Student Perspectives on English-Medium Instruction: Insights from an Italian University

ISBN-13: 9781032052601 / Angielski

Marta Guarda

Opis

This book offers a window into student perceptions of English-Medium Instruction (EMI), building on research from an Italian university to provide a better understanding of attitudes toward EMI in Europe and future directions for cross-country comparative research.

The volume provides context on the current situation with EMI in Italy, unpacking debates around the tensions between the increased competitiveness it brings at the higher education level with the potential detrimental impact of English on local language practices. Seeking to introduce a counterpoint to existing research on lecturer experiences, Guarda draws on a wide range of data, from online questionnaires to semi-structured interviews and a focus group, to
showcase perceptions on EMI from students enrolled in English-Taught Programmes at the University of Padova over a two-year period. The resulting insights contribute to the current literature on EMI toward creating a clearer and more holistic picture of the advantages and challenges of learning through English and implications for quality improvement measures for EMI implementation in Italy, Europe and beyond.

This book will be of interest to scholars in English-Medium Instruction and applied linguistics, especially to those working on issues around language policy, bilingual education and the internationalisation of higher education.

Spis treści

PART 1: SETTING THE SCENE  Introduction: English as a vehicular language in European higher education  1. The contexts of this study: EMI in Italy and at the University of Padova  2. Designing a mixed-methods case study of EMI students’ perspectives  PART 2: FINDINGS  3. Conceptualisations of English  4. What students need  5. Differences from learning in L1  6. Language improvement in EMI  7. Difficulties students face in EMI  8. Strategies to make up for poor comprehension  9. Learning with and from others  Conclusions: Implications for research and practice in EMI

O autorze

Marta Guarda is Senior Researcher at Eurac Research, Bolzano/Bozen, Italy. From 2013 to 2019, she worked as postdoctoral research assistant at the University of Padova, Italy. Her research interests include English-Medium Instruction, plurilingual education, translanguaging and internationalisation of higher education. She is one of the editors of Sharing Perspectives on EMI (2017), and the author of several research papers on EMI in Italian higher education.