields as being the medium for communication (Grenfell, 2012) through

which agents gain access to employment and other aspects of social and

economic marketplace through the ownership of linguistic capital (Goldstein,

2008). ‘Language forms a kind of wealth’ (Bourdieu, 2000), evolving into

linguistic capital that has numerous manifestations in individuals’ lives as well

as within surrounding social systems, having the power to empower or

disempower individuals (Abrar-ul-Hassan, 2021). Bourdieu’s concept of

cultural capital in its embodied, objectified and institutionalised form, refers to

the collection of symbolic elements, such as, languages, skills, tastes,

mannerisms, credentials and so on, that one acquires through being part of a

particular community or social class, giving them a sense of collective identity.

In view of language as a capital, it is argued that language competence is ‘a

statutory ability’ (Bourdieu & Wacquant, 1992, p. 146) that will have a

substantial impact on academic literacy, which, in succession, will enable

access to knowledge, leading to academic success. Thus, this study drew

upon the emancipatory roles played by linguistic capital as a form of cultural

71
wealth in explaining the learning experiences of HE students, drawing on their

attitudes as they strived through their academic journey using EMI.

3.4 Chapter Summary

As the overarching aim of this study is to understand teaching and learning

practices in the light of student interpretations and conceptualisations of using

EMI in Bangladeshi HE institutional settings, this research study

operationalised concepts from academic literacy and translanguaging

pedagogy while employing a theoretical lens of linguistic capital as visually laid

out in Figure 3.3.

Figure 3.3: Theoretical Framework

This is to provide a meta-interpretation of the way the ‘educational transactions

or encounters’ (Pring, 2004, p. 229) of ESL students are constituted and how

they engage themselves into making sense of their own learning experiences

in EMI through translanguaging practices in the light of ‘teaching approaches,

72
learning resources’, as evident in the LCT framework, and other relevant

institutional factors that ‘shape their encounters with the curriculum’ (Ashwin &

Mcvitty, 2015). Following a deep and thoughtful understanding of the way

these theories connected to the research problem, this conceptual framework

served as the foundation for and guided the choice of research design and

data analysis (Grant & Osanloo, 2015, p. 17) as discussed in the following

chapter.

Chapter 4: Research Design and Methodology

This chapter describes the research design by detailing the methodological

approach used in this study and describing the procedures of data generation,

collection, and analysis procedures. It begins by outlining the epistemological

and ontological stance of the researcher that informs the research inquiry

while providing a rationale as to why interviews and observations were mainly

employed as a research approach besides document analysis. The chapter

then details participant profiles and sampling strategies while discussing the

tools that were considered appropriate for data collection and the approaches

used for data analysis, followed by a discussion of the institutional context of

the study. The chapter concludes by focusing on the ethical considerations

and limitations of the study.

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4.1 Research design

This study examines the learning experiences of HE students through English-

medium instruction (EMI) in a private university in Bangladesh. The study

simultaneously explores the various actors, as subjects of the learning activity

system, who have different roles within the hierarchy of the University of

Bangladesh (pseudonym). Exploring distinct settings to EMI practices in

Bangladesh, this thesis addresses the lack of empirical research on students’

perceptions of learning through English. Guided by the following research

questions that outline the stages of the research process and illustrate the

overall approach to the study, the following table (Table 4.1) highlights the

datasets used in addressing the research questions:

Research questions Datasets

1. What are the perceived challenges students face

that affect teaching and learning practices in an English

medium instructional context and how do these

students respond to the challenges? Observations

2. How do students’ perceptions about their identities Interviews (n=24)

and previous learning influence their learning

experiences through English as a second/additional

language?

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 3. How do state and institutional influences impact EMI Documents

adoption in Bangladeshi HEIs?

Table 4:1: Datasets used in addressing the research questions

4.2 The essence of EMI experiences- a phenomenological perspective

In examining how Bangladeshi HE students conceptualise learning through

EMI, this study employed qualitative modes of inquiry, consistent with the

study's objective to explore complex social phenomena - as experienced by

EMI students - for more profound and meaningful understanding (Creswell,

2007). As the current study aims to describe experiences, events, or culture

from the perspective of HE students, qualitative methodological techniques

were utilised to interpret the students’ overlapping versions of reality. Intended

to generate knowledge grounded in human experience (Sandelowski, 2004), a

qualitative researcher does not ask about any context but instead asks about

‘the delicacy of its distinctions’ (Geertz, 1973, p. 25). In essence, qualitative

researchers take a holistic perspective in studying phenomena in their natural

settings through a series of interpretive representations, including field notes,

interviews, documents, recordings, and memos (Denzin & Lincoln, 2011, p.

43), providing rich and detailed insights into participants’ experiences of the

world. At the core of this approach lie methods for representing what Geertz

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(1973, p. 10) termed the ‘microscopic’ details of the social and cultural aspects

of individual lives.

Since the present study was exploratory and interpretative in nature, a

phenomenological perspective was adopted to understand the meanings of

human experiences (Creswell, 2012). Bounded by ‘an inquiry process of

understanding based on distinct methodological traditions of (qualitative)

inquiry that explore a social or human problem’ (Creswell, 2007, p. 5), such a

phenomenological approach was taken to gain deep insights into life-world

experiences (Moustakas, 1995) of the students and teachers. Consequently,

by generating a wide variety of data from multiple sources such as interviews,

observation, and documents (Denscombe, 2017; Denzin & Lincoln, 2013),

‘efforts [was] made to get inside… and to understand from within’ (Cohen et

al., 2000, p. 22) how the social realities of student learning were constantly ‘in

the making’ (Elliott, 2005).

Developed as a method of inquiry by the German philosophers Edmund

Husserl (1859 -1938) and Martin Heidegger (1889 -1976), the concept of

phenomenology was introduced as ‘Dasein’ or ‘Being there’ in a dialogue

between a person and their ‘lived-world’ (Groenewald, 2004). Enabling the

researchers to reveal the ‘essence’ or ‘commonalities’ (Fraenkel et al., 2015,

p. 432) of multiple perceptions, phenomenology is concerned with the lived

experiences of the people (Greene, 1997; Kvale, 1996; Maypole & Davies,

2001) involved or the social phenomenon being researched. Nevertheless, in

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contrast to positivists, phenomenologists believe that the researcher cannot be

detached from their own presuppositions and that the researcher should not

pretend otherwise (Hammersley, 2000).

This methodological approach enabled the researcher to gain a thorough and

in-depth understanding of the EMI students’ experiences and perspectives of

learning through EMI in a natural context (Dhillon et al., 2008) of HE. The

essential inner nature of a thing is what makes a thing what it is, and

phenomenology is a systematic attempt to uncover and describe the internal

meaning structures of lived experience (van Manen, 1990, p. 10). This

approach is based on several assumptions, such as evolving social

constructions of meaning where the researcher becomes a part of the

experience being studied through an interpretive hermeneutic methodological

approach, sharing knowledge with the participants as partners even though

the meanings may not be shared by everyone (Boss et al., 1996). Unlike

transcendental or psychological phenomenology, a hermeneutic

phenomenological approach describes the participants’ ‘consciousness’ of

experiences as interpreted by the researcher’s understanding of the lifeworld

phenomenon (Reiners, 2012). It refers to how ‘people interpret and make

sense of experiences … according to their pre-existing values and ways of

seeing the world’ (Willis, 2001, p. 5). As endorsed by Heidegger, researchers

become ‘enmeshed’ with the experience and do not bracket their biases and

the prior engagement with the question under study, thus gaining

understanding and interpretation of phenomenon through shared knowledge

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and shared experiences. Thus, meaning-making of the ‘lived experiences’

(Creswell, 2007) is further driven by the researcher's positionality, as

discussed later (p. 86). The horizon of universal essence between the

researcher and participants is fused to provide a broader understanding of the

phenomenon under investigation.

In recent years, few studies in EMI have taken a phenomenological approach

to explore the language ideologies of lecturers besides students regarding the

implementation and administration of EMI in HEIs. Hasirci and Cosgun (2018)

took a phenomenological approach to report on an investigation of Turkish

English-medium university students’ perceptions of developments in their

language ability in an EMI context. Results revealed students’ effectual use of

English in their studies owing to high exposure to English and their perception

of the effectiveness of corrective feedback playing ‘a crucial role’ in helping

them refocus their attention on structure and forms. However, the study found

speaking to be perceived as the ‘weakest and least improved skill’ in students’

views. However, Ozer (2020) conducted a phenomenological study of Turkish

lecturers’ (n=102) perception of EMI undergraduate programmes through an

open-ended questionnaire that examined teaching practices and training

preferences and challenges encountered while teaching content through EMI.

Through a thematic analysis of the data collected from lecturers, findings

demonstrated that most of the participants sought EMI language provision and

support system within their HEI. Even though the lecturers favoured the

university’s EMI policy and strived to use English to the best of their ability,
78
they envisioned the university administration to provide EMI training in

accordance with the implementation and administration of institutional

language policy.

More recently, Sarkar et al. (2021) explored the language ideology of lecturers

and students regarding the benefits of EMI through a small-scale

phenomenological study (n = 8) conducted in Bangladeshi private universities.

Using semi-structured interviews and classroom observations, the study's

findings revealed lecturers and students’ challenges due to their limited

proficiency in the English language despite their beliefs about the perceived

benefits of EMI in producing globally competent workforces with English

language proficiency.

Another recent study by Cason (2021) carried out a phenomenological study

to describe the experience of cultural identity in an EMI context for Black

university students in South Africa. Drawn from data collected from 10

students through in-depth individual interviews, focus group interviews, and

self-reflection letters written to an imaginary new student, the findings

demonstrated contradictions, complexities, and tensions amidst students

negotiating with their cultural and national identity in an EMI context.

Furthermore, several recent studies have used interpretative

phenomenological analysis and multimodal conversation analysis to study the

use of translanguaging to achieve pedagogical goals in EMI mathematics

classrooms in secondary schools in Hong Kong (Tai & Wei, 2021; Tai, 2021b;
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Tai & Wei, 2020a, 2020b). Findings from these studies suggest the role of

translanguaging in fostering ‘equity in knowledge construction’ by creating a

safe space for learning that challenges ‘the hierarchical relationship’ between

teachers and learners (Tai & Wei, 2021, p. 241).

Overall, taking a phenomenological approach, this current study enabled

viewing an overlapping version of reality as constructed by individual students

while examining the realities of learning in HE through EMI. Hence, to capture

the meanings behind social interactions of individual participants, a variety of

research protocols were developed, from document reviews and observations

to interviews, drawn from research questions that are concerned with factors

that impact students’ learning experiences through EMI. In achieving its

overarching aim by offering the potential to explore a rich nexus of social and

cultural issues that profoundly affected the participants, this array of data

functioned as lenses to capture the nuances of the experiences and

perspectives of the students.

4.3 The researcher’s philosophical stance and position

In qualitative research, researchers adhere to a particular philosophical

paradigm making assumptions upon which research in a field of inquiry is

based. According to Guba (1990, p. 17), paradigms equate with theory and

bear the researcher’s ‘epistemological, ontological and methodological

premises’. While ontology embodies understanding ‘what is’, epistemology

tries to understand ‘what it means to know’. Epistemology provides a

80
philosophical background for deciding what kinds of knowledge are legitimate

and adequate (Gray, 2014). To understand how students experience learning

through EMI, the current study adopts an interpretive paradigm instead of a

scientific or positivist paradigm of studying the social world as experienced

subjectively by each person in their own way. The interpretive or constructivist

paradigm is informed by a belief that knowledge is inter-subjectively

constructed. The study of phenomena in their natural environment is key to the

interpretivist philosophy where individuals see, build and interpret reality

through their individual lenses within the context of social practices. By

studying ‘interactive human behaviour’ and their actions, researchers seek to

make sense of the world ‘through interpretive schemes or frameworks’ (Scott

& Usher, 2011, p. 29). This emphasises that the interpretivist paradigm

highlights the impact that the social context has in shaping the respondents’

perceptions about reality, underlining their views and perceptions of EMI within

the construction and reconceptualisation of institutional policies and practices.

Furthermore, taking a hermeneutic approach as discussed previously (p.80),

this interpretivist-constructivist philosophical stance helped contextualise

students’ learning experiences in the light of family, educational, social, and

institutional background within an interpretive loop of human action. Drawn

from theology, the term ‘hermeneutics’ is a method of interpretive inquiry

focusing on biblical and philosophical texts (Packer & Addison, 1989). This

approach is concerned with ‘the theory and method of the interpretation of

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human action’ (Bryman, 2012, p. 28), emphasising the need to understand

from the perspective of the social actors.

Since ‘a phenomenological study investigates various reactions to, or

perceptions of, a particular phenomenon’ (Fraenkel et al., 2015, p. 432), this

approach matches with the aims of the present study to undertake an in-depth

investigation of experiences and perceptions of Bangladeshi HE students’ in

an EMI context. Hence, interviews conducted through a series of open-ended

questions enabled the participant to provide a composite ‘description of the

authentic experience’ (Denscombe, 2017, p. 98) in order to unearth the

underlying essence of the phenomenon.

Phenomenological research is often regarded as ‘a form of deep learning,

leading to a transformation of consciousness, heightened perceptiveness,

increased thoughtfulness’ (van Manen, 1990, p. 163), integrating not only the

participants’ sense of their lived experience but also the researcher’s attempt

in understanding how the participant makes sense of their personal and social

world (Smith et al., 2012). Therefore, the researcher's position has a significant

impact on the study as a whole as it affects both the way research questions

are formulated and how data is collected and interpreted (Ganga & Scott,

2006).

Positionality is the notion that personal values, views, and location in time and

space influence how one understands the world. Emphasising critical and

reflective practice (Mason, 2018; Reinharz, 1997), a researcher’s positioning

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involves personal characteristics such as gender, race, class, culture, political

affiliation, religion, age, biases, personal experiences, language, preferences,

ideological stances and emotional responses to participants (Bradbury-Jones,

2007; Oliver, 2010). As Foote and Bartell (2011, p. 46) further noted,

The positionality that researchers bring to their work, and the personal

experiences through which positionality is shaped, may influence what

researchers may bring to research encounters, their choice of

processes, and their interpretation of outcomes.

It is crucial, therefore, to pay close attention to the researcher’s positionality to

undertake ethical research (Sultana, 2007), widely conceptualised in terms of

‘insider’ and ‘outsider’ positions (Creswell, 2012; Merriam et al., 2001) utilising

the position researchers may hold in relation to other elements in the setting in

which the research is being formulated and carried out. As an insider

researcher, ‘who belongs to the groups / communities they are researching’

(Clarke & Braun, 2013, p. 332), the role of the researcher in making meaning

of their lifeworld is a vital aspect that distinguishes a hermeneutic

phenomenological inquiry. Instead of bracketing off the researcher’s subjective

perspective, the researcher’s past experiences, reflexivity, education, and

knowledge are valuable guides to the interpretive process of the inquiry, which

has been deemed worthy of investigation (Neubauer et al., 2019). Thus, in the

hermeneutic approach to phenomenology, researchers ‘capture their

reflections in writing and then reflect and write again, creating continuous,

83
iterative cycles to develop increasingly robust and nuanced analyses’ while

maintaining ‘strong orientation’ to the socially constructed phenomenon

studied through ‘interactions between the parts and the whole’ (Bynum &

Varpio, 2018).

In the present study, the researcher’s role as an insider and position as an

ESL teacher provided greater accessibility to the HEI (field) as the participants

were more willing to share their experiences, thoughts, and beliefs with

someone they perceived to be more aware of their situation concerning the

various social and cultural factors. Consistent with the hermeneutic

phenomenology’s philosophical roots, her view of the lifeworld of English

language teaching and learning and subjectivity allowed her to investigate

students’ experiences as lived rather than conceptualised. In a further attempt

to get an emic point-of-view, her background as an experienced ESL teacher

influenced the way language was meaningfully used while conducting

interviews, taking field notes during observations, choosing the suitable

theoretical lens to filter the gathered data as well as making meaning of it

(Berger, 2015, p. 219). Even though the interpretation of various life

experiences ‘is mediated by the interaction of a complex set of status

variables, such as gender, social class, age, political affiliation, religion, and

region’ (Banks, 1998, p. 5), as researchers, one can be outsiders to a

community of participants at different levels and times while being able to see

things not evident to the insiders, depicting a more objective portrayal of the

reality under study.

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4.4 Data Collection

In order to analyse students’ learning experiences in the ESL programme, data

were collected using documentary review, observation, and interviews. The

data for the study were collected in two phases at a private Bangladeshi HEI.

In the initial phase, signed approval was sought from the chancellor of the

university, and the bureaucratic process lasted from mid-June to mid-

September 2019. During the first phase of the data collection, official

documents about the university, the existing ESL programme and state

education policies were gathered and scrutinised in the absence of the state

and institutional language policy documents. The second phase of the data

collection ran from January 2020 to September 2020. During this phase, all

observations and formal interviews were conducted. The following sections

discuss these tools in more detail, with a particular focus on how they enabled

the collection of the data.

4.4.1 Documents

In the preliminary stage of data collection, document analysis was undertaken

as a complementary data collection procedure supporting data triangulation

and theory building (Bowen, 2009). Qualitative researchers commonly use

different methods and at least two data sources to seek convergence and

corroboration while providing ‘a confluence of evidence that breeds credibility’

(Eisner, 1991) through triangulation. Data sources may include physical

artefacts and documents, apart from interviews, participant or non-participant

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observations (Yin, 2003, p. 83). In essence, document analysis is a systematic

procedure for reviewing or evaluating documents – both printed and electronic

materials- to elicit meaning, gain understanding, and develop empirical

knowledge (Corbin & Strauss, 2015). Documents, therefore, are viewed as

‘social facts’ which are produced, presented, shared, used, and interpreted in

socially organised ways, informing researchers about the reality and context in

which the study is situated (Atkinson & Coffey, 1997).

Addressing the state and institutional influences that affect teaching and

learning practices in an EMI instructional context in HE, the document analysis

designed in this current study intended to study the linguistic ecology in

Bangladesh while analysing the social world within which the research

participants operated. Only documents in English were used for analysis.

Hence, analyses of institutional artefacts, comprising of a wide range of textual

documents, were undertaken to get a deeper insight into the existing EMI

context at a Bangladeshi HEI: syllabi, lecture slides and notes, handbooks,

monthly newsletter, university website, mission statements, Facebook and

Twitter updates, agendas, minutes of meetings, memoranda, training materials

and advertisements for faculty teaching positions. This systematic and critical

analysis of documents, both in hard or digital forms, provided insight into the

prevailing ESL programme, highlighting instructional aims, activities, and

challenges (Bowen, 2009). However, in the dearth of a full-text university EMI

policy document, an analysis of publicly available records such as state

education policies, strategic action plans, quality assurance manuals, reports,

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and newspaper articles were conducted to associate social elements such as

power, ideologies, institutions and social identities to that of language policy

and political discourse.

