1. ABSTRACT
ORIENTATION TO ENGLISH IN ENGLISH-MEDIUM INSTRUCTION UNIVERSITIES
Given that English has earned the status of being a global lingua franca due mostly to the
fast-moving processes of globalization and internationalization, the need for a working
knowledge of English is felt more strongly in numerous fields than ever before. One field
in which people aim to keep up with this movement towards English competency is higher
education (HE). Predominantly, the switch to English as the medium of instruction (EMI)
has recently become a phenomenon sweeping across HE institutions in non-English
speaking countries in particular. Seeing the growing number of universities adopting EMI,
a rich number of language researchers have initiated research on issues relating to EMI.
Some topics researchers have addressed up until now include but are not limited to
students’ learning experiences, lecturers’ teaching behaviours and experiences and
impacts of EMI on national languages and cultures. Yet, little research has been
undertaken on the linguistic aspect of EMI, which allows universities to recruit
international students most likely to use English as a lingua franca. With a view to
bridging this gap, this study reports on part of my PhD research on the perceptions of
university lecturers and students towards English in EMI settings. Additionally, the
research looks at how lecturers and students view the universities’ English language
policies and practices, and to what extent their orientations to English are informed by
these policies and practices. The participants of the study were sampled from three EMI
universities in Turkey: Bilkent, Bo aziçi and Middle East Technical Universities. Threeğ
methods of data collection (survey questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, and focus
group discussions) were utilized. The preliminary findings suggest that participants have
a highly positive view of their English proficiency; their goals are however more native
English oriented in respect of written English in comparison to spoken English. Further,
their views on the universities’ language policies and practices are multifarious, but
mostly under the influence of Standard and native English ideologies.

2. Orientation to English in English-
medium Instruction (EMI) Universities
Ali Karakas
Ph.D Student
Southampton University
7th International English as a Lingua Franca Conference, Athens, Greece
4-6 September 2014

3. Outline
• Overview of my Ph.D Research
– Rationale
– Aims & questions
• Methodology
– Research design & setting
– Sample
– Research instruments
– Data analyses
• Preliminary data analysis
– Student interview data

4. Rationale
• Rapid increase in the number of EMI courses, programmes
– Non-Anglophone contexts, particularly Europe (Ammon & McConnell, 2002;
Wächter & Maiworm, 2008)
– At all stages of education, especially under- and post-graduate
levels (Dearden, 2014; OECD, 2010).
– Recruitment of ‘international’ students and academic staff
• Turkey (Internationalization of HE)
– A member of Bologna process – European Higher Education Area
– EMI spearheaded by top-tier state and private universities
– Targeting ‘internationalism’: through international students & staff

5. Approach to EMI
• EMI:
– The use of English as the main medium of instruction in the
institutions – particularly when students and academic staff
do not speak it as a mother tongue
• Status of speakers
– Users of English, not learners/teachers of English
(Björkman, 2008; Mauranen, 2003; Ljosland, 2011)

6. The notion of ‘E’ (English) and ‘MI’ (medium-of-instruction)
Language aspect:
Language policy and practice matters
(Turner & Robson, 2008)
Cognitive-pedagogical aspect
Socio-political aspect
Educational language planning aspect
LEP can ‘’…determine criteria for language correctness, oblige
people to adopt certain ways of speaking and writing, create
definitions about language and especially determine the priority of
certain languages in society and how these languages should be
used, taught and learned’’
(Shohamy, 2006, p. 77)
Areas of research on EMI

7. Medium-of-instruction
Learning outcomes (e.g.
Byun et al., 2010)
Linguistic aspects
Comprehension &
questioning (Suviniitty,
2012)
Difficulties experienced by
lecturers & students
(Tange, 2010)
Attitudes towards EMI
(Kılıckaya, 2006; Kırkgöz,
2005)
Red ocean v.s. Blue ocean
Academic English language policies
Whose English & norms (Jenkins, 2014;
Saarinen & Nikula, 2013)
Whose proficiency: nativeness (Kuteeva,
2014)
Conflicts between policy rhetoric and
ground-level reality (Hu, Li, & Lei, 2013)
Revisiting some notions: good English,
ideal speaker, norms for spoken English
(Björkjman, 2011)

8. Aims
• to explore what English means for Turkish users (i.e.
Content lecturers and students) of English in HE
More precisely:
 their language perceptions, attitudes, ideologies
 views on universities’ language policies and practices
 whether language policies influence their language practices

9. • In this presentation, my focus is on
– students’ views on their own English (benchmark?)
– students’ orientation to English, particularly in relation to
spoken and written English (e.g. expectations, goals)
– the underlying ideologies/factors behind their views and
orientation
Aims

10. • How do Turkish lecturers and students perceive English
as medium-of instruction in HE?
– Perceptions of their language skills/use
– orientation to written/spoken English
– influences of IC communication
– differences across disciplines/university
• What language ideologies are prevalent among them,
and what factors are involved in the formation of these
ideologies?
– E.g. Previous learning experiences, language policies and practices,
teachers’ attitudes, etc.
Research questions

