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Article In: Journal of English-Medium Instruction: Online-First Articles

Participation and student perceptions in EMI group discussions at a Japanese university

ORCiD logo with link | The University of Shiga Prefecture
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Abstract
This paper investigates participation during English as a lingua franca (ELF) discussion tasks within English-medium instruction (EMI) classes at a Japanese university and considers the potential impact of native speakerism on these interactions. In some EMI settings in Japan, local ELF-speaking students study alongside international exchange students, some of whom may be English as a native language (ENL) speakers. To investigate such contexts, questionnaire responses were collected from local students (N = 43) enrolled in an EMI lecture course. The responses indicated that, despite some anxieties, local students were keen to communicate using ELF with ENL speakers. Eight discussion task performances were video recorded, enabling micro-analysis using Goffman, E. (1981). Forms of talk. University of Pennsylvania Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar participation framework and the tools of conversation analysis. The data revealed that ENL speakers tended to dominate the interactions. Throughout the dataset, ENL speakers adopted a teacher-like or leader footing, while the local students seemed to relinquish control of key stages of the task proceedings to the ENL speakers, often only contributing when directly asked, and sometimes being silent. The local students appeared reluctant at times to challenge factually inaccurate statements made by the ENL speakers. These findings highlight the detrimental impact that native speakerism can have on student interactions in EMI.
Article outline
  • Introduction
    • EMI
    • EMI in Japan
    • Student interactions in EMI
    • Purpose of the study
  • Methods
    • Context and participants
    • Procedures
  • Findings
    • Questionnaires
    • Task interaction analysis
      • Quantitative token and turn analysis
      • ENL speakers control the task proceedings
      • ENL speakers demonstrate teacher-like footing
      • ENL speakers’ communication with the teacher
      • Repair conducted by ENL speakers
      • ENL speakers dominate with extended turns
      • Local student turns were minimal and reactive
      • Local student activeness
  • Discussion
  • Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
References (48)
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