In the context of this study, analyses of documents offered an insight into the

institution, driven by its policies and practices and the effects of its policies on

students learning experiences, putting the HEI into context in the field of

Bangladeshi HE. Besides understanding the official positioning of the

institution, this document analysis further aided in formulating questions for the

interview guides.

While documentary research is often regarded as a single type of source, it

offers several different perspectives from which to view a given problem or

topic (McCulloch, 2004, p. 129), being instrumental in revealing accurate and

meaningful data about the phenomena under investigation (Bryman, 2012).

Certainly, discourse is constructed by cultural norms and disciplines that

administrate a set of rules governing discursive formations (Hajer, 1995).

Language constructs and is constructed by society (Hyatt, 2013) where

meaning ‘…is socially constructed [and] can be deconstructed and

reconstructed’ (McKenzie, 1992, p. 226).The investigation of both the

substance and the function of language from the construction phase of an

institutional policy to the whole policy-making process constitutes

representation, implementation, and even appraisal of existing policies

(Gabriel & Lester, 2013), or lack thereof. Essentially, language studies are

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instrumental in educational research, which can illuminate the process and the

impact of a given policy relevant to processes of social transformation and

change.

4.4.2 Observations

Observations were conducted prior to interviews as observation ‘enables

researchers to understand the context…, and to see things that might,

unconsciously, be missed, and to discover things that participants might not

freely talk about in interview situations…(e.g., opinions in interviews), and to

access personal knowledge’ (Cohen et al., 2000, p. 305). Commonly used in

educational research, observations are used to underpin other methods while

‘getting information which can help us make sense of educational situations,

gauge the effectiveness of educational practices, and plan attempts for

improvements’ (Malderez, 2003). One of the advantages of such observation

is its directness; ‘You do not ask people about their views, feelings or attitudes;

you watch what they do and listen to what they say’ (Robson & McCartan,

2019, p. 316). Additionally, observation allowed the researcher to observe

things that participants were unwilling to talk about during the interviews

(Denscombe, 2017, p. 196). Furthermore, observations helped record

behaviour that might not otherwise be recorded (Cohen et al., 2000). The

observation was chosen to understand how informants made sense of the

cultural and social world they find themselves enmeshed in through their lived

experiences. In this way, researchers can ‘get at the inside’ to gain ‘a deeper

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understanding of practice realities’ (Henderson, 2016) constructed by the

research participants. Therefore, the field observations utilised in the current

study were conducted to gain deeper insights into the actual behaviour of

students in their real-world institutional settings of the classroom and beyond.

To bridge the research-practice gap in ESL teaching and research in

Bangladesh, this methodological approach was informed by evidence, based

on the meanings behind the actions of students and academic staff alike.

In the initial stage of data collection in this study, the data collected from

observations served several purposes. The classroom observations were

crucial in contextualising the study and to further complement and support the

subsequent data. Five classes were observed, and each class was about 90

minutes in duration. The classroom observations utilised in the current study

were conducted to verify what students said they did and what they did in the

social settings of the classroom and beyond. Notes (Appendix Four) were

made as soon as possible following each episode of observation, relating to

EMI challenges and students’ coping strategies in the subject and English

language classes, their interactions using Bengali and English in instructional

settings. Data further obtained through naturalistic observations of student

interaction patterns in social spaces such as the cafeteria and learning zones

besides teachers’ participation in a formal meeting, served as a supporting

source of evidence as such observation allowed complete immersion within

the physical and social environment of the research setting and allowed

access to information that was happening rapidly (Mason, 2018). This direct
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field observation helped in the study of behaviours, events and physical

characteristics in the context of the study environment (Bryman, 2012).

As noted previously, observational methods allow researchers to record

features of everyday life that the informants did not feel relevant to disclose in

interviews adding to the context of data (Green & Thorogood, 2004). Since it

was crucial to observe and understand a context before designing

questionnaires and interviews (Jorgensen, 1989), observations were

simultaneously carried out to understand the interactions between EMI

teachers and students of different genders besides interactions between EMI

teachers and administrators. This approach assisted with uncovering the

meaning besides lessons learnt from the participants' past experiences while

framing and communicating language policy implementation readiness and its

practical efficacy in the Bangladeshi linguistic ecology.

4.4.3 Interviews

In-depth interviews were conducted to examine the key research questions

that this research seeks to address regarding students' challenges of learning

through EMI, their identities, and previous learning experiences. To approach

the research questions in greater depth, interviews were also used in tandem

to ensure methodological triangulation (Flick, 2018). Responses from open-

ended interviews offered deep insights into how the respondents viewed the

world. An interview guide was designed to understand students’ motivations

for studying in a HE that utilizes EMI, their perceptions of themselves, their

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peers, their perceptions of teachers, assessment practices, syllabus, available

learning resources, and their interactions with teachers and peers. A similar

interview guide was designed for teachers relating to issues of teachers’

perception of EMI teaching, their views on the ESL foundation programme, its

syllabus, assessment criteria, group activities, their relations with students of

different genders and educational backgrounds as well as their rapport with

university administrators. While engaging the participants in an extended

conversation, short follow-up questions were asked to delve deeper into what

the respondents had to say.

All student and teacher interviews were conducted in English. However, some

follow-up questions were elucidated in Bengali to counter students’

comprehension difficulties which were then translated into English. A few

students opted to exercise ‘translanguaging’ practices and ventured into the

boundaries between Bengali and English, which were accepted, adjusted, and

translated to overcome the ‘lingua bias’ of communication (Wei, 2018). The

interviews, which lasted between 45 minutes to an hour, were recorded,

transcribed verbatim to accurately reflect the emotions and emphasis of the

participants (Ashworth & Lucas, 2000). Notes were created after each

interview in an interview summary form (Appendix Seven) as a guide to what

key topics and issues were raised, not merely a paraphrase of what the

interviewee actually said, in relation to students’ experiences of learning

through EMI. The writing of field notes during the research process assists the

researcher to clarify further each interview setting (Miles et al., 2014). What is
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more, field notes are considered ‘a step toward data analysis’ (Morgan, 1997,

p. 57) as they involve interpretation and are ‘part of the analysis rather than

the data collection’. However, steps were taken to prevent the data from being

prematurely categorised into the researcher’s bias (Groenewald, 2004) about

the potential causes of students’ language challenges.

Subsequently, the audio recording of each interview was repeatedly played to

become familiar with the words of the respondents to develop a holistic sense

of the unique experiences of the research participants in the here and now

dimensions. The raw data of all interviews were then converted to text and

transcribed through a speech-to-text transcription application Otter.ai. After

each interview, the transcription was edited manually to correct any errors or

missing segments. Since verbatim transcription has been cited as critical to

the reliability (Seale & Silverman, 1997) and the validity and trustworthiness

(Easton et al., 2000) of qualitative research, a naturalised approach to

transcription was adopted that attempted a verbatim depiction of speech

(Oliver et al., 2005). However, grammatical errors and word order errors were

corrected to strike a balance between the readability and accuracy of

transcripts. Similarly, idiosyncratic elements of speech such as false starts,

stutters, repetitions, nonverbal and involuntary vocalisations were omitted to

avoid cluttering the transcribed text (Tilley, 2003). Since transcription is ‘a

selective process reflecting theoretical goals and definitions’ (Ochs, 1979, p.

44), decisions were made regarding features of the interactional utterances,

guided by the methodological assumptions underpinning the research project.

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Verbal interaction being hugely complex in its entirety, data were reduced with

emphasis on the informational content, laden with sociocultural and political

practices (Bucholtz, 2007) but related to the aims of the research project

(Bailey, 2008, p. 128).

The Otter.ai transcription application automatically generated summary

keywords frequently repeated in the interviews, which in turn assisted in

creating codes. A few interviews were immediately transcribed and analysed

after they were conducted to identify as well as counter any unprecedented

issues arising from both data collection and analysis. The interview files,

regarded as raw data, were named to represent each of the student cases with

a unique identifier as a participant code following numbers between S001 -

S018. The data was stored electronically in the institutional OneDrive cloud

storage. Data, however, stored on laptops were encrypted as well as

password protected, archived with dates to provide an audit trail.

4.5 Sampling

The importance of sampling lies in selecting ‘information-rich cases’ whose

study illuminates the research questions under in-depth study. Sampling refers

to the process of looking at a segment of a population closely, as it is difficult

to study an entire population (Punch, 2005, p. 187). As the focus of qualitative

research is not ordinarily concerned with ‘how much’ and ‘how many’ but

rather with ‘how’ and ‘why’ people interpret the world in specific ways (Yin,

2012), it tends to study small samples where participants are recruited owing
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to their experience of the phenomenon in question. It is through the

understanding of the uniqueness of ‘how’ and ‘why’ of the particular cases that

a researcher is able to develop their understanding of the phenomenon being

studied (Flyvbjerg, 2006).

In order to explore the different ways students perceive their learning

experiences, emphasis was placed to ensure would a ‘maximum variation

sampling strategy’ (Patton, 1990, p. 172) that captures the core experiences

and shared impacts of the EMI learning phenomenon. To set the criteria for

constructing the sample, balanced participation of male and female

participants, variation in the age distribution of participants, variation in course

structures (graduate/undergraduate), disciplines (arts and humanities/social

sciences/ natural sciences/applied sciences), and educational background was

ensured.

As ‘the phenomenon dictates the method (not vice-versa) including even the

type of participants’ (Hycner, 1985, p. 294), the study, drawing on the method

of purposive sampling, selected a number of eighteen students from the

institutional student list for participation in individual, in-depth interviews while

making them apprised of the research questions and aims. A number of fifteen

teachers from different faculty/departments was also randomly selected from

the staff directory of the HEI and invited to volunteer in participating in a face-

to-face interview. A total of six faculty members volunteered to participate in

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the interview. The teachers selected for the study similarly represented

different genders and levels of teaching experiences.

The interview process started with students and after interviewing three

students, one teacher was interviewed to assess teachers’ perspectives on

issues raised by students in their interviews. An Excel spreadsheet was used

for logging the details of research participants, which was later embedded in

NVivo 12 Plus as cases. Table 4.2 summarises student participants’ profiles,

providing information about their major and the year of study while ensuring

that their anonymity is maintained.

Gender Occupation Level of Education Major

S001 Female Student Tutor Year 4 English Language Teaching
S002 Female Student Tutor Postgraduate English Language Teaching
S003 Female Student Postgraduate Finance
S004 Male Student Year 3 Computer Science and Engineering
S005 Male Student Year 3 Finance
S006 Male Student Year 3 Marketing
S007 Male Student Year 3 Computer Science and Engineering
S008 Female Student Year 3 Accounting
S009 Male Student Year 2 Computer Science and Engineering
S010 Male Student Year 4 Finance
S011 Male Student Year 3 Accounting
S012 Male Student Year 4 Computer Science and Engineering
S013 Female Student Year 3 Computer Science and Engineering
S014 Male Student Year 2 Accounting
S015 Male Student Year 3 Economics
S016 Female Student Year 3 Microbiology
S017 Male Student Year 4 Human Resources Management
S018 Female Student Year 2 Biochemistry and Biotechnology

Table 4:2: Student Participants’ Profiles

Similarly, Table 4.3 illustrates details of the teachers who took part in this

study, with information regarding their years of teaching experiences and the

disciplinary background they come from, such as Marketing, Computer

Science and Engineering, Environmental Management, English, Pharmacy

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and Media and Communication. Teaching courses at both undergraduate and

postgraduate levels through the medium of English, they shared their views on

students’ challenges in learning through the medium of English.

Gender Specialisation Years of School

experience
T001 Female Media and Communication 5 - 10 years Liberal Arts and Social
Sciences
T002 Male English Language Teaching 15 - 20 years Liberal Arts and Social
Sciences
T003 Female Pharmacy Less than 5 years Pharmacy and Public
Health
T004 Female Computer Science and Engineering Less than 5 years Engineering and
Technology
T005 Male Environmental Science 10 - 15 years Environment and Life
Sciences
T006 Male Marketing 5 - 10 years Business

Table 4:3: Teacher Participants’ Profiles

This sample population of eighteen students and six teachers was deemed

appropriate to attain data saturation as phenomenological studies should

ideally be conducted with a group of a minimum of five to a maximum of

twenty-five individuals (Creswell, 2007). More importantly, a ‘consensus

across views expressed’ (Turner et al., 2002) was evident with this sample

size of twenty-four participants.

4.6 Piloting of the interviews

Piloting is imperative as it can help improve the quality of the information

obtained. Nunan (2000, p. 56) states that ‘piloting gives the researcher the

opportunity to determine if the questions yield the kind of data required and to

eliminate any questions that may be ambiguous or confounding’. Dörnyei and

Taguchi (2010, p. 8) reaffirm that ‘the purpose of piloting is to allow the

researcher to collect feedback about how the instrument works and whether it

96
performs the job it has been designed for’. Therefore, prior to conducting the

interview phase of the research, a pilot study (see Appendix Seven for pilot

instruments) was carried out, observing necessary ethical considerations. The

teacher’s interviews were piloted with two teachers who volunteered to

participate, being randomly selected from the Academic Staff Directory. The

student interview was piloted with three students, selected from the currently

enrolled students’ list, who consented to participate in a face-to-face interview.

The piloting stage was helpful for several reasons. The transcripts of the pilot

interviews, particularly, enabled the identification of some of the initial

emerging themes arising from the data. At the piloting phase of the students’

interviews, it was evident that a few questions had to be asked in Bengali, their

first language, which posed some challenges of translating the interviews

directly into English to identify specific patterns while categorising the data into

themes. This offered insight into the translation of students’ interviews from

Bengali into English so that all the potential problems related to the translation

of a specific concept/phrase from English into Bengali were avoided. However,

as a Bangladeshi bilingual researcher proficient in both English and Bengali,

care was also taken of being mindful of culturally derived interpretations of the

social life world. The piloting finally aided in the reconstruction and rephrasing

of the language used during interviews with students and teachers.

Modifications and changes were accordingly made to the interview guide,

making the research instruments of interviews more credible.

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4.7 Data Analysis

Qualitative studies are more complex in many ways than quantitative research,

which follows a structured, rigid, predetermined design. It has been

recommended that the majority of effort in the design phase of data collection

in a qualitative study should be spent on developing a systematic, well-

developed, data-collection protocol comprising of three essential components:

1) developing a clear collection strategy, 2) identifying and sampling the

population of interest, and 3) obtaining rich and detailed data (by observation,

interview, or focus group) which is reproducible (Ranney et al., 2015, p. 1103).

Even though a varied format of qualitative data, comprising documents, field

notes, audio recordings, and transcriptions, was collected using multiple

techniques, all were useful and imperative for conducting a comprehensive

analysis despite exclusions in consistent structure (Dey, 1993). Thus, during

these stages of data collection, appropriate activities were undertaken to

ensure that rigour had been attended to in the research process rather than

only adhering to set criteria for rigour after the completion of the study (Lincoln

& Guba, 1985).

In essence, rigour has been defined in various dictionaries as the quality of

being detailed, thorough and complete. Considering that qualitative research is

a journey of explanation and discovery that does not lend to stiff boundaries

(Thomas & Magilvy, 2011), this notion of qualitative rigour itself is an

oxymoron. Yet, without rigour, qualitative research is considered insignificant

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which becomes fiction and loses its utility (Morse et al., 2002, p. 14). In the

light of this discussion, the following sections precisely elucidate how the data,

collected through different tools, were managed and analysed, mindful of the

challenges and difficulties faced while analysing data.

4.7.1 Documents

The data in the first phase consisted of twenty-one documents, ranging from

state education policy documents to institutional strategic documents,

newspaper reports, and reports published by international donor bodies.

Without following any consistent structure, the documents originated in

multiple forms: Word, Excel, and PDF. Through a systematic analysis of texts,

a focused reading, re-reading, selection, and review of the data was

undertaken, which aided in the exposition of themes pertinent to the

discussion of national monolingual ideology, macro, meso and micro language

management and MOI in HE, which profoundly impact the phenomenon of

students’ learning experiences through EMI. Taking a closer look at the textual

data, contents were coded into themes similar to how the interview transcripts

were analysed to reveal the hidden ideologies that impact individual learning

and demonstrate social inequities. Representative excerpts from documents

were thus organised into major emerging themes, becoming the categories for

analysis to other methods employed in the study (Fereday & Muir-Cochrane,

2006). These emergent codes and themes served to integrate data that were

later gathered from field observations and interview transcripts.

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4.7.2 Observations

Informed by evidence gathered from analyses of documents, participation

observations, happening concurrently, involved conducting classes and

facilitating in class activities while non-participant observations included

‘hanging out’ (Pader, 2006) in the institution to observe student groups, being

present during teachers’ formal meetings and primarily observing classes

being taught in different faculty and the interactions between students and

teachers. The data collected in this phase consisted of eight observation field

notes. Field notes (see Appendix Four) were taken in real-time to capture the

full complexities of an observed episode/event. The points to be observed

were explicitly structured. The field notes focused on students’ perceived

challenges in an EMI classroom, lecturer comprehension difficulties,

interaction patterns, and coping strategies like using mother tongue/first

language (L1) in class. A successive summary document was created

immediately at the end of an observation session, serving as an interim form of

analysis, which later helped with iterative refinement (Ranney et al., 2015, p.

1108) of the interview guide. The observation sessions allowed the researcher

to ‘place greater emphasis on depth rather than breadth of data’(Denscombe,

2017, p. 206). For instance, one of the major concerns of this study was to

understand the implementation of EMI in the HE through classroom

observations and interviews. During classroom observations, it was evident

that lecturers frequently switched to Bengali to further elucidate on unknown,

technical terms or concepts. However, most of the students preferred to use

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Bengali during classroom interactions. This was later evident during interviews

as both the students and lecturers reported frequent use of Bengali besides

English for better understanding and clarification. Such information deepened

and enriched the following data collection through interviews, allowing

comparisons over other modes of inquiry previously undertaken through

textual and content analysis.

4.7.3 Interviews

Data from audio recordings, derived from eighteen student and six teacher

interviews, were fully transcribed and deidentified while ensuring qualitative

coding and analysis rigour. Students’ interviews were primarily conducted in

English. However, since a few student responses were in Bengali, the relevant

accounts were translated into English and transcribed verbatim. A semi-

structured approach to interviewing with a series of pre-determined but open-

ended questions (see Appendix Nine and Ten) provided flexibility for follow-up

probe questions allowing the researcher to ask questions not included within

the prepared interview protocol, based on the nature of the conversation. To

facilitate constant immersion in the data, the transcribed interviews were

scrutinised line-by-line and re-examined by reading and re-reading, and

listening to the recorded interviews to get a sense of the whole with all the

possible nuances. Engaging deeply with the data to construct and describe the

essence of the lived experience, an iterative process of reading, writing and

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reflexivity provided a detailed and in-depth description of experiences while

establishing research rigour and trustworthiness.

Following a phenomenological approach using an interpretative process, data

analysis comprised of iterative reading of interview transcripts to ‘identify

significant phrases or sentences that pertained directly to the experience’.

