[Reflections on the Design of English-Medium Instruction Courses in Nursing]

In line with the Taiwan government's 2030 bilingual national policy, nursing education must emphasize the importance of enhancing English proficiency, developing international competitiveness, and fostering global literacy. English is used as the medium of instruction (EMI) in nursing education with the main goal of conveying professional knowledge and skills through effective communication and linguistic awareness. The achievement of this goal may be enhanced by the use of artificial intelligence (AI) technology and software to assist teachers and students improve their linguistic awareness. EMI curricula provide to students of different nationalities opportunities to learn and appreciate multicultural perspectives, allowing them to practice respect for different cultural perspectives, cooperate in international learning environments, and build global competence.

[Challenges of Globalization and English as a Medium of Instruction in Nursing Teaching and Learning]

Higher education is becoming increasingly internationalized, and English as a medium of instruction (EMI) for academic content has become commonplace in countries where English is not a native language. However, concerns are growing that the fast-growing trend of EMI lacks sufficient consideration of the related challenges with regard to implementation and impact. As a complex phenomenon, EMI requires increased awareness of its positive and negative implications for teachers and students. The attitudes and perspectives of teachers and students play a significant role in influencing the promotion and effectiveness of EMI teaching. Nevertheless, internationalization is essential for the advancement of nursing education. Therefore, it is imperative to understand the perspectives and challenges faced by teachers and students with regard to EMI and their readiness to embrace it. Therefore, in this article, we first define EMI and describe the reasons for its introduction and then discuss the challenges that teachers and students involved with EMI face in order to provide a reference for nursing education policymakers and academic institutions tasked with EMI development and implementation.

[From 0 to 1: Taking the First Step in English-Medium Instruction]

Teaching in English (aka English as a medium of instruction [EMI]) presents a significant challenge for many university instructors. This is particularly true for those who have never taught an EMI course before, as they may feel confused, anxious, and unsure how to start. Beyond the challenge of the language itself, the pressure of conveying specialized knowledge in a non-native language and ensuring student comprehension are major sources of stress. This article was developed to share and explore the approach and experience of a field instructor teaching his first EMI course in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). In the article, the anxieties and worries that may arise prior to starting the course and strategies that may be used to overcome these are discussed. In addition, measures that teachers may use to effectively manage classes and ensure student understanding during the course and to continually enhance teaching quality are addressed. We hope this article can help those interested in or required to teach EMI courses successfully take the first step and continue to improve with confidence, enhancing their teaching abilities.

Inequity, inequality, and language rights in English as a medium of instruction programs

Language rights are essential to human rights, including using English as a medium of instruction (EMI) in higher education. However, in non-Anglophone countries, using EMI in undergraduate programs may contribute to human rights violations and inequalities. This qualitative study explores the lack of justice and fairness in EMI policy implementation in undergraduate programs, resulting in structural inequity based on students' experiences. Open-ended responses were collected from undergraduate students in four colleges, including healthcare, sciences, engineering, and computer science. A thematic analysis of students' responses revealed three major themes: the roots of inequities in EMI undergraduate programs, struggles faced by English as Foreign Language (EFL) undergraduates, and suggested tactics and solutions to address injustice in EMI classes. The study aims to provide international educators and policymakers with a better understanding of the challenges EFL students face in EMI classes and amplify the voices of students often neglected in internationally published studies. The findings suggest the need for policymakers to re-evaluate the effectiveness of EMI policies in non-Anglophone countries and promote equity, fairness, and social justice in universities to help students achieve equal opportunities to learn and succeed, irrespective of their English proficiency.

Experiences and Challenges of an English as a Medium of Instruction Course in Taiwan during COVID-19

Recently, Taiwan’s higher education has been impacted by COVID-19 and the necessity of English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI). In 2018, the Taiwanese government approved a roadmap for the development of a bilingual nation by 2030. This resulted in a renewed focus on EMI. However, the fluctuating surges of COVID-19 have caused university classes to shift from face-to-face to online. To assess its effectiveness, the current paper describes the quantitative and qualitative experiences and challenges associated with a blended EMI course within a private Taiwanese university. The data was collected from the students in the spring semester of 2020 (40 students) and 2021 (23 students). Overall satisfaction rate is calculated at 4.13; indicating that the transition from face-to-face to online has not affected the students’ overall satisfaction with the course. In addition, interviews and focus groups respondents pointed out the importance of a student-centered course approach and the opportunity to practice English in order to improve their competitiveness. While the flexibility offered by the blended learning approach during COVID-19 has given students more freedom to learn at their own pace. Lastly, in times of uncertainty, a careful pedagogical design will help to make the learning process fruitful and sustainable.

