Evaluation of the implementation of English-Medium Instruction in a public and a private university in Pakistan

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate the implementation of English-medium instruction (EMI) in both a public and a private university in Pakistan. The goals are to investigate: the role of linguistic capital in reproducing educational inequality; students’ difficulties in the EMI classroom; the integration of collaborative teaching and learning activities with pedagogical practices; and the impact of affective variables on teaching and learning practices in the EMI classroom. The study is informed by Bourdieu’s Theory of Practice and Social Reproduction; Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory; and Krashen’s Affective Filter Hypothesis. This comparative mixed-method study employed a questionnaire, interviews, and classroom observation with a sample of 120 undergraduate students and 20 teachers. Descriptive statistics and the Chi-square test were used to analyse quantitative data using SPSS. Atlas.ti was used to analyse the qualitative data. The findings showed that the public university was given preference because of its low fees, value of credentials, whereas the private university, despite higher fees, was desirable for better infrastructure, scholarship, and merit flexibility. Additionally, students’ cultural capital, and family and institutional habitus were important factors for registration at a certain university. On the micro-level, the implementation of EMI was not adequate enough to create inclusive educational classrooms and reduce the reproduction of educational marginalisation, especially at the private university. The quantitative findings revealed that the students’ had difficulty in understanding EMI lectures, English textbooks, and scientific terms due to difficult vocabulary, stress of delivering presentations and writing examinations, fear of making mistakes, and anxiety of speaking in classroom. The qualitative data analysis further revealed the following areas of major concern: a lack of awareness of interactive activities to create a student-centred classroom; lack of training in translanguaging pedagogical strategies to effectively scaffold EMI; students’ inadequate language proficiency; the focus on finishing the syllabus and examination rather than on concept-based learning; and discrimination and favouritism on the basis of linguistic capital. The study provides recommendations for policy makers and institutional managements to clearly outline EMI goals with a practical follow-up system. Action research is needed to adequately implement translanguaging as a pedagogic tool in both education systems to encourage equality in academic participation. The study highlights the importance of teacher training in how to design and implement collaborative and translanguaging strategies to optimise students’ academic performance in an EMI setting.