While ‘formulating meanings and clustering them into themes common to all

participants’ transcripts’ (Creswell, 2012), a detailed description of the

individual experience was generated. Indicative of the interpretive or

hermeneutic method, a priori categories were identified through an extensive

literature review which included students’ EMI learning challenges besides

emerging themes (p. 108) such as identity and being, perceived benefits and

quality of EMI and its provisions as a language planning tool.

The interview transcripts were treated as a whole within a framework of codes

created out of the participants’ words, phrases or sentences, which facilitated

the process of understanding how the students made meaning of their

exchanges in an EMI context. This enabled an iterative process of data

analysis within the same conversational context while helping mark ‘utterances

found to be of interest’ for the question being investigated and to attend closely

to the participants’ experiences (Marton, 1986). The research questions were

used to guide the data analysis to narrow the scope of the study.

Systematic thematic analysis of the qualitative interview data was

subsequently conducted using NVivo12 as a data management tool, allowing

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for the creation new themes or ‘codes’ arising from the analysis. The process

of coding the data was repeated and conducted separately for each interview

data set. The process was initiated with line-by-line coding of the interview

data until no new codes emerged from the data and the dataset fully resonated

with the existing codes. All the coded interviews were reviewed and re-read

several times and the codes were visually analysed to ensure that the created

codes accurately described the coded data. Thematic analysis is a common

interpretive strategy to synthesise the meanings of a studied phenomenon in

hermeneutic phenomenology. Identifying themes in this phenomenological

approach does not reveal recurring thematic patterns but reduces the structure

of meanings embodied in human experiences in texts (van Manen, 2014).

Following rigorous decontextualising and recontextualising of data, while being

honest and vigilant about own perspectives, pre-existing thoughts and beliefs

(Starks & Trinidad, 2007), the data was categorised and coded corresponding

to relevant ideas by using NVivo. This expedited the identification of themes

and the essence of issues or trends which emerged from the data (Cameron et

al., 2001) and were not extracted by force or effort, providing in-depth insights

into the perceptual experiences of tertiary L2 learners’, their identities, and

needs in an EMI institutional setting.

To this point, Braun and Clarke’s (2006) five phases of thematic analysis were

primarily employed to code and analyse the data: ‘familiarising with data’,

‘generating initial themes,’ ‘searching for themes’, ‘reviewing themes’ and

‘defining and naming themes’. Taking an inductive thematic approach, the data
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coding followed a series of open and selective coding that developed through

reflective immersion in the data, guided by the researcher’s values, interests,

and growing insights about the research topic. This form of inductive thematic

analysis is data-driven without fitting it into a pre-existing coding frame or the

researcher’s analytic preconceptions. Yet the researcher conducting inductive

thematic analysis is not free from theoretical commitments and must have

emerging themes developing under the influence of a researcher's

presuppositions as language and human understandings are historically

conditioned with prior structure (Braun & Clarke, 2006).

From an initial stage of identification and labelling as part of open or inductive

coding and then as axial or deductive coding using emergent concepts or a

priori codes, the process of coding moved through a subsequent stage of

refining or interpretation having had developed a more focused coding

(Saldaña, 2009) comprised of analytical categories or thematic clusters. These

clusters of themes were presented along with a meaningful description,

identified as units of significance (Sadala & Adorno, 2002). Therefore, in the

open coding stage, the data were coded into categories with labels such as

‘coping with learning through English’, ‘linking self-construals to language

competence’, ‘improving student learning through EMI by supporting quality

teaching’ and ‘institutional language attitudes and policies towards EMI’,

reflecting the actual language used by the interview participants (Saldaña,

2011). In the axial coding process, connections between codes were drawn to

create concepts while connecting concepts to develop hierarchical themes

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(Corbin & Strauss, 2015). At this stage, it was important not to abandon any

codes (Table 4.4) as it was still uncertain whether some themes would hold or

be combined, refined, separated, or discarded (Braun & Clarke, 2006). Some

themes, however, that seemed marginally relevant played a significant role in

adding to the background detail of the study (King, 2004).

Parent Nodes Child Nodes Description

English language and academic Communication difficulties Perceived challenges students face
literacy challenges Comprehension difficulties - misunderstood minds which affect teaching and learning
Issues with academic writing and grammar skills practices in an EMI context
Knowledge of technical vocabulary
Coping with learning through Adapting to English medium education Drive to actively engage in the process
English Students’ motivation for retention and their academic of learning
achievement Applies to factors that influence a
Alternating between Bengali and English participant to follow up on their intention
to learn something new
Identity Feeling othered or empowered by English Positive identities and access through
Low self-esteem translanguaging practices
Lost talents
Previous learning experiences Access, quality and equity issues in primary and Influence of prior language learning
secondary language education experiences, impact of learning on the
Parental involvement in academic decisions self and family
Perceived importance of English English as lingua franca - standing of English in HE Learners' belief about the importance of
English language skills as important graduate attribute English
Implementing official institutional ESL foundation programme (EAP/ESP) Explicit/implicit institution-wide
language policies towards EMI English in content areas language-in-education policy
Quality of academic staff
Using language in context
Available language support
Improving student learning by Facilitating learner-centred teaching over lecture-based Creating a student-centred learning
quality teaching pedagogy environment
Facilitating negotiation of meaning, interaction and
feedback
Promoting classroom discussion
Learning by doing - learning as the end goal of education

Table 4:4: Excerpt from Codebook

Subsequently, these descriptive codes were organised into a ‘parent-child’

relationship following a hierarchical organisation of codes. The codes which

formed the main themes - pertaining to several interview questions were

represented as parent nodes, while the subthemes, formed inductively without

following a pre-existing coding framework, were represented as child nodes in

NVivo (see Figure 4.1 below). In selective coding, the emergent themes were

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categorised, pertaining to the research questions, within broad categories such

as students’ self-perceived identities, their previous learning experiences and

coping mechanisms while facing EMI challenges.

Figure 4.1: A screenshot of the coding framework in NVivo

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Finally, data collected from interviews and observations were triangulated with

data obtained from document analyses, linking them to emerging dominant

themes (Ryan & Bernard, 2000), ‘which express(ed) the essence of these

clusters’ (Hycner, 1999, p. 153), derived from representative quotations from

the data as will be elaborated later in the findings chapter.

4.8 Ensuring trustworthiness and authenticity

Corresponding to the discussion about the rigour of qualitative research in the

previous section, it is important to highlight its correlation to the measures of

trustworthiness, credibility, and authenticity (Lincoln & Guba, 1986), which are

necessary components of quality. The quality of research in the interpretivist

paradigm is measured by these issues of trustworthiness and authenticity that

researchers establish through the research design process and the phases of

data collection. This trustworthiness can be demonstrated through the

researcher’s reflexivity, the use of appropriate methodology, the methods of

data collection, theoretical triangulation and even participant checking. To

establish trustworthiness, qualitative research address credibility,

dependability, and confirmability. For establishing credibility in the research

findings, researchers need to triangulate and ensure prolonged engagement

with data sources, respondent validation and in-depth description of the

phenomenon. On the other hand, dependability can be achieved through the

use of ‘overlapping methods’ such as interviews, focus groups, and

observations (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). Confirmability within qualitative research

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is further ensured by triangulating different data collection sources and the

researchers' reflexivity (Miles & Huberman, 1994).

Therefore, preliminary data were collected using documentary analysis and

observation prior to interviewing to establish trustworthiness through data

source triangulation in the current study. Reliability and validity of the methods,

approaches and techniques related to the issues being explored were

considered and reflected upon at all stages of the research (see Table 4.5). In

relation to further addressing trustworthiness in the issues of interview

transcription, a specific transcription protocol was outlined to ensure

consistency in transcripts developed for undertaking qualitative analysis

through a computer-assisted software package called NVIVO. These issues of

transcription quality and trustworthiness are central in qualitative research as

transcripts are used not only for analysis (Duranti, 2006) but also the

researcher’s analytic claims (Ashmore, 2005).

Phases of thematic analysis Means of establishing

trustworthiness
Phase 1: Familiarising yourself Engaging with data
with your data Triangulating different data collection
modes
Documenting theoretical and
reflective thoughts
Documenting judgments about
potential codes/themes
Storing raw data in well-organised
archives
Keeping records of all data –
documents, field notes, transcripts,
and reflexive journals
Phase 2: Generating initial Using a coding framework
codes Auditing trail of code generation
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 Keeping a reflexive journal
Phase 3: Searching for Using diagrams to make sense of
themes thematic connections
Keeping detailed notes about
development and hierarchies of
concepts and themes
Phase 4: Reviewing themes Decontextualising and
contextualising themes and
subthemes by returning to raw data
through an iterative and reflective
process
Phase 5: Defining and naming Maintaining documentation of theme
themes naming and rephrasing
Phase 6: Producing the report Explicitly describing the process of
coding and adding details to
elaborate on the analysis
Providing thick descriptions of the
context
Reporting on reasons for theoretical,
methodological, and analytical
choices throughout the entire study

Table 4:5: Establishing trustworthiness during each phase of thematic analysis

Adapted from: Nowell et al. (2017)

4.9 Ethical considerations

Prior to field research, ethical approval was obtained from Lancaster

University’s Ethics Committee (Appendix One). The study was centred on a

private university, the University of Bangladesh (UoB), a pseudonym. The

institution itself is a predominately English-medium institution, described

further in the following section. The rationale behind the choice was due to

accessibility, related to obtaining appropriate permissions of data collection

besides geographical considerations. Following university Institutional

Research Board approval (Appendix Two and Three), participants were

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randomly selected from currently enrolled student lists and recruited through

an invitation e-mail sent out by the researcher.

Following issues of ethics, participation in the interviews was completely

voluntary, and prior signed informed consent was obtained from all individual

participants involved in the study. All participants were provided with a

participant information sheet (Appendix Five) and were asked to sign a

consent form (Appendix Six). All participants signed two consent forms where

the participant retained one copy while the researcher preserved another one.

Interviewees also provided verbal consent to participate. The participants were

notified about the objective of the research, the nature of the study, what data

will be collected, and how the results will be published and used. Their consent

was also sought for the interview to be recorded, and they were informed that

the interview could last for 30 minutes to an hour. The participants were also

ensured that their participation involves no foreseeable social, cultural,

political, or institutional risk. All were given the opportunity to decline to partake

in the study at any time.

After each interview, the audio file was downloaded into a password-protected

laptop and deleted from the mobile phone, which functioned as a recording

device. The audio recordings and transcripts were logged with a unique code

number so that the human subjects can neither be identified directly nor

through any personal identifier even while the findings from the study are

disseminated for publication. It was made clear to all participants that neither

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their name nor the institution they are affiliated with would be included in any

outputs from the research process. To further maximise participant anonymity

and protect institutional privacy and confidentiality (Saunders et al., 2015), the

HEI was assigned a pseudonym ‘University of Bangladesh’ (UoB), and other

identifying information was accordingly omitted.

The participant observations were conducted while maintaining specific ethical

standards. Participant observations can pose ethical problems as the

participants are unaware of such covert research and are not required to give

informed consent. However, ensuring ethical standards and procedures, the

participants' identities in naturalistic and active participation observations were

not disclosed. Neither did the participants studied encounter any issues due to

being observed since only field notes were collected to examine the

interactions between teachers and students and students themselves

anonymously in an L2 setting. Active participation observations involved

conducting classes and facilitating in-class activities. In contrast, naturalistic

observations included observing student groups, being present during

teachers’ formal meetings, and primarily observing classes taught in different

departments by faculty members.

In anticipation of ethical constraints relating to power imbalances between

participants and the researcher in her current role as a faculty at the HEI,

measures were taken to ensure that the respondents were not directly

assessed by the researcher. To further ensure that students’ participation or

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decision not to participate in the research did not impact their studies or

assessments, students directly taught by the researcher were excluded from

the research.

4.10 Impact of COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic caused many interruptions, and delays as

educational institutions in Bangladesh faced sudden closure with lockdown

restrictions imposed around the world. Although ethical approval was sought to

accommodate a shift from face-to-face interviewing to online interviewing to

ensure social distancing measures in April 2020, student participants were

initially not keen to participate in online interviews as they were grappling with

technology-enhanced learning for the first time, while at the same time keeping

themselves safe and trying to juggle and cope with many other things,

including studies and family illnesses. A more significant response from

students was received three months later, and student interviews (n= 18) were

conducted between August and September 2020. However, the responses

from the teachers (n=6) to voluntarily participate in the online interviews were

nonetheless positive even though the shift to online teaching impacted the

academics to a great extent.

4.11 Chapter Summary

This chapter presented the research process, design, and analysis for this

research study. Details of the procedures, design, as well as methodology,

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sampling method, instruments, and measures for data collection and analysis

and their limitations, were outlined. Data gathered from document analysis,

observations and participant semi-structured interviews helped answer the

overarching research question which guided this research, ‘What are the

perceived challenges students face which affect teaching and learning

practices in an English medium instructional context and how do students

respond to these challenges?’ Subsequently, data were transcribed,

organised, coded and analysed, finding significant statements and revealing

themes and subthemes.

The following chapter details the findings from the document analysis,

observations, and interviews and presents the key results of the data analysis.

As the core of the lived experiences of the twenty-four participants in this

research is outlined, the data uncovers five key themes related to students’

experiences of learning through EMI: (1) feelings of frustration and anxiety (2)

impact of prior learning; (3) experiences of feeling othered; (4) English for

employability and mobility and (5) English in mediating access and equity.

Subsequently, a summary of the findings is presented, followed by a

discussion of these findings related to the relevant literature and theoretical

framework. The themes outlined in chapter five are synthesised into six

significant analytical themes: (1) navigating language barriers; (2) linguistic

identities and equity issues in translanguaging spaces; (3) the conception of

teaching language through content; (4) teacher capacity building and the

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quality of EMI provision; (5) EMI in framing Bangladesh’s knowledge economy

and (6) language-in-education policy in Bangladesh’s HE landscapes.

Chapter 5: Findings

This hermeneutic phenomenological research aimed to investigate the

perceptions and experiences of students learning through EMI at an HEI in

Bangladesh. Rooted in interpretation, a hermeneutic phenomenological

tradition interprets ‘experiences and phenomena via the individual’s lifeworld’

(Neubauer et al., 2019). Giving HE students voices to communicate how they

viewed their adoption and integration of EMI in learning, this interpretive

approach examined ‘entities from many sides, angles, and perspectives until a

unified vision of the essences of a phenomenon or experience is achieved’

(Moustakas, 1994, p. 58).

This chapter presents the findings from document analysis, observations and

interviews. It discusses students’ perceptions of the challenges they faced

while learning through EMI and the institutional influences on teaching and

learning in private HEIs in Bangladesh. The findings are structured according

to the research questions and then according to the themes that emerged from

the respondents — as discussed in the literature review, examining the

policies and practices of the educational institution to understand how

institutional influences affected students’ EMI learning experiences. This

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chapter is divided into three sections according to the research questions

addressed in the study.

Drawing on data gathered from interviews and observations, the first section

aims to answer the first research question: ‘What are the perceived challenges

students face which affect teaching and learning practices in an English

medium instructional context and how do students respond to these

challenges?’ While presenting students’ perceptions and some of the key

challenges they encountered during their academic study, this section

explores students’ coping strategies adopted in response to various EMI

challenges faced related to academic literacy skills, verbal communication,

writing, issues related to technical vocabulary, comprehension difficulties

pertaining to in-class lectures and interactions.

Addressing the second research question, ‘How do students’ perceptions

about their identities and their previous learning influence their learning

experiences through English as a second/additional language?’, the second

section explores the ways students contested with their identity, essentially

shaped by their previous learning experiences but reformed by the

translanguaging practices they employed.

Using data from document analysis, the final section addresses the third

research question, ‘How do state and institutional influences impact EMI

adoption in Bangladeshi HEIs?’ to highlight the state and institutional

influences that affect teaching and learning practices in an EMI context and
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shed light on the policies about its implementation through an evaluation of the

ESL programme at the university while providing implications for the

implementation of EMI language policy at macro, meso, and micro levels.

On the whole, in presenting participants’ world view of the contextual elements

of learning through EMI, six themes emerged from the analysis of the

transcribed data: navigating language challenges, linguistic identities, and

equity issues in English language education, teacher development and

capacity building, the pivotal role of EMI in framing Bangladesh’s knowledge

economy, language-in-education policy in Bangladesh’s HE landscapes and

quality mark in English.

5.1 Learning through EMI – challenges of academic literacy

A number of issues were articulated by the students and further corroborated

by the teachers that provided important insights into the language and literacy

challenges Bangladeshi HE students commonly faced in English-mediated

practices like listening to class lectures, speaking at a seminar, reading and

writing academic texts, and essays. In the light of this, the following section

presents three predominant themes, each containing subthemes concerning

Bangladeshi students’ experiences of learning through EMI.

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5.1.1 Communication challenges

A recurrent theme in the interviews was a sense amongst student interviewees

that the most important generic competency required by the students was the

acquisition of verbal communication skills:

I am not comfortable speaking in English – I have some problems as I

am from Bangla medium, it is very hard for me to communicate in

English. It was very difficult when I first joined. I am a little better than

before. But whenever I give a viva or any presentation, I still face many

problems as I cannot speak well in English. (S016)

The student further noted how these communication challenges negatively

affected his confidence and self-esteem:

I am constantly thinking, how to express myself, what to say and what

words I should use to express my feelings. (S016)

The struggle is evident when another student described his communication

apprehension and ‘fear of losing face’ whenever he stood up to voice his

opinion:

Whenever I have to present something, and I can't use my first

language… I had a lot of things on my mind, but I couldn't express all

those. So, I then thought, okay why are we using English? If I could use

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 Bengali, I could have expressed more than I possibly could, and I could

have scored better grades or more marks during presentations or viva.

(S002)

Most of the students reported that they found it difficult to understand or

‘process’ tasks due to a high level of anxiety rooted in their language

deficiency. They often did not understand what a particular task entailed and

lacked confidence whether or not they were doing it right. The challenges

students had to embrace are evident while transitioning to an only-English

programme after studying academic subjects through Bengali for a large part

of their lives. However, nearly all the students reported how teachers in the

ESL courses offered at UoB encouraged them to ‘speak and make mistakes’

in class and ensured that they always worked in pairs or groups and

performed collaborative language activities as they had never experienced

before. They testified feeling at ease and frequently participating in debates

and thoughtful discussions with their peers while engaging with their teacher in

the language classes, a stark contrast to their experiences in classes that

focused on academic subjects. In a relatively safe space, the teachers

provided opportunities to make mistakes while practising language through

various tasks and activities, ensuring positive identity through meaningful

interactions.