English or Arabic in Healthcare Education: Perspectives of Healthcare Alumni, Students, and Instructors

Background

Using English as a medium of instruction (EMI) in non-English speaking countries to teach healthcare subjects has been questioned in various international healthcare educational contexts, despite the numerous benefits it offers to students and institutions.

Purpose

The present study collected data to examine the impact of the EMI policy and analyze the experiences of students and instructors in a healthcare course in Saudi Arabia.

Methods

The study used three instruments: alumni records (n = 3,044), instructors' questionnaires (n = 134), and students' questionnaires (n = 358). The participants were from different majors in five colleges at a Saudi University: College of Medicine, College of Dentistry, College of Pharmacy, College of Nursing, and Applied Medical Sciences.

Results

The results of alumni data from healthcare colleges of the last five years revealed that the cumulative grade point average (GPA) can be predicted by the first semester grades of the students in the intensive English proficiency program. The results of the questionnaires indicate that the healthcare students' perspectives and healthcare instructors' views demonstrate that using EMI to teach healthcare subjects presents certain obstacles that have a negative impact on students' academic achievement, especially if the students lack fluency in English.

Conclusion

Policymakers should focus on improving the English proficiency of students and provide ongoing English language learning opportunities for the complete duration of the healthcare programs.

A North-South-South partnership in higher education to develop health research capacity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: the challenge of finding a common language

BACKGROUND

Globally, increasing numbers of higher education institutions (HEIs) in non-English-speaking countries have adopted English as a medium of instruction (EMI), because of the perception that this provides opportunities to attract high-calibre students and academic staff, and engage with the international research community. We report an evaluation of a North-South-South collaboration to develop health research capacity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) by establishing a postgraduate programme in nutritional epidemiology at the Kinshasa School of Public Health (KSPH), where EMI was adopted. We report experiences and perceptions of stakeholders, facilitators and students about using EMI.

METHODS

In-depth qualitative interviews were conducted between October and December 2019 among convenience sampled stakeholders (8), facilitators (11) and students (12) involved in the programme from all three partner institutions (University of Kinshasa; University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa; University of Bergen, Norway). Interviews were conducted in participants' language of preference (English or French), audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and translated into English when required. Analysis employed a thematic approach.

RESULTS

Most participants viewed EMI positively, reporting that studying in English created opportunities to access relevant literature, improve interactions with the scientific community and advance their careers. As a result of adopting EMI, some students had opportunities to present research findings at international conferences and publish their research in English. English-speaking researchers from partner institutions were able to participate in supervision of students' research. However, inadequate English competency, particularly among students, was challenging, with some students reporting being unable to understand or interact in class, which negatively affected their academic performance. Further, EMI created barriers at KSPH among academic staff who were not proficient in English, leading to poor participation among non-English-speaking staff and lack of integration with other postgraduate programmes. Participants suggested additional English language support for EMI.

CONCLUSION

Partnerships between HEIs could be a powerful tool to develop research capacity in low-income countries in line with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. EMI could be a solution to language barriers faced by many such partnerships, but wide-ranging support to develop English proficiency among staff and students is essential to ensure that the challenges do not outweigh the benefits.

Studying texts in a non-native language: A further investigation of factors involved in the L2 recall cost

With academic internationalisation at full speed, English is increasingly used as a medium of instruction in higher education. The question arises of whether unbalanced bilinguals remember study materials in a non-native language (L2) as well as in a first language (L1). In previous studies, we found a disadvantage for students recalling short, expository texts in L2 compared with L1, but no such disadvantage for a true/false recognition test, not even on delayed tests after a month. As no additional forgetting occurs, the quality of the memory trace seems to be equally strong in both languages and the recall cost might be caused by a lack of production skill in L2. To test this hypothesis, we ran experiments in L1-L1, L2-L1, and L2-L2 conditions with free and cued recall (short open questions). We replicate the L2 free recall cost reported earlier and show that it is due to the encoding in L2 rather than to an L2 production cost. In contrast, we found no significant difference in a new pair of texts with short, cued recall questions, though there was a trend in the expected direction. A summary of the effect sizes obtained so far shows a considerable variety in magnitudes (with rather big confidence intervals), suggesting that the cost of studying in L2 depends on several factors such as study time, test requirement, and language proficiency level.