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Article In: Journal of Immersion and Content-Based Language Education: Online-First Articles

Deconstructing English-medium instruction in Vietnamese higher education

Discourses and conceptualisations

ORCiD logo with link | Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry and TradeHo Chi Minh City
 | University of NottinghamNingbo
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Abstract
English-medium instruction (EMI) has been widely implemented and studied in numerous countries including Vietnam. However, discourses and conceptualisations of EMI still need further research. Grounded in Bakhtin’s notions of monoglossia and heteroglossia and drawing upon EMI-related documents and interview data collected from university leaders, lecturers, and students of an EMI programme, this paper investigates the discourses and conceptualisations of EMI in Vietnam at national, institutional, and grassroots levels. Thematic analysis and discourse analysis were adopted for data analysis. At higher levels, the discourses were English as a global lingua franca and EMI as high-quality education. Therefore, EMI was conceptualised as monoglossic English but heteroglossic instruction. At grassroots level, divergent conceptualisations of EMI were observed across disciplines through appraisal analysis. Recommendations are offered as to how these conceptualisations can be taken into consideration when EMI policies are formed and implemented. Suggestions for future research are also considered.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Theoretical and analytical frameworks
    • 2.1Bakhtin and the theory of dialogism
    • 2.2Martin and White and the engagement framework
  • 3.Methods
    • 3.1Data collection
      • 3.1.1Documentary analysis
      • 3.1.2Semi-structured interviews
    • 3.2Data analysis
      • 3.2.1Thematic analysis
      • 3.2.2Discourse analysis
  • 4.Findings and discussion
    • 4.1Top-down discourses and conceptualisations of EMI
      • 4.1.1The top-down discourse and conceptualisation of English as a global lingua franca, the ‘E’ in EMI
      • 4.1.2The top-down discourse and conceptualisation of EMI as high-quality education, the ‘I’ in EMI
      • 4.1.3The bottom-up discourse of appraisal
      • 4.1.4The bottom-up conceptualisation of the ‘E’ in EMI
      • 4.1.5The bottom-up conceptualisation of the ‘I’ in EMI
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Author queries
  • References
References (28)
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