Contrary to language classes, it became evident from the content teachers’

comments regarding limited interactions in class, where students most often

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refrained from asking questions for further clarification, did not participate in

classroom discussion and were reluctant to give any academic presentations

owing to their limited language skills:

Mostly in presentations, they cannot speak up as much as they would

like to… If students spoke in Bengali, they could express their views

and opinions more, but it becomes difficult for them to express their

ideas in English. (T003)

Hence, the classes usually tended to be more ‘one-sided and lecture-based’,

which did not encourage interaction and collaboration amongst students

plagued by self-doubt, worsened by a sense of linguistic insecurity.

5.1.2 Vocabulary gap

Several students noted that they found difficulty in expressing themselves in

English and getting around the discipline-specific, technical vocabulary posed

as a great challenge for them:

Studying at an English medium university, for example, taking Physics

or Mathematics - all the terms were in English. I basically had to learn

all the Bengali terms in English. That was a major setback. I had to

memorise quite a few of them, but most of them I tried to understand.

(S005)

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EMI seemed to have a detrimental effect on students’ comprehension of

classroom lectures. They found it challenging to understand new concepts and

jargon in discipline-specific contexts, which were commonly presented in a

decontextualized manner without any reference to prior learning. They pointed

out how it took them ‘a while’ to understand, absorb and recall such

knowledge:

Due to comprehension difficulties, many concepts never became clear

to us. Gradually we started to get used to everything and it became

easier for us to understand topics or concepts in English.

(S001)

Student comments indicated that most of them preferred to be taught in

Bengali and expected summaries translated into Bengali after EMI lectures,

suggestive of the difficulties they were facing. Hence, a student noted:

When the faculty is giving lectures, I think the mindset is like the whole

class comes from an English medium background - they present

lessons that way. There are many terminologies used in English that we

are not familiar with. So, we face a lot of problems. (S016)

Even though the EMI teachers acknowledged the reality of bilingual

classrooms and often used Bengali in lectures, they essentially attributed

students’ insufficiency of language proficiency to learning difficulty.

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5.1.3 Academic writing struggles

Numerous students voiced their struggles with academic writing and felt the

need for writing courses. While students faced challenges due to linguistic

difficulties, grammar, text structure, lexicon, logical sequencing of ideas and

sentences, issues with genre-specific writing conventions, plagiarism and

citation further exacerbated their problems in coping with their content

courses. Students also faced significant challenges in receiving oral directions

regarding assignment tasks and often did not understand how to complete

tasks without clear, expository samples. These difficulties and the overall

incapability of Bangladeshi students to read and write in academia manifest

the ineffectiveness of the pre-university English language education and the

ESL courses. Thus, one student stated:

I think there should be a writing course in our university because even I

struggled a lot. When I write something, it is important, for example, to

pay attention to the structure, signposting, cohesion, coherence – all

these elements. For the last 12 years of our primary and secondary

education in Bengali medium background, we just memorised and

wrote the things as best we could. We didn't have anything called

creative writing. So, whenever I came across academic writing, I

struggled. (S002)

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However, one of the teachers considered academic writing as a ‘set of skills’

improved and enhanced with thorough practice of process-oriented activities of

creativity.

…I think the most challenging part is writing because it's not about

grammar skills or anything, a certain amount of creativity must be there.

In writing an essay, I think, one of the elements is grammar, but another

key component is creativity. So, writing requires a lot more creativity.

Only by taking writing courses, you cannot just assess or say someone

is not good at writing in English because maybe he is very good at

writing but does not have great ideas. I think the courses should be

designed in such ways so that students can enhance and develop these

skills of ideas generation. (T006)

Some of them testified of the self-deprecating feelings they occasionally had

as they struggled to decipher how to write assignments using English. A few of

the students expressed how they always ‘put off’ and delayed writing

assignments and ‘worried unnecessarily’ after which they found themselves

plunging into a frenzy of anxiety almost near the deadline when they were left

with no option but to ask for an extension.

5.1.4 Challenges in academic reading

Students’ responses indicated significant challenges in dealing with academic

reading. Even though students are assigned readings from various books and

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occasionally from journals, most preferred handouts that summarise key

concepts and topics covered in each lesson. Hence, a student felt a strong

need for another academic reading and composition course to help improve

her critical reading skills in reading articles from scholarly journals:

I think we need another English course based on readings. When I read

articles from international publications and journals, I still face difficulty

reading and understanding. English is so enriched – we need an extra

English course based on academic reading to improve our critical

reading skills. (S013)

A teacher’s view, on the contrary, indicated the extent of the problems

students face with academic reading despite institutional language support:

Presently, 99% of the students really don't care about reading a letter

out of any books. It doesn't matter how much resources you provide, if

their mentality and mindset are such that they do not want to read, they

don’t want to utilise it, I can give them the entire world of Agrabah from

Aladdin, and they are still not going to understand a letter out it! (T005)

This lack of interest in reading, according to the teachers, hinders

development in students’ writing abilities as it is not attainable to learn writing

solely by writing but rather by reading. When students lack skills in reading

comprehension skills, it inevitably negatively impacts writing which is a

complex task involving many metacognitive component skills.

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5.2 Language and identity

The choice of language and the repositioning from Bengali-speaking

monolingualism to bilingualism with a growing preference for English in

Bangladeshi private HE sparked a sense of alienation and disempowerment

besides creating socio-economic opportunities, as evident in the students’

accounts below.

5.2.1 The disempowered narratives – the case of linguistic capital

While most of the students contested with their identity within an EMI setting,

indicative of emotional and mental distress, a few students’ narratives further

manifested these inner psychological struggles deep-rooted in their notion of

language and culture:

When I go to university, I hear others speak such excellent English. I

cannot talk nicely like that. I am not sure if I am using grammatically

correct sentences or the right word - all these make me more nervous

and I cannot speak at all. I am constantly thinking about expressing

myself, what to say, and what words I should use to express my

feelings. (S016)

Another student acknowledged the ubiquitous presence of English in every

professional domain that impacts an individual’s social standing and see it as a

language that legitimises systems of knowledge:

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 Well, learning to communicate in English is so crucial in today’s world

that I regret not studying in an English medium school. It will be

detrimental to our progression and professional development if we go

backwards and study in Bengali at the university level. It is important for

universities to help develop students’ proficiency in English through

language courses and support so that students can eventually thrive

and succeed in an English medium university. (S017)

Yet, in some cases, students from disadvantaged educational backgrounds felt

compelled to leave, unable to construct and negotiate social identities through

limited language usage due to low-level proficiency in English. This scaled

down student participation in EMI class, arising from feelings of alienation and

separation while being unable to endure the challenges of learning in an EMI

context. Thus, a student narrated:

One of my classmates literally has a phobia with English courses. Even

he left UoB for this reason, and he couldn't cope with the English

language-based teaching and learning. He didn't understand what the

teachers were saying, and he never asked any questions. And he left

UoB because he was not used to this system of education and could

not cope with the situation.

While it is extremely challenging to enhance access and ensure equity in one

of the world’s most populous countries with an estimated 164 million people,

the major setback is the quality of primary and secondary education which is
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heavily reliant on exams and rote learning due to lack of teacher training,

supervision and accountability. Visibly, differences between the school-leavers

from Bengali and English medium backgrounds are exaggerated by social and

economic disparities. Thus, a teacher observes:

A student coming from a very poor village, who does not have proper

schooling or cannot afford private tutoring, versus someone who comes

from an affluent family and had studied in one of the best English

medium schools - both studying in the same class. The advantage of a

university is it doesn't matter what your background is, if you qualify,

both of you sit together side by side… And if that student is paying for

his education and you are also paying for your education, in terms of

monetary values, you are equal in the eyes of university. But when it

comes to the knowledge base – then it’s not equal – there we have to

have far more equity. (T005)

UoB, however, gives admission, following strict admission requirements, to

students from disadvantaged backgrounds to ensure access to HE by

providing financial aid and tuition fee discounts besides merit scholarships. As

students are placed in an English-only classroom, they are provided with

several English language courses in their first academic year, with

opportunities to engage in language learning. Equitable classroom practices

are thus implemented to ensure that students with low English proficiency get

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a fair chance at learning and can enjoy better employment benefits and more

advancement opportunities, as explicitly pointed out by a teacher:

They have bad English- I agree, they cannot write well- I agree, but

once they graduate from UoB, half of them do get into a decent job...

For them, it is more than survival as their family has probably sold a

huge percent of their land and everything- they have to try to give

something back to their family, which is very, very important for them.

(T005)

Viewing these individuals as being symbolical in constructing communities, it

was imperative to understand students’ interactions in the classroom with a

focus on how pedagogic strategies affected or enhanced their participation

and legitimacy in the EMI community. However, the micro-sociological aspect

of these taken-for-granted behaviours and teaching-learning interactions

between students and between students and teachers in HE were influenced

by institutional norms and previous learning practices, as noted below.

5.2.2 Previous learning experiences

The majority of the students described how their struggles with EMI hindered

knowledge assimilation and proved insufficient for various learning tasks in

their content areas as they could not properly filter and interpret what concepts

they were learning. Their prior knowledge did not bear much on new discipline-

specific learning as EMI interfered with and impeded new learning leading to a

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lack of motivation and low self-esteem. Although English has been taught

compulsorily from primary to secondary level, concerns were expressed

regarding students lacking the necessary English proficiency levels to cope at

the university level, often leading to a lower graduation success rate. As

pointed out by an English language teacher, students’ performance in English

has been generally found to be relatively poor:

Most of the students come from Bengali medium, and the pre-university

English education is almost a failure in Bangladesh. The students are

supposed to acquire competence in English because they have been

learning English for 12 years before joining the university. But

unfortunately, English language pedagogy is not that effective in the

pre-university stages. So, when students come with very low proficiency

in English to an English-only culture, the struggle is real.

(T002)

As a result, all the teachers who were interviewed reported that they

commonly needed to codeswitch to Bengali to clarify concepts while dealing

with linguistic challenges faced by students owing to low English proficiency

that inhibited comprehension and successful learning:

One of the things that I always do after every lecture… I keep a specific

five to ten minutes segment, summarising everything in Bengali,

focusing on keywords and the linkages between different words… I do

not teach the entire class in Bengali – out of ninety minutes, probably
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 seventy to seventy-five minutes in English, the rest ten-fifteen minutes

in Bengali summarising everything. (T005)

This is further corroborated by a student who voiced her previous experiences

of English language learning owing to the inadequacy of quality instructional

practices and resources:

Since I studied at a local public school in a small town, speaking

English in class was not practised at all in school – we were only taught

grammar and comprehension. That is the reason why I have a

deficiency in speaking and understanding… You see, before I came to

this university, I didn’t need to use or learn how to speak, read or write

in English. It is difficult, but I am managing to cope. (S016)

She recognised her inability to draw connections between ‘pieces of

knowledge’ due to her English language comprehension difficulties. Indeed,

she specified the importance of engaging robust prior knowledge to provide a

strong foundation for building new knowledge, which must be stimulated at the

appropriate time, forming meaningful connections between various knowledge

structures.

5.2.3 Students’ belief about learning through EMI

Despite facing challenges, most of the students, who previously studied

through Bengali, regarded English to be ‘extremely important’ and perceived

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EMI as a positive experience for themselves at the university level and

recognised its dominant role as the language of academia:

I think that if you know English, you can reach out... you can learn from

the latest journals… you can understand what studies have been

conducted or what global issues people are facing around the world.

But if you stick to one language like Bengali, you won't get everything.

As English is an international language, if you are interested in a

particular topic, you can search and find out much more about that topic

using English as the most suitable medium. (S018)

As evident in the quote above, the participants readily acknowledged the

practical value of English in knowledge construction within academia and

dissemination through research publication. As most articles are published in

English, students can remain updated about the latest research studies

through their publication in international journals. Furthermore, as students

invariably interacted with classroom instruction, course textbooks, and other

learning materials in English, they perceived the need to strive for competence

in English consciously:

Well, teachers give lectures in English, the handouts, books and course

materials are all in English. It is much easier to get used to teaching and

learning in English. (S017)

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Even though numerous students lacked confidence and were aware of their

lack of motivation while striving to acquire content-specific knowledge through

English, they could eventually overcome their anxiety and fear and become

self-confident by continuously operating in an English-only context. Hence, a

student participant strongly supported the opportunity for an EMI milieu to

raise awareness and sensitivity about language and acknowledged that his

English proficiency considerably improved through EMI:

My opinion is, if the objective is to teach through English, I would think

that we should be exclusively taught in English. Students will learn to

get through this, with the passage of time, like I did. (S011)

This suggests the efficacy of the English foundation programme besides

additional language support to foster greater social equality amongst students,

equipping them with academic language skills while enabling them to

undertake various discipline-specific learning activities.

Most of the students were aware of the importance of English as the global

lingua franca. They considered it a key to a positive self-identity leading to

success in their future employment and everyday business. These students

viewed English language proficiency to be positively correlated with personal

development, leading to exciting job opportunities:

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 Definitely, studying in an English medium university is a great

advantage for this society because English has evolved as a lingua

franca- wherever we go, whatever we say, if we know English, we are in

a better position. And if we don't know English, we are, you know, seem

like a failure, more so, as we come from a middle-income country.

(S001)

Although, as the following extract reveals, this student has comprehensions

problems in English, she still recognised the importance of this global

academic lingua franca in her future career in research. She was interested in

getting herself enrolled in additional language courses to achieve more

excellent language proficiency.

I want to go abroad and would like to work in a research institute - that’s

why I have become very mindful and I am trying hard to learn English

by myself. Now I understand that if I manage to learn English,

everything will become easier for me in the future. Since I cannot write

well, I usually get poor marks. And to do better in the higher-level

courses, I am preparing myself and trying to improve my English

language skills. I think I will get myself enrolled in a language course- I

never gave this a thought earlier because I didn’t realise that I would

face language problems like these. Since this is one of the leading

private universities in Bangladesh, I think, if I can manage well to

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 complete my studies here in English, it will really help me in my

professional life in the future. (S016)

Owing to a lack of proficiency in English, the same student faced a lower

learning achievement in an EMI context which negatively impacted her self-

image.

In courses where I had to present in English, I scored a low mark in the

presentations. I did not manage well during the exams - it would have

been easier for us if everything was taught in Bangla.

When I go to university, I hear others speak such nice English. I cannot

talk nicely like that – not sure if I am using grammatically correct

sentences, all these make me more nervous, and I cannot speak.

(S016)

While the usage of EMI at Bangladeshi HEIs has often been linked to broader

issues of social inequality, English has been utilised as a means to gain

access to opportunities and social capital, as reported by a teacher in the

excerpt below.

One of my students was recruited by a company to work in its

international business unit. Just because she is good in English, all

queries from European clients are being handled by her! Despite having

no previous experiences, she has been given opportunities instead of

her more experienced colleagues just because their English is not that
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 good. So yes, English can open greater possibilities for you. Even if

you go abroad for higher education, you need a certain IELTS score.

Otherwise, you can't go to good universities. So, if you do not have the

English skills, you are already lagging in competition.

(T006)

Yet, students acknowledged the importance of English in bridging the social

chasm in the new face of globalisation and internationalisation, leading to

greater mobility across their national boundaries:

We need to learn English if we want to go abroad or for higher studies.

We are not that advanced like China or Russia - they have their own

standard education system, language, and research opportunities or

research facilities, but we don't have that. So, if we want to undertake

research, employment or further studies, we need to learn English so

that we can move abroad. (S018)

Students agreed that EMI would prepare them for future cross-border

employment and support the acquisition of both English proficiency and

professional knowledge, leading to enhanced job mobility in local, regional and

international workplaces that would offer higher salaries, a better working

environment, and more growth opportunities:

It may be possible to pass the university barely or to get a bachelor’s

degree without being fluent or good in English, but, in my opinion, it's

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 impossible to get a job with a high salary here or abroad without any

proficiency in English. (S011)

5.2.4 Translanguaging strategies

However, it is interesting to note how some participants, both students and

teachers, shared their experiences regarding the use of their native language

Bengali in EMI classrooms to counter the challenges of learning through EMI.

A few teachers acknowledged their stance on taking a student-centred

approach and having to often oscillate between using English and Bengali to

facilitate greater comprehension of a concept. Even though students

acknowledged the significance of English in a more closely connected

globalised world, they also believed that their first language (L1) played an

essential role in their learning and comprehension.

I think if students face difficulties in English, then teachers should mix

languages. They should follow the language, and if they do, then they

should use English because it will be helpful for us in the future. We will

be used to it. Four years is a long time to get used to English, so it will

be helpful, I think if teachers use both English and some Bengali to

deliver their lecture or speech. (S013)

Some of the teachers also pointed out how they often have to mediate and use

Bengali to deal with the language challenges their students face in class.

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What was interesting, however, was one student coming from an English

medium educational background, who noted a need for teacher professional

development that require competence in the language and commented on how

‘frustrating’ it was for him to understand terms being explained in Bengali

rather than English as part of classroom lectures. He further noted:

This happens mainly in the foundation courses. I guess teachers

teaching the major courses have a higher degree of education, mostly

from abroad. It is more manageable for them to continue speaking in

English than teachers of the foundation courses who don't have PhDs.

(S014)

As new global education agenda of equity, access, and lifelong learning is

adopted by Bangladeshi private HEIs, language seems to produce complex

patterns of compounded disadvantages that need to be addressed to enhance

the effectiveness of teaching and learning in EMI courses.

5.3 State and institutional influences on the implementation of EMI

In the light of findings drawn from document analysis that address state and

institutional influences relating to EMI adoption in Bangladeshi HEIs, this

section presents current EMI practices, new insights, and emerging EMI trends

in Bangladeshi private HEIs. The following section focuses on the policies

about EMI implementation and an evaluation of the English as a second

language (ESL) programme at the university. Considering the position of the

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University of Bangladesh (UoB) on its pathway to internationalisation while

seeking to address economic imperatives of globalisation through HE, the

institutional influences were analysed that led to the adoption of EMI.

Moreover, the institutional influences were analysed by examining different

components of the ESL programme, which comprised of the entry

requirements for the ESL programme, teachers’ perceptions of students, the

use of English inside and outside the classroom, the availability of learning

resources and the inter-relation between ESL teachers and administrators.

The data gathered from documents showed that the components mentioned

above have a significant impact on teaching and learning in the various

programmes at the HEI, as revealed by observations (field notes) and

interview data.

5.3.1 Macro-language planning, institutional realities and EMI

The country's first education policy, published in 1974, affirmed Bengali as the

sole MOI from primary to higher education level. Owing to its British colonial

history, English was officially acknowledged as a second language (L2) as a

means of international communicative exchange in international business,

commerce, diplomacy, and scholarship across language and cultures, placing

Bangladesh inside the outer circle (Kirkpatrick, 2007, p. 28). Founded on a

significant nationalistic ideological consensus, the Bengali Language

Introduction Act 1987 was enacted, and it was adopted as the state language

to be used exclusively for official, social and educational purposes

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In 2003, in its commission report, the National Education Committee

regrettably pointed out the lack of an explicit language policy for Bangladesh,

leading to a lack of proficiency in both Bengali and English amongst HE

students in general. The report acknowledged the widening breach between

Bengali and English. It recommended the government take immediate

measures in mobilising a committee to formulate a National Language Policy

to resolve the prevailing confusion surrounding the issue of language usage,

particularly at the HE level, which was delivered exclusively through Bengali.

