Language ideology, development of English proficiency, and performance in professional communication: voices of STEM + business graduates of English medium university

Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education

Research

Evita Umama Amin¹  Abdul Karim²  Mohammad Mosiur Rahman³  Md. Shaiful Islam⁴  M. Obaidul Hamid⁵ 

[1] Brac Institute of Languages, Brac University, Dhaka, Bangladesh;Brac Institute of Languages, Brac University, Dhaka, Bangladesh;School of Educational Studies, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia;Department of English and Humanities, University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh;Department of English and Modern Languages, Independent University Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh;School of Education, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia;

关键词: English medium instructionEMI);    Language ideology;    English language proficiency;    Employability;    Professional communication;    Higher education institutions;    Graduates’ perspectives;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s40862-023-00200-w

 received in 2022-12-18, accepted in 2023-06-15,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

The current study aims at unpacking the language ideologies of the STEM + Business graduates in relation to English medium instruction (EMI) and how they perceive the contribution of EMI towards English proficiency development. It also intended to unfold the extent to which EMI education may have contributed to their employability and fulfillment of workplace communication needs. Inspired by inadequate evidence on the effect of EMI on English Language Proficiency (ELP) and employability, the researchers engaged with the participants who could draw on their EMI experiences in developing ELP, attaining employability, and fulfilling workplace communication needs in English. Theoretical aspects of language ideologies, ELP, and employability set the conceptual ground of the study. Adopting the interpretive phenomenological approach and harnessing semi-structured interview questions, the study collected data from eight participants. The study found that the language ideologies of the graduates were shaped by the perceived role and importance of English to serve academic and economic purposes through the availability of curriculum corresponding to global standards, access to knowledge, English-oriented atmosphere and ELP development, and EMI policy adoption and implementation in higher education institutions was seen as a panacea to avail the facilities described above. The participants also confirmed that EMI education benefitted their ELP, enabling them to obtain jobs and perform workplace communication in English.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2023

【 图 表 】

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