11. Theoretical framework
Standard Language
Ideology
Notions
- Correctness
- Authority
- Prestige
- Legitimacy
(Bex & Watts, 1999;
Gal, 2006)

12. Research Setting:
oBilkent university (Ankara)
oBogazici university (Istanbul)
oMiddle East Teachnical Uni.
(Ankara)
Methodology
Research instruments
S=351 S=20 S=2
L=351 L=14
Research design
o Mixed & Multi-method
-Quantitative (x1) & qualitative methods(x2)
Sample
423 participants in total
o 351 students & 72 lecturers

13. Data analyses: Descriptive crititical Qualitative content analysis
+ +
Inferential Discourse analysis
(Schreier, 2012)
Methodology

14. Preliminary data analysis
Students’ perceptions of their major English skills
Positive views on skills:
•Writing, listening, vocabulary, reading,
•Overall English proficiency
Common complaint about spoken English
whose English/norms referred to as YARDSTICK?

15. Female – History – Bilkent
S11. in respect of accent and pronunciation I see myself [my English] sufficient
and good. While learning words, I pay utmost attention to correct
pronunciations of them. I am not into a conscious imitation regarding
accent.
References to ‘standard native’ English norms
Male – Engineering – METU
S5. I have confidence in myself when it comes to writing there is no trouble
about it. as for grammar, for example, I know the rules and such like but
applying the rules in speaking [is a trouble]
Female – International Relations – METU
S1. my accent is good but there is a problem regarding fluency. that is well I
always pause and think whilst speaking, I mean I lack fluency as I
constantly pause and check whether what I said is grammatically
correct
1
2
3

16. Female – History – Bilkent University
S18. I do not find my English perfect but consider it a good level of
English I cannot speak with a NS accent, my pronunciation may be
considered good and of course I make mistakes while speaking but
I can easily understand the articles in English, write my thoughts (.)
of course I wish I could speak without mistakes and more fluently
Female – International relations – Bilkent University
S7. not so much [satisfied with my English] but actually because there is
always something I can improve to tell the truth I would wish that I
would be able to speak like an English, using shan’t and such like
Extract 4
Extract 5

17. Orientation to written English
S11. I exert considerable effort while writing essays or assignments, I’m using the
dictionary a lot, even for looking up the words I already know. My biggest
trouble is to find the most appropriate word in relation to my assignment to
express a notion. I spend a lot of time for this. I can say I am good [at writing].
I do not make basic mistakes in general. Particularly, in terms of
grammar, it is unproblematic
A: you pay attention to writing accurately then
S11: yes, absolutely
A: What is the reason of your tendency of making mistakes, sorry your avoidance
of making mistakes is it because of lecturers’ reactions or are there other
reasons
S11: @ I’m a perfectionist person in general. I am displeased with it. I pay attention
to doing my best in everything I do @@ Lecturers can be very harsh on
regarding corrections. I do not want to get back my assignment filled with
marks and corrections [with red pens]. Of course marking plays a significant
role in my attention@@@. As I study through English-medium instruction, I
consider writing in a way full of mistakes disrespect to myself. It is like
disrespect to my efforts.
Extract 7Female – History – Bilkent
Good writing?

18. Male – International relations – Bogazici University
S15: I do not aim a NS accent. I would wish [my interlocutors] to
understand what I am saying and I wish I could put
across what I would like to express easily. My English is
sufficient enough for these.
A: I understand
S15: otherwise imitation of the NS’ accents sounds somewhat
artificial
A: exactly it results in some more loss in the naturalness (of
speech)
S15: naturalness yes but …
Orientation to spoken English
Extract 8

19. S15: it looks very ridiculous from an objective point of view [trying to
speak like a NS]
A: Indeed, it does not reflect credit on [speakers], either. So there is a
settled prejudice. If they can pretend the NS’ accent, it sounds cool
and is prestigious for them from a social point of view, or else
S15: no I think it NEVER sounds cool in our university. In general, almost
all lecturers studied [PhD] abroad but they all speak like Turks.
Namely, they do NOT attempt to mimic NS accents because their
purpose is to lecture on a topic [to students]
A: I see
S15: I mean
A: right
S15: it is not their aim to show off by speaking English with a NS accent.
The lecturers are good ones to the extent that students can benefit
from their lectures.
Good Lecturers?

20. Conclusions
 Standard English ideology (StE) still continues to inform
students’ linguistic behaviours, particulary their writing.
 ‘Nativeness’ seems to be the bencmark while judging and
describing their English proficiency.
There is a discrepancy between students’ approach to written and
spoken English. They are more native and standard English-oriented as
regards written English.
Lecturers & language teachers play a key role in leading students to
adopt certain ways of language use.

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24. ak16g11@soton.ac.uk