Implementing HE policy reforms, the government enacted quality assurance,

enhancement and accreditation mechanisms to strengthen governance and

develop accountability for the performance of every HEI in relation to teaching,

learning and research. As part of the vision laid out in the Strategic Plan for HE

2018- 2030 (SPHE), the nation affirms its goal to -

… achieve excellence in higher education comparable to global

standards; to establish equity and guarantee access to higher education

by anyone qualified to pursue it, and to prepare the learners as ideal

citizens (SPHE, p. 19)

The SPHE stipulated that ‘higher education should ensure social mobility,

increased living standards, and internal and international harmony and peace,

based on human rights and the principles of democracy’ (University Grants

Commission of Bangladesh, 2018, p. 13). However, the document does not

address the role of language in achieving educational goals at national and

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international levels, required to develop ‘skills and competence and

communication abilities to be globally competitive’ (p. 19).

As mentioned earlier in the introduction, the privatisation of HE in

Bangladesh has been a milestone in the exclusive usage of EMI.

Following the enactment of the latest National Education Policy (NEP)

2010, a variation of explicit language practices from primary to the tertiary

level were explicitly stated for the first time, recognising the significance of

English as an essential tool in building an advanced knowledge-based and

technology-driven society backed by digitisation. However, the ubiquitous

adoption of EMI in meeting societal and economic needs of students

through the privatisation of Bangladesh’s HE did not involve any

government bodies or official LPP agency but a group of ‘invisible

planners’ (Pakir, 1994). Having their language ideology, all private

universities in Bangladesh offer programmes entirely taught through EMI

in some if not all departments. Almost all these private universities offer

various English language programmes to develop English language skills

among learners. As a majority population of prospective students comes

from Bengali medium institutions, these ESL programmes make the

students university-ready so that they can follow classroom instruction

besides textbooks and study resources in English in their university

courses. The National Education Policy (Ministry of Education, 2010) also

recommend the obligatory teaching of the English language:

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 English will be taught as a compulsory subject at the degree level of all

colleges and universities. It will carry 100 marks/3 credits.

English language programmes were therefore made compulsory in all

undergraduate programmes at universities. The ESL programme in all private

universities ranged from one to three courses, while several universities

offered students a non-credited introductory Remedial English course. The

NEP further acknowledged the true value of an education system which is of

‘high standard’ being ‘uniform’, ‘universal’ and ‘science oriented’ with emphasis

on:

information and communication technology (ICT) along with maths,

science and English in order to build up a digital Bangladesh based on

knowledge-orientation and cultivation of ICT

(Ministry of Education, 2010)

In view of the above, public universities in Bangladesh have begun to

optimise their EMI practices, ensued from the privatisation of HE, allowing

departments to introduce foundation courses on the English language to

develop English language skills amongst its students set to compete with

local and global demands (Chowdhury & Kabir, 2014).

Quite the contrary, the National Education Policy further endorsed that

English would remain as a medium of instruction (MOI) in HE besides

Bengali. Because of this policy, EMI in HE has emerged as a core

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educational issue in Bangladesh, where the state does not officially

endorse the exclusive use of EMI and maintains post-independence

nationalist ideologies regarding the status of Bengali as the sole official

language. In the absence of macro language-in-education initiatives by the

national government as a response to bi-/multilingualism, the inception of

private universities has paved the way to counter the Bengali-based MOI

in the state-funded universities by incorporating EMI in their undergraduate

and graduate programmes. Even though a covert policy shift to EMI

education has seen its share of problems over the past three decades,

Bangladesh’s private universities are still grappling with achieving the

broader HE goals of internationalisation (Law & Hoey, 2018).

To this end, the ESL programmes are offered in all Bangladeshi private

universities, which offer several English courses that focus on speaking,

listening, reading and writing in the academic context. Based on a

placement test, most private HEIs funnel students, having low English

language proficiency due to their previous education, into prerequisite non-

credit Remedial English courses. Since most of the students who enter the

universities are underprepared in basic English usage besides reading and

writing, the length and intensity of these preparatory ESL programmes

differ according to respective universities’ policies regarding the use of

EMI.

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5.3.2 EMI provisions in teaching and learning practices in UoB

In contexts where macro-level language planning and policy (LPP) do not

exist, LPP decisions are often taken at institutional levels driven by

internationalisation in a globalised world dominated by neoliberalism. UoB was

established more than two decades ago with a mission of achieving the goals

of HE by producing ‘graduates of international standards’. Its academic

curriculum is modelled after the North American liberal arts education model

that focuses on studying literature, languages, philosophy, mathematics, and

science as the basis of general education. The HEI adopted EMI even though

it does not have an official positioning paper on its language policies defining

the use of English in teaching, research and administration. Lectures and

assessments are conducted in English, and all instructional materials are in

English. Under six academic faculty, the University of Bangladesh (UoB) has

ten departments: English, Media Studies, Social Sciences, Law, Public Health,

Pharmacy, Engineering, Physical Sciences, Environmental Science and Life

Sciences. It currently enrols more than 9000 undergraduate and graduate

students and has over 12,000 alumni. More than 45% of the academic staff

hold PhD and postgraduate degrees from ‘globally reputed universities’ in

English-speaking countries.

In its mission statement, the HEI acknowledges its ‘third mission’ to achieve

the goals of HE and sustainable economic growth in the country through a

two-pronged relationship between the societal needs of the community and the

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institution. With over 500 faculty and staff, the university outlines its teaching

and research activities as enterprising and innovative, linking its activities with

the socio-economic context providing public service while working towards

social welfare. The university further engages with global and national market

demands by developing strategies to offer academic programmes of societal

relevance to develop students’ communication and leadership skills and critical

ability.

English is the primary medium of instruction at UoB. Despite functioning in a

monoglossic society that only values monolingualism deeply rooted in purist

language ideologies (Lin, 2013), HE in Bangladesh is driven by a growing

focus on internationalisation, promoting EMI for linguistic diversity in HEIs like

UoB (see Figure 5.1).

To support the usage of English in teaching and learning, it offers a mandatory

university-readiness English language programme for students who gain

admission through an English and Mathematics placement test, fulfilling strict

entry requirements. Even though clear institutional language-in-education

policies have not been laid down explicitly in strategic documents of UoB,

prospective students with a minimum SAT score of 1000, and a minimum

IELTS score of 5.5 or TOEFL score of 550 (paper-based) are exempted from

the entry admission test.

Upon admission, students are required to complete a sequence of three

academic English courses and two mathematics courses as part of a general

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education foundation programme. These courses run alongside the

specialised content courses in the first one to two years from admission. The

foundation programme offers four other major areas of education besides

communication skills and numeracy- computer skills, natural sciences, social

sciences and humanities.

Macro
Bengali-only national movement, rooted
in purist language ideologies
Bengali and English as MOI in
Bangladeshi HE

Meso
Explicit EMI policy at UoB
Admission threshold set at IELTS score of
5.5/TOEFL 550 (CBT213/IBT80)
Three mandatory in-sessional English
foundation courses (both EAP and ESP)
Teachers with degrees from English-
speaking countries

Micro
Language support via English Language
Centre
Translanguaging in classroom
interactions

Figure 5.1 The adoption of EMI in a Bangladeshi private HEI

The English programme at the foundation level consists of three levels:

elementary, intermediate and advanced. The programme is designed to help

students achieve an intermediate level of language proficiency before

registering for major courses. Thus, the newly admitted students are allocated

to these levels based on the admission test results. All the three English

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foundation courses earn students credits: Listening and Speaking Skills,

Reading and Composition and Business English. The primary purposes of

these courses are to equip students, regardless of their specialisation, with the

necessary language skills that will help them cope with learning in their

respective academic subjects and the potential challenges of EMI. Each

English course offers three contact hours a week, two hours of tutorial and an

hour of practice at the English Language Centre every week besides guided

self-study and English language practice over the weekends for students in

need of support.

Established in 2016 to support UoB in the internationalisation process, the

English Language Centre constitutes a training and research unit to enhance

English language skills among students. All students at the UoB can avail

themselves of the various academic English courses in communication skills,

academic reading and writing. One-to-one or closed group language support is

provided to students based on diagnostic language tests and needs analyses.

The tutorial classes in the language centre are free of charge for students in

any given year.

In effect, UoB values, supports, benefits from and includes the diversity of its

people and communities in terms of gender, social class, geography, skills and

talents, being committed to being an inclusive and culturally diverse study

environment. UoB is also committed to equity, providing individualised and

inclusive higher educational opportunities for students, who are often at an

145
unfair advantage compared to their peers from upper socioeconomic

backgrounds with intellectual abilities. More specifically, UoB plays a crucial

role in promoting stewardship of enhancing knowledge, skills and motivation

through education amongst students corresponding to human capital, central

to a flourishing economy. The sustainable impact of the societal contributions

of UoB as part of social capital in ensuring access towards equitable

opportunities for HE to those from a range of socioeconomic backgrounds is

positive. Hence, students from many underprivileged areas, and particularly

from remote locations, even with disadvantaged educational backgrounds and

limited financial resources, are granted admission to UoB, as articulated by a

teacher:

The most significant advantage of UoB is that it has a lot of students

coming from every criss-cross corner of Bangladesh. If the students,

who come from remote areas, finish their education and if they can get

into a job, then I believe that is a huge success. (T005)

UoB is also a viable option for students who seek financial assistance. In the

form of economic benefit, employment opportunities, particularly for female

students, are provided as they can work as teaching assistants or graduate

assistants.

As I didn't get a chance in any public university, I was really depressed.

And then, when I got a chance in a private university like UoB, my

father couldn’t afford to support me. So, it was tough for me to make
146
 ends meet. Afterwards, when I earned a scholarship during the first

semester, I was really motivated from then onwards. I thought I must

maintain the scholarship if I wanted to continue my studies. And I did

complete my full undergraduate studies on this scholarship!

(S002)

Furthermore, UoB recognises the consequences of educational inequalities

among students and addresses issues of varying levels of university readiness

to transform these human capitals into resourceful workplace gains in a

globalised world. Thus, students must complete three academic English

courses and two mathematics courses as part of a general education

foundation programme besides computer skills, natural sciences, social

sciences and humanities. However, students still struggled with English

throughout their senior years while enrolled in different major programmes, as

elucidated by a teacher:

Well, their problem is understanding- they have a huge lack in

understanding words – their vocabulary is very minimal. So, that's a

very big problem. If I say, for example, let’s look at examples from

archaeology, this is something they don’t understand or even the word

excavate! So, in a university setting, it sometimes becomes very difficult

when you have to come down to very fundamental usage of English.

(T001)

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All the core subject teachers who were interviewed have repeatedly reported

that a majority of students who have completed the English foundation courses

still encounter many difficulties with comprehension of lectures.

When we deliver our lecture in English, the problem is that most of the

time, they cannot concentrate because of their lack of confidence- they

think that, okay, as it is in English, it is not possible for us to

understand…They do not want to listen to the lectures because

automatically, they think that it is not possible for them to understand

the lecture properly. So, either they request us to use Bengali, as it is

the native language, come to our office and ask for further explanations

in Bengali, or just give up and just rely on the slides and memorise

everything that are given in the slides. (T006)

Nevertheless, the content teachers did not feel any sense of responsibility to

guide students in dealing with their English language comprehension

challenges, which became evident in learning concepts that students failed to

grasp. They pointed out that it is the university’s responsibility to offer more

English courses at the ESL foundation level and even at the exit so that

students can attain the minimum level of language proficiency needed to cope

in their specialised academic subjects and their professional life.

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5.4 Chapter Summary

The study attempted to answer two main research questions regarding the

perceived challenges students faced while learning through EMI and how their

previous learning experiences further shaped their identities which in turn

influenced their learning experiences through English as a second/additional

language. The key findings of this chapter were based on the analysis and

interpretation of qualitative data gathered from students and teachers through

semi-structured interviews and observation, further contextualised through

document analyses that investigated the state and institutional influences

which impacted EMI adoption in Bangladeshi HEIs. Following analysis, in

moving from open to selective coding, emergent from an iteration of data, six

core themes were identified that impacted students’ learning experiences

through EMI at a Bangladeshi HEI: navigating language challenges, linguistic

identities, and equity issues in translanguaging spaces, the conception of

teaching through content, teacher development and the quality of EMI, the role

of EMI in framing Bangladesh’s knowledge economy and language-in-policy in

Bangladesh’s HE.

Answering the first research question, the findings revealed that students

experienced a range of linguistic challenges which appeared to impact their

overall academic performance in the EMI programmes negatively. The

students’ main difficulties in EMI classrooms were related to their inability to

comprehend concepts and topics from classroom lectures and readings,

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exacerbated by unknown technical words. They found speaking to be the most

challenging skill and indicated their unwillingness to participate in class

discussions due to a lack of self-confidence. While the majority of the students

preferred to work towards improving their speaking skills, they also reported

difficulty arising from academic writing and voiced the need for writing support.

In answer to the second research question, students elaborated how their

previous learning experiences in a Bengali medium education system shaped

their identity of otherness within an English social space. While the students

faced formidable language-related challenges, the majority of them perceived

the positive benefits of EMI in attaining English linguistic capital towards

academic success, economic development and greater prosperity through

enhanced employability and mobility. However, both the students and teachers

adopted translanguaging strategies, using all their linguistic repertoires in

English and Bengali to encourage meaningful discussions to achieve a shared

understanding of the content through the co-construction of knowledge.

Addressing the final research question, the findings revealed the absence of a

macro language policy towards the promotion of bi-/multilingualism, which

clearly did not trickle down to the meso level to mediate explicit institutional

language policy that guides teaching and learning practices adopted by EMI

teachers at UoB. The findings also discussed the social and economic

imperatives that drive the Bangladeshi HE reformation agenda of

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internationalisation and its contestation over the nationalist ideology of

Bengali.

In summary, showing a clear preference for the utilisation of English,

perceived as the language of upward social, economic and global mobility,

these findings led to the understanding of the potentials and limitations of

using EMI in the teaching and learning context of Bangladesh’s HE. Drawing

on the existing literature on EMI teaching and students’ perceptions, their

perceived beliefs are further scrutinised and discussed in the following chapter

against the teaching practices reported by the participants to examine the

congruence and disparity between their beliefs and practices as well as the

influencing factors at personal and contextual levels.

Chapter 6: Discussion

This small-scale study investigated university students’ perceptions of EMI in

an HEI in Bangladesh. The overall findings contributed to an understanding of

Bangladeshi HE students’ learning experiences through EMI. Their

perceptions of the experiences highlighted the challenges of English as a

lingua franca in the ecological and socio-cultural context of Bangladesh while

providing a perspective on its relationship with Bengali to guide a clear

language-in-education policy to achieve a harmonious balance (Hornberger,

2003; Skutnabb-Kangas, 2003). The findings highlighted the key linguistic

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challenges Bangladeshi students faced while learning in their respective

content areas, ranging from challenges with vocabulary, grammar, academic

reading and writing to comprehension difficulties besides communicative

competence issues that encompass linguistic competence, sociolinguistic and

sociocultural knowledge (Canale & Swain, 1980). Secondly, the results

demonstrated contestation with their identities influenced by their linguistic

capital that adversely affected educational attainment. Based on the findings

derived from documented education policies, written artefacts, field

observations, and interviews, the following section elucidates the natures of

students’ beliefs and their interpretation of learning challenges through EMI,

providing implications for the implementation of EMI language policy at macro,

meso and micro level in Bangladesh.

Building on the discussion above, the study set forth a range of possible

priority actions to address the challenges and produce an adaptive skilled

workforce that meets the needs of a fast-changing, technology-driven

economy. Other key factors that impacted students’ learning experiences

through EMI were identified: construction of social identities through EMI,

teacher capacity building, language-in-education planning, and the quality of

EMI provision to forge pathways towards a knowledge economy. These

findings concur with previous literature on EMI implementation in Europe, Asia,

and Africa. Even though the purposes of its implementation are rarely clearly

articulated by policymakers and drivers, owing to an overall lack of

152
understanding, there are differences in the way it is accepted by various

stakeholders in different linguistic environments (Dearden & Macaro, 2016).

6.1 Students’ challenges of learning through EMI

The findings from the study raised important issues regarding the provision of

sufficient academic, social, and emotional supports provided at Bangladeshi

private HEI in terms of providing access to a curriculum that presents

opportunities for English language and literacy development besides

knowledge of disciplinary contents. Some teachers pointed to potential

tensions surrounding translanguaging practices during classroom instruction,

especially in lower-level courses, where they must constantly shift between

Bengali and English. This supports evidence from previous observations,

which emphasised that students need ‘a safe, welcoming classroom

environment with minimal anxiety about performing in a second language’

(Lucas et al., 2008, p. 363). In accordance with the present findings

surrounding space, previous studies (Lucas et al., 2008; Pappamihiel, 2002)

have echoed the importance of providing a safe space catering to the needs of

the students to feel emotionally comfortable to facilitate oral participation for

maximising learning.

In view of the above, it is essential to consider the role of the EAL/ESL

foundation programmes, which help create safe spaces for new students,

providing them with an environment that facilitates peer interaction and risk-

taking with language which supports students’ socioemotional well-being and

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academic success (Lang, 2019). An educational, safe place aims to create an

‘inclusive and effective learning environment where opportunities for complex

cognitive, intrapersonal, and interpersonal development exist for all students’

(Magolda, 2000, p. 94). This notion of safe space is an educational metaphor

for designing classrooms that address challenging learning encounters, such

as grappling with a difficult concept through an L2. Only in a positive and open

learning environment can students learn and flourish because they feel

empowered to take risks by expressing their unique insights and disagreeing

with others’ points of view, often in their native language, even in an EMI

setting (Holley & Steiner, 2005). Without question, opportunities for students to

draw on their native language resources are indispensable for developing

English language and literacy practices in facilitating access to content.

Consistent with previous literature on pedagogical practices in multilingual

classrooms (García & Sylvan, 2011), this research found that content teachers

who reported incorporating verbal translanguaging practices towards the end

of their EMI class could gauge students’ understanding and engage them in

dialogues while encouraging questions about academic content. As risk-taking

is part of academic life and intellectual growth, nurturing this kind of risk-taking

involves understanding and building on students’ existing linguistic dexterity

towards developing intercultural awareness to use language innovatively in an

EMI academic context (Paris, 2009, p. 431). In line with this participatory

inquiry in HE pedagogy that promotes deep learning, such ‘fluid language

practices’ (García & Wei, 2014) merge and mesh two different linguistic
154
resources as part of a more expansive semiotic repertoire and construct

meaning (Goodwin, 2000).

In this study, the three Academic English courses offered to students at the

UoB aimed to facilitate English language and literacy development to build

their language proficiency. Evidently, students’ content area knowledge hinged

on this Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (Cummins, 1984), which

some students developed over a period of one year while others struggled for

the whole course of their university study. And language played a significant

role in assisting the students to become rich resources for others and

themselves, transforming themselves as self-actualisers, independent, self-

motivated, and highly determined to drive their learning activities.

6.2 Translanguaging spaces in EMI – exploring issues of identity and

linguistic equity

A recurring theme among the HE students was the shortfalls in English

language education under the national curriculum at the primary and

secondary levels. Researchers (Roshid & Webb, 2013) have contended that

university graduates in Bangladesh are still not well trained in English to the

extent that they could enhance graduate opportunities and invest in their

performance in the industry. As the urban-rural split in Bangladesh created a

widening educational divide, a disparity was evident in teaching staff,

infrastructural resources, and facilities besides inequalities in primary and

secondary students’ academic and cultural backgrounds. Having studied in a

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heavily centralised system of education taught solely in their native/first

language (L1) Bengali within a purist, monolingual linguistic societal context,

these students faced more significant problems when they were unable to gain

access to the highly competitive public universities in Bangladesh and instead

have had no choice but to join the private universities that operated through

EMI. Not only must they learn new academic concepts and skills, but they

must also do so using words they do not understand (Bühmann & Trudell,

2007). Even though Bangladesh is an example of this public-private

dichotomy, there is evidence of perpetuating social and economic inequalities

amongst students who mainly come from the private HE sector (Hamid, Jahan,

et al., 2013b), where English has been imposed as ‘a natural and neutral

medium of academic excellence’ (Piller & Cho, 2013).

While Bangladesh makes a societal shift towards ELF, a translanguaging

perspective focuses on HE students’ complex cognitive and linguistic skillsets

when participating in classroom activities, mediated by their dual-language use

between Bengali and English. Research demonstrates that translanguaging

helps create genuinely inclusive classrooms in which equitable, empowering

language learning can occur (Cenoz & Gorter, 2017; Dutton & Rushton, 2021;

Gort & Sembiante, 2015) while negotiating greater integration between

language and content in EMI classrooms (Arthur & Martin, 2006). This step

towards social justice in an educational context (García-Mateus & Palmer,

2017) transforms the power relations between teachers and students (Creese

& Blackledge, 2015). And this shift can become the basis of a new way to
156
establish connections between the home and school (Pacheco & Miller, 2016)

through the authentic development of bilingual identities. Even though there

are widespread concerns about the high costs of local-language MOI, not

always backed up by enough evidence (Trudell, 2016), the rewards of

schooling in local languages outweigh the costs, with gains in educational

quality, lower attrition and drop out, and enhanced inclusion leading to savings

from reduced school repetition and dropouts (Trudell, 2016; UNESCO, 2016).

It is important to note at this point that the provision of effective education is

crucial in contributing to human capital and could be considered as a

developing link between social capital and national development. Social capital

is defined as a representation of social resources available to individuals

fulfilling collective goals, embedded in feelings of trust, norms, values,

reciprocity and participation within a shared network. An interesting feature of

social capital is that it can become more and better when appropriately used

(Cloete, 2014). In principle, the three capitals - economic, social, and human -

operate in tandem where if one fails to operate, then the other two can no

longer operate. Therefore, a weak economic base will have a debilitating effect

on education (human capital) and ultimately on the cohesion of the state

(social capital). A weak social base means that economic life (economic

capital) suffers through corruption where state education is neglected. An

impaired base in education means that neither economic nor human

development is sustainable, which will impact social cohesion again. In

understanding the connections between language and the provision of

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effective education, which is a crucial factor in economic and human

development, it is up to the language professionals to take it up high in the

policy agenda to influence matters and drive the nation towards the future

(Williams & Cooke, 2002). Aligned with such initiatives, the private education

sector in Bangladesh has been leading the way, and the public sector is slowly

‘being forced to play catch up’ (Macaro, 2015). This rapid shift towards EMI is

consistently facing a growing trend, not so much in primary and secondary

education, but mostly in private sectors in tertiary institutions (Dearden, 2015,

p. 6) in Bangladesh.

This paradigm shift towards EMI could be instrumental in Bangladesh’s

installation of a multicultural society creating a natural environment for

producing students who are proficient in more than one language as it is all the

more important to view English as an essential resource for gaining access to

global culture, to higher education, to better-paid, white-collar employment and

prestigious middle-class identities (Ferguson, 2006). While negotiating

identities in a multicultural context can cause problems for HE learners,

intercultural communication, if properly negotiated, may help students, both

local and international, develop the capability to manage intercultural

exchange through linguistic and paralinguistic resources (Kim, Choi, et al.,

2017, p. 468). Even though international students may experience

discrimination while local students feel disadvantaged due to the imposition of

the English language in an EMI classroom, both groups of students may

develop an understanding of cultural diversity, conducive to cohesive social

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and cognitive growth among students. Owing to institutional management of a

diverse and multicultural learning environment, EMI can work as a

confounding variable, providing opportunities for improved classroom

communication while facilitating a greater level of acculturation in international

and local students (Karuppan & Barari, 2010).

Having had assumed the role of a lingua franca in the global business world,

commerce and scientific discourse, its critical role in HEIs worldwide can no

longer be denied. And it is for this reason, English skills are legitimately

regarded as a gatekeeper to positions of status (Ferguson, 2006, p. 140;

Pennycook, 1994, p. 54). Knowing the language and understanding and

effectively communicating in English is a prerequisite to participating in the

globalised marketplace. Therefore, a student graduating from a world-class,

highly international university should at the very least have excellent language

skills in his native language with equally excellent competence in academic

English, ready to partake in intercultural communication in future multilingual

professional settings.

Moreover, how identity is co-constructed through linguistic interactions (Reyes

& Vallone, 2007) is seen to be instrumental in academic success (Lee et al.,

2011; Palmer, 2008; Sayer, 2013). Considering language as a socially situated

practice (Pennycook, 2010), contrary to traditional views of language as a set

of structures, the notion of ‘language practices’ perceives language use

essentially as a social engagement that organises social life (Lang, 2019). And

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drawing from a Bourdieusian (1977) theory of practice, Pennycook (2010)

further argues language and literacy to be constituted in practice, embedded in

an understanding of transformative identity formation negotiated through lived

experience. Embracing the idea that identity is fluid and amorphous and is

constantly and endlessly invented and reinvented (Kumaravadivelu, 2012, p.

11), the dynamism of identity formation is perceived as ‘the continuous

creation of the fragment; a bricolage of the disjointed’ (Ferguson, 2009, p.

184). Indeed, social identity is formed when individuals enumerate their

surroundings, placing themselves in a group with common characteristics,

while distancing themselves from other social groups (Hamers & Blanc, 2000,

p. 200). As such, language use can be seen both as a social practice and as a

symbolic system through which identity is marked, created, and constantly

changing in a social context (Woodward, 1997, p. 23).

However, drawing upon Bangladeshi HE students’ contradictions with EMI, it is

critical to create a translanguaging space as a pathway towards greater

linguistic equity with the explicit goal of reversing a deficit mindset informed by

monolinguistic ideologies (Li & Luo, 2017). Taking students’ existing linguistic

repertoire in Bengali and leveraging them to ensure that they leap forward in

their performances and content knowledge, a translanguaging approach can

improve fluency and cross-linguistic proficiency as students feel liberated to

use the language features that best facilitate their communication and

academic discourse. As many students believe that their first language (L1)

plays an essential role in their learning and comprehension, it is vital to

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empower the students so that they can leverage their linguistic repertoire to

customise their language performances in understanding content (García &

Kleyn, 2016). Many researchers support this efficacious approach to language

education as it effectively taps into students’ current language repertoire and

background knowledge (Jörgensen, 2011; Leung & Valdés, 2019; Otheguy et

al., 2019). In view of this, Hopper (1998, pp. 157-158) points out:

There is no natural fixed structure to language. Rather, speakers

borrow heavily from their previous experiences of communication in

similar circumstances, on similar topics, and with similar interlocuters.

Systematicity, in this view, is an illusion produced by the partial settling

or sedimentation of frequently used forms into temporary subsystems.

In a safe space (Rom, 1998) of translanguaging, both Bengali and English

linguistic resources are not separated or treated as distinct systems but are

instead creatively transformed into new linguistic realities. Within this

translanguaging space, can bilinguals/multilinguals transform language

separation into powerful possibilities while entailing ‘tension, conflict,

competition, difference and change in many spheres, ranging from ideologies,

policies, and practices to historical and current contexts’ (Garcia & Wei, 2014,

p. 24).

Indeed, translanguaging has the potential of unlocking unacknowledged

possibilities in classrooms as a process by which students and teachers

engage in complex discourse practices that include the language practices of

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all students to develop new language practices (García & Kano, 2014, p. 261).

In this way, it is possible to provide pedagogic empowerment to students and

voice new socio-political realities by interrogating linguistic inequality, impelled

by EMI, while sustaining old language practice in communicating and

appreciating knowledge. Therefore, through translanguaging, people enact -

...different dimensions of their personal history, experience and

environment, their attitude, belief and ideology, their cognitive and

physical capacity into one coordinated and meaningful performance and

making it into a lived experience. (Wei, 2011, p. 1223)

More so, it is a ‘transformative, resemiotisation process’ through which

speakers consciously construct and modify their sociocultural practices

because they find the space to be fluidic and constantly evolving as it

‘combines and generates new identities, values and practices’ (Wei, 2018,

p. 23). Therefore, while teaching an academic subject, there is ‘a prima facie

case’ for using all the language resources at the students' disposal to promote

effective understanding and learning (Leung & Valdés, 2019, p. 364). As such,

in a content classroom where the students and the teacher share similar

language repertoires, there is every reason to translanguage, to promote

greater communication and effective learning (García et al., 2017),

simultaneously encouraging educators to give legitimacy to the fluidic identities

of these Bangladeshi bilingual speakers.

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As researchers increasingly acknowledge the influence of institutional norms

and practices on teaching and learning (Meyer & Rowan, 2006; Scott, 2008),

classrooms are viewed as an important site where learners construct different

identities that are social, culturally, politically, and historically situated within

the classrooms. Understanding how these students participate in their

academic communities and acquire discourses in their second language (L2)

has become critical (Morita, 2004, p. 573). Notably, identities are ‘fluid, shifting

and strategically renegotiated according to changing social contexts’

(Canagarajah, 2005, p. 438). Against this backdrop, language is often

considered to be a 'double-edged sword' of opportunity and marginalisation in

constructing identities (Evans, 2014).

6.3 Teaching content or language? - Teacher professional development

and capacity building in EMI

In relation to the previous discussion, which addressed pedagogic issues

connected to Bangladeshi students’ deficit in English language proficiency,

some fundamental issues of professional pedagogic preparation and teacher

education were raised. Although all the student participants were in favour of

the implementation and growth of EMI in HE, the importance of measures to

evaluate the effectiveness of its implementation is rather complex, requiring

awareness of both its positive and negative implications for students, teachers,

institutions, language policy and teaching (Drljača Margić & Vodopija-

Krstanović, 2018). One of the critical issues raised by the student respondents

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was regarding the linguistic challenges they frequently faced while studying in

an EMI context, especially in learning new concepts and while receiving oral

instructions from teachers about tasks or written assignments. Students often

found it challenging to understand, absorb and apply such knowledge in

discipline-specific contexts where teachers presented new target concepts and

jargon in a purely decontextualized manner at the very least. Students also

raised some concerns about the English language skills of content teachers

teaching in the foundation programme, having implications on classroom

instruction that was lecture-based in its entirety and did not encourage

discussions in class, which impacted learning.

Notably, EMI places a primary focus on content learning, as it is deeply

embedded in the acquisition and use of language (Maxwell-Reid, 2020). As

observed in prior research (Airey, 2011b), EMI teachers often relied on the

traditional, monologic lecturing mode in classroom teaching for fear of

exposing their lack of English proficiency in front of students, much less than

how some content teachers resisted the notion of EMI owing to its historical

past and perceived English as a threat to their linguistic heritage and cultural

identity (Yuan et al., 2020).

Additionally, when teachers attempted to embrace EMI in their classroom

teaching, they often lacked the awareness of the central role of language in

content learning. They were unable to bring the language component into their

course design and classroom practices (Coleman et al., 2018). Content

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learning through EMI, on the contrary, cannot take place without dialogic,

context-bound, and subject-specific use of language, allowing students to

construct knowledge about the subject and world (Yuan et al., 2020).

Accomplished teachers may use a wide variety of planned resources about

content and language and reinforce or review critical terms in every lesson to

accelerate the students’ vocabulary acquisition process and comprehension

(Short, 2002). Clearly, a language focus is crucial in EMI classrooms, where

the teacher draws attention to language through repetitions, code-switching,

and semantic elaborations, provided through definitions, glossaries,

paraphrases, synonyms, examples, and explanations, to support content

learning (Basturkmen, 2018).

Interestingly, all the teachers interviewed unanimously articulated the

necessity of increased emphasis on speaking and writing, besides grammar,

vocabulary, and spelling focus on the existing language foundation courses.

Owing to the lack of concrete language-in-education policies, unwritten social

practices, norms and routines enacted by the HEI, the teachers are oblivious

to their central role in language planning at the micro institutional level (please

refer to Figure 2.5). Hence, they all believed that language teaching was not

part of their lesson objective and focused on teaching content ideas only,

explicitly focusing on vocabulary rather than language skills development and

its functional usage. This manifest contradictions in the institutional EMI policy

of UoB that could be further supported through content teachers’ instructional

practices.
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Indeed, when it comes to implementing language policy (see Figure 2.4) inside

the classroom, it is the teachers who are the gatekeepers, not the language

planners and policymakers (Baldauf et al., 2008). Teachers, in essence, are

placed in the position of intermediary between the students and the policy

while being in control of how their classes are to be engaged with the texts

(Martin, 1999). Furthermore, following the pedagogical LCT framework, as

discussed previously, content teachers can conceptualise language

development more broadly, considering language embedded in tasks,

textbooks and as used by the students themselves to co-construct knowledge

(Short, 2002, p. 22):

Even though many teachers have not been trained to teach language,

they can, nonetheless, with practice, identify language features of their

content topics and tasks. Language objectives can be related to

vocabulary, reading, writing, listening, speaking, grammar, and more.

Identifying language functions, forms, and language learning strategies while

integrating non-language content as a vehicle for promoting L2 proficiency

(Genesee & Lindholm-Leary, 2013) for greater academic attainment (please

see Figure 6.1), teachers can thus help students learn to read, write and

partake in discussions through planned and purposeful activities that actively

engage students in higher-order, cognitive demanding tasks (CALP) in

discipline-specific academic contents (Figure 6.2).

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Figure 6.1: Dutro and Moran’s (2003) conceptual model from CALP to functions,
forms, and fluency

While drawing on various language registers, these students can gain valuable

social tools of vocabulary, audience awareness, cross-cultural awareness,

real-world literacy skills, metalinguistic awareness, teaching and tutoring

skills, civic responsibility, and above all, social maturity (Orellana, 2003).

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 Figure 6.2: BICS and CALP Quadrant of Academic Language

Source: Cummins (2000, p. 68)

Without question, learning is an active process that is influenced by the

‘interaction between the mind and environment’ (Lajoie, 2008). Successful

learning opportunities, in general, are believed to materialise when learners

can recall and apply the knowledge by using various learning strategies as

they are provided with the right stimuli (Hartley, 2012), leading to deep

learning (Entwistle & Ramsden, 1982). Sociologists, however, perceive

learning as an action outside students’ control, influenced by wider social

structural issues, such as power-relations, identity, social class, gender,

ethnicity and even institution, rather than something that can be manipulated in

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terms of individual learner motivation and learning strategies (Becher &

Trowler, 2001; Lea & Street, 1998; Trowler, 2009).

Additionally, in principle, teachers can help students develop skills to answer

factual and higher-order questions through instructional conversations (Tharp

& Gallimore, 1988), prompting students to explain and defend their own views

and others. And seeking to make students think about thinking and increase

metacognition, teachers can provide students positive feedback and model

effective problem-solving strategies in content classrooms to increase student

self-efficacy. As much content learning occurs in classrooms via discussion,

learners need to be involved and encouraged to practice extended academic

talk with their peers and the teacher and perform language functions.

However, the teachers’ voices in this study maintained how the content

teachers are bogged down with a heavy and imbalanced teaching load

following a packed teaching schedule with increasing preparation load besides

examination pressure. This posed severe obstacles to their implementation of

teaching practices that could promote language development through task-

based teaching of academic content (Zheng & Borg, 2014). Alternatively, it

also meant that content teachers needed more institutional training and

support preparing for teaching in an EMI context (Airey, 2011b; Macaro et al.,

2017). Arguably, EMI subject-teachers can work with language specialists

about language use while employing different activities such as presentations

and experiments besides resources such as diagrams and visuals to promote

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integrative language and disciplinary content learning in specific subjects

(Basturkmen, 2018) as depicted through the Disciplinary Literacy Matrix (Airey,

2011a) in Figure 6.3. Contextualising how language permeates the academy,

workplace and society, teachers must rethink the vital role language plays in

teaching and learning as well as workplace within socially mediated practices

in an EMI context.

Figure 6.3: The Disciplinary Literacy Matrix

Adapted from: Airey (2020, p. 345)

As content teachers should ensure appropriate participation in communicative

disciplinary practices, collaborative, classroom-based learning can largely

contribute towards increasing EMI teachers’ teaching competence and

expertise, further disseminated through experiential seminars and training-

based workshops supporting teachers in relevant disciplines (Bai, 2014)

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following the NEP 2010 directives on teachers’ training. To this end, prior

studies (Dearden & Macaro, 2016) have also highlighted the importance of an

infrastructure sufficiently supportive of EMI having even ‘an efficient, English-

speaking administrative team in place’ which could also be the ‘agents of

change’ besides academic staff who are instrumental in ‘driving the change’.

This is in line with the NEP 2010, where much emphasis was given on

enhancing the quality of the teachers as the key to quality assurance,

particularly in HE, by providing continuous in-service training besides incentive

and satisfactory remuneration to encourage the best students coming into the

teaching profession. Since quality in HE has received significant attention over

the years (Brennan & Shah, 2000; Harvey & Williams, 2010), HE accreditation

frameworks typically consider academic staff quality as a key element in the

success of various study programmes (Sarrico & Alves, 2016). As such, the

quality of education is significantly affected by teachers’ general academic and

discipline-related English language proficiency, as affirmed by previous

research (Lei & Hu, 2014). While it is quintessential that teachers should have

adequate English language skills to effectually communicate lesson content,

manage the classroom, ask and answer questions, give feedback and assess

students, the spoken interaction and production descriptors in the Common

European Framework of Reference for languages have set their performance

to be at the C1 or C2 level (Council of Europe, 2001) to ensure quality

teaching in EMI (Freeman et al., 2015).

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6.4 Formulating bilingual language planning and policy (LPP)

With reference to findings that assessed state and institutional influences on

the standing of EMI, the conclusions of the analysis of policy documents raised

some fundamental issues of a system-wide language-in-education policy

affordance and constraints under the realities of globalisation in Bangladeshi

HE. In the absence of any official, consistent, long-term language planning and

policy (LPP) and a well-designed plan for English language education (see

Figure 2.2) across primary, secondary, and tertiary education levels, the

detrimental effect of neglecting global English in Bangladesh’s education is felt

now more than ever as students’ fundamental educational competencies need

much strengthening for communication literacy in English as seen previously

in Figure 1.1.

The choice of MOI in the education system has been a critical task for

policymakers in postcolonial societies, who have not only had to consider

educational factors but have also been confronted with a combination of socio-

political, economic, and practical constraints. What is widely debated is the

use of English as a favoured MOI in primary and post-primary education in

many post-colonial countries. This choice of MOI is not only educationally

inefficient where the English language is poorly understood, and hence

socially and economically costly (Williams & Cooke, 2002), but also inequitable

in that it privileges the relatively well-off urban-based elite and further

marginalises the rural poor (Ferguson, 2006). However, to compete in the field

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of knowledge within the globalised world, state-nations in the outer and the

expanding circles have embedded English into the national education

curriculum to empower the future generations to be bilingual or multilingual

while maintaining their national identity. Moreover, there is much work to be

done in language planning where the policymakers, teachers, students,

parents must rethink their previous perspectives on the status of Bengali itself

and the new possibilities and outcomes for the teaching and learning of

English as an additional language.

As Bangladesh recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of its independence in

2021, it is more pertinent now than ever for policymakers to consider EMI as a

mechanism for internationalising education, creating opportunities for students

to join a global academic and business community while increasing

international mobility, ensuring that the students are ready to compete in the

global market. While the nation should open its doors to multiculturism, the

nation now must take up the mammoth task of upskilling its large population of

the workforce, ‘opening up possibilities for students to work and study abroad

as well as spreading the country’s own culture throughout the world’ (Dearden,

2015). Thus, it is quintessential to have an explicit language-in-education

policy in place aimed at the internationalisation of secondary and tertiary

education while upholding mother-tongue teaching in Bengali with student

proficiency in English. Having had acknowledged the perceived benefits of

using mother-tongue as MOI at the primary level, fine-tuning MOI policy for

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secondary schools (Chan, 2013) will enhance students’ exposure to English

and its parallel use towards a swift transition to EMI in HE.

Following the implementation of institutionalised LPPs at the micro-level

(please refer to Figure 2.3), it is crucial to define a monitoring process

involving clear responsibilities of faculty as well as staff, through an elaborate

cycle of systematic evaluation, with the development of necessary

implementation measures communicated clearly to all members of the HEI.

However, the development and implementation of LPPs at the meso level

present a range of strategic challenges to universities where it is essential to

involve all the key stakeholders, from higher management, linguistics

departments, language centres, admissions office as well as the office of

international students and scholars, in the decision-making process

(Kortmann, 2019). While language planning requires a thorough analysis of

the sociolinguistic and educational context of the community, it is imperative to

mobilise a wide range of stakeholders, including teachers, language

specialists, government and non-governmental bodies, parents, and

representatives from the elite societies of the community. Language-in-

education policy, in contrast, needs to be developed and implemented in line

with the goals of the education system, supporting a nation to reach its

education goals in terms of learning outcomes, access and equity, and

language proficiency (Ball, 2011).

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6.5 EMI, linguistic capital and Bangladesh’s knowledge-economy

initiatives

The underlying belief expressed by the students and teachers in the context of

this current study is the domination of English as an inherently international

language in today’s globalised world. English as a global language has

permeated into different societies through music, advertising, broadcasting,

technology and above all, education. The most globally mediated language is

indeed English and its influence is undeniably vast and complex (Nelson &

Kern, 2012) from global business, industry, technology, banking to education.

Furthermore, the status of lingua franca has constructed its stature in the

global knowledge economy. It is utilised as a gatekeeper in education which is

arguably the most critical element in building any nation. To that end, the

National Education Policy 2010 identified English education as the tool to

create a knowledge-based, digital society. Embracing the emergence of global

English in education, the policy explicitly acknowledged the importance of the

language and emphasised that,

Appropriate steps will be taken from the very beginning to ensure

English Writing and Speaking skills and that will be continued and

emphasized in the forthcoming classes as per needs

Nonetheless, the MOI at the secondary level has been stipulated to be

Bengali, with the possibility of adopting EMI ‘as per the competence of any

175
educational institution’. In contrast, English has been stipulated to be the MOI

in the HE level besides Bengali.

While prior studies have explored the link between language use and the

economic status during the last decade (Chakraborty & Bakshi, 2016; Graddol,

2010; Harbert & McConnell-Ginet, 2009), earlier evidence suggests the

symbolic functions that English has for people in the context of their future

aspirations (Hornberger, 2002; Tembe & Norton, 2011; Vavrus, 2002). Given

that the academic success depends to a large extent on students’ proficiency

of the language of instruction, adopting widespread EMI, particularly in higher

secondary level and predominantly in HE, could be a trailblazing move to

democratise and bring in greater socioeconomic equity by creating equal

opportunities for the marginalised students in Bangladesh (Ahsan et al., 2013).

Owing to the rise of internetization (Pesando et al., 2021), the contemporary

face of globalisation that embraces the empowerment of internet access over

the last two decades, the domination of English has only increased more with

significant growth in numerous online learning platforms with leading

universities increasingly democratising learning by making courses globally

accessible online, more pertinent than ever since the outbreak of a global

pandemic, COVID-19. Likewise, this information and communication

technology revolution has led to a surge in demand for more highly skilled

workers from developing countries through highly skilled migrant programmes

as a solution to the declining and ageing population. Moreover, a shift towards

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global business process outsourcing, which was mainly initiated by the

American multinationals due to cost advantages, has led to substantial local

job opportunities, mainly in Asia. Reshaping business and economics over a

decade now, companies have embraced the practices of offshoring to break

up their service functions and redistribute their businesses and jobs to offshore

overseas locations like India, China, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines,

Russia and Brazil (Khan & Islam, 2006; Presbitero, 2017).

Furthermore, interestingly, English language proficiency, particularly speech

fluency with flexed accents, has been found to be significant in call centre

performance, especially when most of the clientele are from English-speaking

countries (Friginal, 2009). Given the English language skills of the workforce

(Oshri et al., 2011) that form one of the key components under the ‘People

skills and availability’ category (please see Figure 6.4), South Asian nations

like India hold the first spot while Bangladesh takes 33rd place. However,

countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand from

the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) made it to the top 10 in

the 2021 Global Services Location Index (AT Kearney, 2021), owing to the

regional status of ELF as the principle language of trade, commerce and

tourism. In the light of this discussion, it is quintessential to revisit language-in-

education policies to respond to the increasing dominance of English and

enhance the quality of Bangladesh’s HE to ensure greater cross-border

mobility of human capital.

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 Figure 6.4: 2021 Global Services Location Index (GSLI)

It is also essential to highlight Bangladesh as the second Southeast Asian

country, after India, to be the primary origin of international migrants (see

Figure 6.5), with 7.8 million Bangladeshi migrants living abroad as of 2019

(United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2019). Global

migration reached unprecedented levels in human history in the twenty‐first

century, primarily for work besides being driven away due to conflict, violence

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and climate change, 3.5% of the world's population having migrated

internationally, 74% of whom are of working age, between 20 to 64 years.

Although over 2.2 million young adults join the job market in Bangladesh each

year (International Organization for Migration, 2017), the domestic labour

market cannot provide employment to all of these individuals. Hence, it is

imperative to create a conducive environment through investments in human

capital and infrastructure to help attract activities of outsourced firms from

developed countries.

Figure 6.5: Top 20 origins (right) and destinations (left) of international migrants
in 2019 (in millions)

Owing to climate change, demographics, instability, growing inequalities and

aspirations for a better life and unmet needs in the labour market, many

migrate internationally to secure employment and send remittances home,

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which are used to repay loans and support migrant families. These

remittances are an important part of the Bangladeshi economy and make up

an equivalent of 5.4 percent of the national gross domestic product. However,

only 2 percent of migrants are considered ‘professional’, and 48 percent are

deemed low-skilled who work in hazardous jobs in countries of destination

(BMET, 2019; International Organization for Migration, 2017). Owing to the

gap between the theoretical knowledge and the practical experiences of the

workplace, Bangladeshi industrial workers refrained from participating more

fully in the fiercely competitive global job market.

However, as Bangladesh avails of its large share of the working-age

population owing to the concept of demographic dividend, the nation is

projected to harness a more favourable demographic window of opportunity

until 2051 (El-Saharty et al., 2014). Therefore, appropriate education and

explicit language policies must be formulated pertaining to quality education

for the nation to reap economic benefits by utilising such an extremely large

proportion of human capital driving economic growth. If explicit policies are not

formulated and implemented, this demographic dividend might be a cost

leading to unemployment and an unbearable strain on education and

prosperity (Matin, 2012).

As English gains global importance, English language education could be

seen to constitute the Bourdieusian concept of a linguistic market as an

‘extension to the idea of economic markets’ (Fowler, 1997, p. 28), granting

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individuals a more robust social means of identity-formation. This likelihood of

upward mobility to access the economic and cultural capital has somewhat

been made available through the ‘linguistic appropriation’ of English

(Canagarajah, 2000, p. 128). Positioning itself in disciplines such as science,

engineering, medicine and management that draw upon global best practices

and scholarship, EMI thus plays a definitive role in the knowledge construction

and global dissemination of research in these fields while gradually becoming

embedded into the curriculum, both in public and private HEIs, besides

classroom instruction and assessment.

Clearly, human capital has been considered to be based not only on formal

education and labour force participation but also on cognitive functioning and

skills that rest on educational attainment. Improving education can affect

economic growth as a higher-skilled labour force can directly translate into

higher productivity and into better and faster take-up of new technologies

(Crespo Cuaresma et al., 2014). Without question, to fulfil the 2030 Agenda for

Sustainable Development, Bangladesh must rethink its HE and make inroads

into enacting clear, explicit language and education policy to ‘leave no one

behind’.

6.6 Chapter Summary

Using translanguaging and academic literacy as a theoretical framework, this

research sought to provide deep insights into the perceptions and lived

experiences of students and teachers with regard to the utilisation of EMI in a

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private HEI in Bangladesh. Using interviews, observations, and document

review, an analysis of the data revealed several significant findings. Overall,

the participants were satisfied with the choice of their respective EMI major

programmes. However, participants experienced feelings of frustration and

anxiety arising from a steep learning curve due to their insufficient language

proficiency, which negatively affected their academic success. Participants

also sought more language support through translanguaging with regards to

speaking alongside reading and writing skills besides technical vocabulary of

academic subjects, enabling improved attrition rates. The findings of the study

also suggested how English is used in the construction of social identities and

its role in the promotion of bilingual ideologies to avert exclusion and

inequality, leading to a sense of feeling othered. Finally, the study contributes

to the discourse around conceptualising EMI in terms of equity while

advocating explicit and transparent language-in-education policies to foster a

global knowledge society.

Chapter 7: Conclusion and recommendations

The current study aims to provide a deep insight into Bangladeshi students’

experiences of learning through EMI, their attitude towards EMI and their

perception of identity to support and inform the EMI phenomenon in

Bangladesh, an Outer Circle nation. Providing a detailed description of the

perceived challenges students faced and their impact on identity construction,

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the following section articulates the conclusions drawn and offers

recommendations for implementing EMI in line with the HE curriculum besides

a language-in-education policy while highlighting the limitations. The findings

from this thesis contribute to the existing knowledge base regarding the

experiences of L2 students and their teachers and hold the prospect of change

while addressing real gaps in qualitative research on EMI and university

students’ experiences and learning, particularly in South Asia and specifically

in Bangladesh. Even though a direct study of these issues has the potential to

add some distinctive understanding to the literature, the study builds on the

political framing of the knowledge economy and the role that HE, and EMI,

plays within this. Even though the domination of EMI is unlikely to be reversed

for the foreseeable future (Dearden, 2015), its utility and benefits are not

clearly understood by educational stakeholders. Given the lack of solid

research evidence, the findings from this research are recommended for

practices in EMI in Bangladeshi HE while transmitting their significance to the

decision-makers to tackle wicked problems (Rittel & Webber, 1973) related to

language planning, policy and practice. Essentially, knowing can be

consummated within practice disciplines like teaching, guided by produced

knowledge and ‘actionability’ (Bradbury, 2008), driving actions drawn on the

‘primacy of the practical’ (Heron, 1996). Besides enabling language policy

considerations, the study provides a pathway for future Bangladesh in creating

and managing a large, skilled workforce of educated, creative and skilled

people towards a knowledge-based economy.

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7.1 Limitations

The generalisability of the findings is subject to certain limitations. These

include the generalisation of the results, the influence of the researcher in the

research process, and the presentation of findings. One of the most significant

limitations was that the current study only investigated students' perceptions of

one Bangladeshi private university that adopted EMI. Unlike large-scale

nomothetic quantitative studies that attempt to establish law-like findings that

hold relevance irrespective of time or place, this small-scale ideographic

research, confined in a particular context, is much more concerned with the

depth and intensity of findings rather than breadth (Gray, 2014, p. 23). Since

the research participants (n=24) were chosen from one private university and

none from any public university in Bangladesh, it does not allow broad

generalisations about language-in-education policy in a larger population. It is

also not possible to claim anything in more definitive terms about Bangladeshi

students’ experiences of learning through EMI since a relatively small sample

was chosen for the study. The key was not to generalise findings to a broader

population but rather to understand L2 students’ shared perceptions while

looking for information that elucidates their experiences and significant

common patterns to aid the reproducibility of the study in other EMI contexts.

Therefore, connections can be made to other EMI contexts through similarities

in the research contexts, participants and factors that influence students’

attitudes and highlight their learning experiences. Overall, further studies in

184
different EMI contexts are needed to test the validity of the findings in this

study.

A further limitation is the inherent power imbalance between the researcher as

a teacher, owing to the ‘insider/outsider’ dilemma (Hornberger, 1994a), and

students respondents, as discussed previously (p. 84). While students taught

by the researcher were excluded from the study, the researcher’s familiarity

with the setting and research context ensured that she was readily accepted

as one of their own than an unknown researcher may have been. Students

were also given the option to withdraw from the study at any point while

maintaining anonymity and were at liberty to express themselves freely.

While the single setting and relatively small number of participants limits the

generalisability of the findings, this study triangulated multiple data sources

through interviews, observations, and document review to gain a detailed, in-

depth description of students’ perceptions of learning through EMI. In studying

these narratives provided by the students and their experiences of the

conditions enabling the acquisition of English in an HEI, the current study can

be of importance in laying the foundations for language-in-education policy

development while being transferable to other EMI contexts, particularly

across Asia. However, ethnographic research would draw more data on

students’ learning experiences and the shaping of their identity, drawn using

research tools such as diary entries and focus group discussions besides

multiple interview sessions.

185
7.2 Contributions of the study to the field of EMI and applied linguistics

The study contributes to the growing field of EMI by documenting and

analysing Bangladeshi HE students’ EMI learning experiences to situate

globally trending EMI studies in Bangladesh. The present study also

contributes to knowledge, specifically to the field of EAP/ESP and language

education, as it explored the experiences and perceptions of HE students

learning through the medium of English and its links with negotiating identities

triggered by the realities of globalisation and internetization. Moreover, this

study draws on a bricolage approach, which includes translanguaging,

academic literacy practices and socio-cultural theory, as an overarching

framework of reference to help to illuminate, conceptualise and understand

students’ narratives of identity formation and learning experiences through the

medium of English in HE in Bangladesh.

The current study also draws on the sociology of language education by

examining social variables that may affect students' academic experiences

and outcomes using EMI. The study attempts to bridge an epistemological gap

by taking a sociocultural approach in capturing EAL/ESL students’ ‘narrative of

the self’ (Giddens, 1991, p. 244) through reflections of their reconstituted

interactions with learning through EMI in Bangladeshi HEI. As such, the study

also examines the nature of macro language policy as stated in the

Constitution of Bangladesh. It investigates how EMI has been negotiated at

the meso (HEIs) level as a strategy for increasing employability prospects by

186
improving graduates’ English whilst arguing towards the implementation of

EMI at all levels of education, including schools, colleges, and universities as a

language-planning tool to promote Bangladeshi students’ command over

English.

In brief, the relevance of this research transcends the fields of EMI, EAP/ESP

and applied linguistics, aiming to add value while being beneficial to

academics, practitioners and policymakers in the design and delivery of EMI

courses and EAP/ESP courses. Besides making a vital contribution to the

literature on teaching and learning in HE, the thesis would, more specifically,

enable policymakers to reflect upon their language-in-education planning

policies, thereby seeking to adopt EMI in HE while addressing the economic

imperatives of globalisation. Finally, using conclusions drawn from the data,

this study would help address research gaps in the consequences or

outcomes of EMI by providing valuable insight into its effects both on the

learning of academic subjects and on the acquisition of English proficiency.

7.3 Recommendations

Universities are at the forefront of research and innovation, playing an

unparalleled and vital role in educating the next generation of change leaders,

prepared to realise a more sustainable future, bridging the gap between global

initiatives and local actions in a ‘glonacal’ (Marginson & Rhoades, 2002, p.

363) context. They today hold greater responsibility for preparing students for

the workplace and must address the quality of education offered and its
187
relevance to the fluidity of 21st-century work. As the world experiences the

recent Industry 4.0 revolution, leading industries towards greater flexibility,

efficiency, customisation besides incorporating automation, mechanisation and

digitalisation in product/service development, its bearing on workforce

education, training and ensuing employability is expected to be quite

significant. Driving the monumental shift towards an era of Education 4.0,

graduates will be required to possess ICT knowledge, understand

organisational functions and processes, and interact and evolve with modern

interfaces of technology and innovations to be employable across borders.

Employability is becoming a key yardstick to assess how successful HEIs are

at providing that preparation. And graduate outcomes are as significant as

academic excellence, if not more. In view of this, skills and education are

immediate concerns for Bangladesh because the imperatives of economic

diversification and moving up the value chain will require quality higher

education and more and different skillsets besides the internalisation of

English as a second/additional language as Bangladesh aims to materialise its

Vision 2041 of building the nation (Asian Development Bank, 2016).

Consequently, Bangladesh should rethink its ideological interpretation that

tends to equate the nation and national identity with one language - Bengali as

the construct of ‘mother tongue’ (Wiley, 2014), shaping an ‘imagined

community’ of speakers of a common language in a geographical space

where the endonym Bangla (Bengali) and the geographic territory of

Bangladesh are united as one (Anderson, 1991). While embracing English as

188
the language of instruction and curriculum, which aligns with established world

standards of teaching and assessment, students can contribute to research,

education, and the national economy.

English's prominence in language planning and policies (LPP) across various

nation-states is due to the enormous prestige of the instrumental and intrinsic

value, an inevitable reality most nations must come to terms with (Chang,

2006). In the current world, where more than 70% of English speakers are

non-native speakers (Statista, 2021), it is no longer possible to be ‘divorced

from the reality of how the majority of the world’s multilingual populations both

use and develop various bundles of communicative resources which they then

use successfully in their everyday lives’ (Leung & Valdés, 2019). Besides, as

nations worldwide move towards using a common linguistic currency of

English in a ceaselessly globalising market economy, its widespread use

comes from the shared assumption that it can serve both as the measure and

means of communicative exchange across cultures. Thus, English can impose

itself as the necessary language of diplomacy, international commerce,

tourism, scholarship and many other transactions, following its geopolitical

reach in the world today.

Given the expanding scale of EMI education globally, Bangladeshi HEIs need

to play a pivotal role in facilitating EMI teaching and teacher development

besides the development, administration and reformation of EMI curriculums.

As a measure for quality assurance and enhancement and as an essential

189
strategic instrument in institutional internationalisation, it is equally crucial for

each Bangladeshi HEI to design and initiate the implementation of explicit and

coherent institutional language policies to foster EMI. In the process of making

HEIs more international, language policies are officially developed as

‘statements of goals and means for achieving them that constitute guidelines

or rules shaping language structure, language use, and language acquisition

within educational institutions’ (Tollefson, 2008, p. 3). This process

incorporates a range of strategic actions mediated by HEIs to specify the level

of linguistic competence students, academics and administrative staff should

attain to study or work at any university besides providing ESL study

programmes aimed at addressing the language needs of students. Such

micro-level LPPs ought to be clearly articulated in institutional strategic

documents besides obligatory allocation of credits for English language

learning to support learning in non-linguistic academic subjects like

mathematics, biology, engineering, physics, or history.

Following the suit of various Asian states such as Japan, Malaysia, and

Singapore, Bangladesh should develop itself into regional hubs of HE by

capturing the opportunities to turn HE into a service industry (Mok, 2007;

Morshidi, 2006). Building from the association to Bangladeshi identity, the

nation should commit to promoting cross-cultural understanding and move

towards developing alternative academic paradigms through a greater regional

collaboration of cross-national policy learning both in the Association of

Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region and South Asian Association for
190
Regional Cooperation (SAARC). To this point, the lingua franca role of

English, owing to its status as the official language of APEC, ASEAN or

SAARC, has important implications for state language policy and language

education as the first language can pose significant challenges in achieving

aspired regional cooperation. In support of these future collaborative initiatives

for strengthening human resources development, Bangladesh should align

with the needs of societies and economies and enhance individual

competencies to facilitate the mobility of skilled labour and professionals

across the Asia-Pacific region.

Standing at the threshold of reforms by choosing to begin with an overhaul of

Bangladesh’s HE sectors with the recent implementation of the quality

assurance policy, it is pivotal for the nation to gain the international

community's confidence through graduate mobility and transnational

accreditation. Supplementary to key indicators of teaching, research and

knowledge transfer, global universities continue to be evaluated against

performance indicators like having an international outlook owing to a

particular proportion of international students, faculty, staff besides greater

international research collaboration. Aside from world-class teaching and

research, two of the notable factors measuring the internationalisation of HEIs

are the global mobility of students and staff and the increased proportion of

courses and programmes offered in an international language like English

other than Bengali. As internationalisation is closely tied to English medium

instruction (EMI), where the top-ranked universities belong to nations

191
characteristically situated in the inner circle of Kachru’s (1985) model of World

Englishes (please refer to Figure 2.1), it provides a utilitarian terrain where

universities can compete and improve their standing in university rankings at a

relatively cost-effective method (Piller & Cho, 2013).

Thus, following ‘glonacal’ trends (Marginson & Rhoades, 2002), Bangladeshi

HEIs should seek international recognition rather than national and local

accreditations to enhance academic competitiveness globally (Deem et al.,

2008), gaining a reputation to ensure international enrolment (Hou et al., 2014)

just as in East Asian nations such as Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and

Hong Kong. To this end, the Bangladesh Accreditation Council, at its

inception, should also take the initiative for international recognition of its

accreditation process through networking and collaboration with the regional

and globally credible quality assurance and accreditation agencies. The

council will thus be able to provide the quality mark as a guarantee of

standards for its HE sector, comparable at a global level while promoting

increased cross-border mobility of students as well as academic staff and

professionals (OECD, 2005). Moving towards internalisation, Bangladeshi

HEIs will experience a greater mobility of students, creating networks,

opportunities for exchange and partnership in Asia and beyond.

7.4 Suggestions for further research

Nevertheless, this study can indicate possibilities for further investigation at

three levels related to language teaching, policymaking, and the

192
internationalisation of HE. The effectiveness and possible challenges of EMI

programmes offered by Bangladeshi HEIs should also be investigated with

many participants in the contexts of state-owned universities. Further detailed

research can also shed light on lecturers’ perceptions of EMI, and the coping

strategies they use to face challenges while teaching course contents in

English should be considered. Further research is required to establish

whether academic staff’s language challenges are critical in implementing EMI

in Bangladesh’s HE. It would also be useful to conduct a study over a more

extended period of time to investigate how students use English in the distant

future and how their attitudes change.

7.5 Conclusion

This research addresses a growing concern of ESL practitioners and

educators in Bangladesh that HE students do not have the required linguistic

dexterity, an integral component of communication, creative and analytical,

digital, innovative and organisational skills essential for survival in the dynamic

workplace today. It stands to reason that language is the critical element in

these skills that employers look for. As English increasingly becomes the

medium and vehicle for delivery across nation-states worldwide, this study

provides a vital contribution to the literature on students’ perceptions of EMI,

particularly in South Asia and specifically in Bangladesh. Viewing the concept

of translanguaging in measures of academic literacy within a Bourdieusian

construct of linguistic capital, this study took a critical stance in examining how

193
Bangladeshi university students can be better supported in teaching and

learning through EMI. By allowing Bangladeshi ESL students to talk about their

own experiences, particularly in adapting to writing, reading, listening and

speaking practices in HE, this paper revisited the crucial constituents of

academic literacy, including critical thinking, negotiation and communication of

ideas, which can further support the practitioners in developing their teaching

practices. By identifying factors that directly and indirectly affect students’

learning behaviours through EMI besides describing the different ways

students experience or understand the relationship of language support and

academic literacy (Lea & Street, 1998), it could be vital for the development of

an educational curriculum that acculturates students in relation to institutional

practices, power relations and identities.

Since, globalisation forces have accelerated the pace of internationalisation of

higher education, contemporary universities are increasingly influenced by

diversification, expansion, privatisation, marketisation, and other trends (Mok,

2007). While universities worldwide increasingly adopt the policy of using EMI

alongside their own national language to enhance their competitiveness in

research and teaching as part of their internationalisation endeavours, English

is now perceived as being indispensable for the development of an emerging

nation like Bangladesh.

With Vision 2041 looming ahead, as Bangladesh is looking to diversify and

modernise its economy, better education and quality in the workforce are

194
crucial. Moreover, with large numbers of young people entering the job market

in Bangladesh, education is one of the most significant enablers and essential

contributing factors to inclusion, benefits and success in life. A paradigm shift

towards inclusive HE means that all students see themselves and their cultural

and social backgrounds represented. While investing in social cohesion, this

diversity should be seen as a richness, not as a threat to nationalism and

culture, because everybody has a stake in the community as a whole. As

societies today can no longer operate in closed spaces within a monolingual

paradigm, it is of paramount importance to have a ‘resistance perspective’,

aptly conceived by Canagarajah (1999), and see the colonial past as a

stepping-stone in which,

post-colonial communities may find ways to negotiate, alter, and

oppose political structures and reconstruct their languages, cultures and

identities to their advantage...The intention is not to reject English but

reconstitute it in more inclusive, ethical and democratic terms…(p. 2)

Since HE is seen as an indispensable catalyst in accelerating economic

prosperity and energising social cohesion to steer the nation forward, the

Bangladeshi government should plan its language policies to preserve its

linguistic identity while investing more heavily in EMI implementation

programmes to join the global HE community. As Bangladesh celebrated the

50th anniversary of its independence, it is steadfast in sustaining its economic

growth by rebuilding a knowledge-based economy to create more and better

195
jobs by improving the quality of its HE through transparent quality assurance

systems that promote employability and a student-centred learning

environment.

196
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Appendix One: Institutional Ethics Approval

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Appendix Two: Institutional Ethics Approval

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Appendix Three: Institutional Ethics Approval

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Appendix Four: Non-participant observation field notes

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Appendix Five: Participant Information Sheet

Department of Educational Research

County South, Lancaster University, LA1 4YD, UK
Tel: +44 (0) 1524 592685

Participant Information Sheet

Research Project: Students' experiences of learning through the medium of English

Researcher: Naureen Rahnuma

Email: [email protected]

Supervisor: Dr. Jo Warin

Educational Research Department, County South, Lancaster University, LA1 4YD, UK
Email: [email protected]

Date:______________

Dear ___ _______________,

I would like to invite you to take part in my PhD research project in the Higher Education Research
programme in the Department of Educational Research at Lancaster University, UK.

Before you decide if you wish to take part you need to understand why the research is being done and what
it would involve for you. Please take time to read the following information carefully. Talk to others about
the study if you wish. Ask me if there is anything that is not clear or if you would like more information. Take
time to decide whether or not you wish to take part.

I would be very grateful if you would agree to take part in this study.

The purpose of the study

The aim of this study is to understand the ways students conceptualize and experience learning at IUB
through English as the medium of instruction.

Why have I been invited?

You have been invited because of your role as an important stakeholder in IUB.

Do I have to take part?

No, your participation is entirely voluntary. If you do not wish to take part, then please let me know. If you
wish to be interviewed, let me know if you prefer face-to-face or online interview. If you wish to be
interviewed but prefer not to be video recorded, you may choose to keep your camera/video switched off. If
you change your mind, you are free to withdraw at any time during your participation in this study. Any
ideas or information (=data) you provide will be removed consequently. However, it is difficult and often
impossible to take out data from one specific participant when this has already been anonymised or pooled
together with other people’s data. Therefore, you can only withdraw up to 4 weeks after taking part in the
study.

What would taking part involve for me?

• The interview conducted face-to-face or remotely, will be recorded by an audio/video recording
device.
• The interview will last from 30 minutes to an hour.
• As a participant, you will have the right of access to personal data about yourself only.
• The researcher will use a special code at the time of the interview so that no names or other
identifying information exist in the researcher's files.

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What will I have to do?
Signing of consent form, being present at the session that will last between 30- 60 minutes.

What will happen to the data?

‘Data’ here means the researcher’s notes, audio and video recordings and any email exchanges we may
have had. The data may be securely stored for ten years after the successful completion of the PhD Viva
as per Lancaster University requirements, and after that any personal data will be destroyed. Audio and
video recordings will be stored on my password-protected personal laptop. Identifiable data (including video
and audio recordings) on my personal laptop will be encrypted. With devices such as portable recorders
where this is not possible identifiable data will be deleted as quickly as possible. In the mean time I will
ensure the portable device will be kept safely until the data is deleted.
You can request to view the field notes or transcription after the interview and any parts you are unhappy
with will be deleted or disregarded from the data. Data may be used in the reporting of the research (in the
thesis and then potentially in journal articles or conference presentations). Please note that if your data is
used, it will not identify you in any way or means. You have the right to request this data to be destroyed
within a period of 4 weeks from your interview. If used, your data will have full protection via the UK Data
Protection Act. Data will only be accessed by myself and my supervisor.

How will my identity be protected?

A unique code will be given to protect your identity in the research report and any identifying information
about you will be removed from the report. All pseudonyms will be securely stored and kept by myself.

Who to contact for further information or with any concerns

If you would like further information on this project, the programme within which the research is being
conducted or have any concerns about the project, participation or my conduct as a researcher, please
contact:
Professor Paul Ashwin – Head of Department
Email: [email protected]

Thank you for reading this information sheet.

Naureen Rahnuma

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Appendix Six: Consent Form

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 Appendix Seven: Pilot Interview Guides

Students’ Interview guide

1.How is your experience of learning at your university through the medium of English?
2.What challenges do you find while learning about various topics through the medium
of English?
3.What contributed most significantly to your learning in the university?
4.How do you think the English language courses were helpful in your studies in
general?
5.How do you think that the methods your teachers use are appropriate to teaching
different courses at your HEI?
6.In what ways do assessment practices, undertaken through English, hinder or help
your learning?
7.What are your impressions about the learning resources in the institutions that
promote learning in English?
8.How do you think your economic situation influence your English language learning in
the past? Does it have any influence in your learning experience at the university?
9.How do you think your family educational background influence your learning
experience in past? And in university?
10.What do you think are the advantages of studying in an English medium university?

Teachers’ opinion of students’ learning experience in English

1. Do you find the teaching language different than teaching of other subjects? How?
2. Why does the university have this assumption that they need remedial and
compulsory courses to help students with English?
3. Do you have any alternative solution? How do you think the students could be
helped with their deficiency in language?
4. What is the ultimate goal of the course that you are teaching now? What do you
think is the goal of students in that course?
5. What purpose do you think the English as second language (ESL) programme serve
in the development of students’ learning experiences in higher education?
6. What do you think about the assessment criteria? How can it more tailored to the
students’ needs and deficiencies?
7. How do you define the size of your class? What affects do you think it might have on
students learning practices?
8.What is your impression of the learning resources for students in this university?
How are these learning resources supportive to your teaching?
9. Do you think that the students from different educational background experience
learning in ESL programme differently? If yes, how? And why?
10. What do you think about the rules of teaching, and examination in various
programme? What kind of a role does English play amongst such practices?
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Appendix Eight: Interview Summary Form

Project: Students’ learning experiences through EMI

Researcher: Date of interview:
Interviewee: Time of interview:
Place: Duration:

Where did the interview take place? Was the venue suitable? Does anything

need to be changed for future interviews?

How easy was it to establish rapport? Were there any problems and how can this

be improved for next time?

Did the interview schedule work well? Does it need to be altered or improved?

What were the main themes which arose in the interview? Did any issues arise

which need to be added to the interview schedule for next time?

Is the interviewee willing to be contacted again? Have I promised to send any

information or supply them with the results or a copy of the transcript?

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Appendix Nine: Students’ Interview Guide

Students’ educational and family background

1. Can you tell me about yourself - which year of study are you in and what is
your specialization?
2.Tell me about your family, please. How many brothers and sisters do you
have? What does your father and mother do?

Students’ perception about the UoB

1. Why did you choose UoB?
2. To what extent did UoB fulfill your expectations?

Students’ perception and attitude towards the ESL programme

1. What are your views about the English foundation courses being offered at
UoB?
2. If you could rank the courses according to their effectiveness, how would you
rank them?
3. How does the ESL programme at your university influence your learning
practices?
(prompt) How do you prepare for lecture, tests, assignment, homework and any
form of assessment?
(prompt) What kind of preparations do you make before you attend lectures?
(prompt) How do handle an interesting topic in classes?
(prompt) How do you feel about doing extra work – studying materials that are
recommended by the teachers or just do what have been asked to do?
(prompt) What do you consider to be more important, short –term memorising or
long-term understanding of concepts? Why?

Students’ perceptions about EMI

1. What challenges do you find while learning about various topics through the
medium of English?

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2.What contributed most significantly to your learning in the university?
3. How do you think the English language courses were helpful in your studies in
general? How do they influence your ways of learning?

Students’ learning experiences

1. Explain how does the constant use of English language on campus influence
your learning experiences?
2. Explain how does the fact of you have been a student in this university
influences your view about yourself?

Students’ previous learning experiences

1. How do you think your pre-university learning experience influences your
current learning experience?

Students’ experiences about teaching, learning and assessment

1.How do you think that the methods your teachers use are appropriate to
teaching different courses at your HEI?
(prompt) How do teachers teach in your course? Do they teach for the purpose of
assessment or to clarify concepts? Do they encourage discussion?
(prompt) Do they start their teaching from the concept you know and build up or
they start from concept that you are not familiar with?
(prompt) Do they give information that that might be available from a good
textbook or they try to go beyond that in their explanation? Could you give an
example?
(prompt) Do they encourage you to do more work by yourself and explore other
knowledge beyond what has been taught?
(prompt) Do you feel they make the course very interesting and make you feel
you want to do more work?
2.In what ways do assessment practices, undertaken through English, hinder or
help your learning?

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Learning resources to aid learning through English
1.What are your impressions about the learning resources (library, English
Language Centre, access to computer and internet) in the institutions that
promote learning in English? What more help do you think you need?

Experiences of studying in an EMI university

1. What do you think are the advantages of studying in an English medium
university?
2. How’s your overall experiences of learning at UoB?

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Appendix Ten: Teachers’ Interview Guide

Participant background information

1. Can you please introduce yourself in a few words?
2. What is your area of specialisation?
3. How long have you been teaching ___________ through English?

Challenges of using English-medium instruction (EMI) in teaching

1. What challenges and problems do your students usually experience during the
delivery of your course?
2. What kind of language problems do your students usually face in the courses
you teach?
3. Are they only related to English language or are there other causes for the
difficulties? Can you outline some examples of these challenges?
4. How do you deal with your students’ difficulties in understanding your subject-
related terminologies in English? What do you think causes these challenges?
5. How do you respond to these difficulties related to comprehension of lectures
in English?
6. How do you cope with your students’ difficulties in giving presentations and
expressing their ideas in English?
7. To what extent do you think that teaching ALL courses in English can help your
students in dealing with EMI challenges?

Views regarding studying through English

1. What are your views regarding teaching subjects in English to students whose
mother tongue is not English?
2. Do the advantages of studying in English justify the effort that must be put into
learning and using the language?
3. Do you think that a great deal of students’ talent is lost because of learning in a
second language?
4. What is your view about the policy of studying at UoB through English?

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5. To what extent do you think that the English foundation courses have helped
your students in dealing with EMI challenges?
6. To what extent do you think teaching in English influence students’ future
employability?

Skills/attributes important in succeeding English medium programmes

1. What kind of skills/attributes do you think your students need in order to
succeed in programmes taught through the medium of English?
2. What are the skills that your students need to develop so that they can
complete their programme successfully in English?

Teaching, learning and assessment

1. How would you define the size of your class? What effects do you think it might
have on students learning practices?
2. What is your impression of the learning resources available for students in this
university? How are these resources supportive to your teaching?
3. What do you think about the assessment criteria? How can it be more tailored
to the students’ needs and deficiencies?
4. What impact does the family educational and economic background have on
the way students learn?
5. Do you think that the students from different educational and economic
background experience learning in ESL programme differently? If yes, how? And
why?

Suggestions for dealing with EMI challenges

1. What suggestions would you like to make to help your students overcome their
English-related challenges? Do you any comments which you would like to add?

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