Good Practice in EMI Teaching, NPTU

1. EMI:

A working definition of EMI, provided by the British Council (2014), is: “The use of the English language to teach academic subjects in countries or jurisdictions where the first language (L1) of the majority of the population is not English.”

It means much more than changing from “lecturing in Mandarin Chinese” to “lecturing in English”.  It entails a reconsideration of the pedagogic approach used to achieve effectiveness in the entire teaching and learning process, including:

• the setting of teaching objectives and intended learning outcomes;
• the design of formative and summative assessment tasks;
• the heightening of language awareness on the part of the teacher;
• the provision of language support for students.

Reference materials:  Ppt entitled “A Blueprint for EMI Development at MPTU”; the EMI Oxford Research Group website:  http://www.emi.network/

 

2. Outcome-Based Education:

Outcome-based education means starting with a clear picture of what is important for students to be able to do, then organizing the curriculum, instruction, and assessment to make sure that this learning ultimately happens. (Spady, 1994)

• Outcomes-Based Education is a worldwide phenomenon in Higher Education.  The current attention it has attracted has been cited as a consequence of many pressures (Forbes and Hickey, 2009):
  • Increased consumer and stakeholder accountability;
  • Technological advances;
  • Increasing concern for quality;
  • The need for greater practical relevance linked to sound theoretical foundations;
  • New conceptions of curricula (from input to outcomes).

Implications for teachers:

• Teachers must prepare their students adequately so that they can succeed.
• Teachers must create a positive learning environment in which students know that they will be helped in their learning, no matter how easy or difficult they might find the learning process.
• Teachers must help their students to understand what they have to learn, why they should learn it (including what use it will be to them in the future), and how they will know when they have learned it.  (Killen, 2000)

Reference materials:  Ppt entitled “OBE and Learning-oriented Assessment”; the article “Outcomes-Based Education:  Principles and Possibilities” by Roy Killen, accessible at url:

https://academic.payap.ac.th/wp/wp-content/uploads/1.-2-Killen_paper_good-kena-baca1.pdf

 

3. Learning-oriented Assessment:

It is “…an approach to assessment which seeks to bring to the foreground those aspects of assessment that encourage or support students’ learning.  While we are used to thinking of assessment in terms of judgements about students’ achievements, ‘learning-oriented assessment’ seeks to balance this understanding by drawing our attention to the crucial role that assessment can play in promoting productive student learning.”  (Carless et al., 2006)

One key notion is that of “assessment tasks as learning tasks”, which means that such tasks:

• are often closely related to some kind of ‘real-life activity’, reflecting what students need to do in their chosen field of practice.
• are likely to provide some particular challenge and interest to students.
• clearly and directly promote the knowledge and skills that the course requires, so students appreciate the purpose and value of the tasks.
• extend, rather than duplicate, what is done in class time.

Reference materials:  Ppt entitled “OBE and Learning-oriented Assessment”; the Monash University website: Language and Learning Online, Monash University, which provides useful information on task-types for different subject disciplines.

 

4. The EMI Teacher’s Language Awareness:

The EMI Teacher has to become aware of the use of English in teaching and learning in the context of EMI Education.  This begins with his/her use of English in delivering his/her teaching.

One bad practice which MUST be avoided is that of repeating one’s teaching in Chinese after it is done in English.  This not only means that much time is wasted (when the teaching is done in two languages alternately), it also defeats the purpose of EMI as this way the students will simply switch off when the teaching is in English and only switch on when the teacher does the teaching in Chinese.

Instead, in order for the delivery of teaching to be effective, the EMI Teacher should do the following:

• At the beginning of a lecture, give students an overview of the content to be covered;
• At the end of a lecture, recapitulate the key points covered in the lecture;
• Speak clearly and expressively through the attention paid to stress, rhythm, and intonation;
• Pay attention to the pace of the delivery as well as pauses to allow time for students to comprehend the speech;
• Use effective audio-visual aids to help comprehension.

Reference materials:  Ppt entitled “Academic Listening and Speaking I” and “Academic Listening and Speaking II”.

 

5. Language Support for Students:

All students need support in using English for academic purposes, regardless of their proficiency levels, and such support can be provided via deep collaboration between EMI Teachers of academic subjects and language teachers, not least teachers in the EMI Development Center at NPTU.

1.    5.1Support in Academic Reading:

The EMI Teacher should decide what students need to read, e.g. a prescribed textbook, book chapters, academic papers, and anticipate the challenges in reading faced by students.  S/he should then consult the EMI Development Center and decide what support, in the shape of guidelines, workshops, and “literacy window” lessons, should be provided.

Reference materials:  Ppt entitled “Academic Reading and Writing I” and “Academic Reading and Writing II”; “6 Tips to Read More in Less Time” website:  https://www.thoughtco.com/tips-to-read-more-in-less-time-1686431

           5.2 Support in Academic Speaking:

In EMI Education, students need to engage in discussion in class as well as tackle academic speaking tasks in the assessment such as oral presentations.  The EMI Teacher should decide the academic speaking activities students need to engage in, and consult the EMI Development Center and to decide what support, in the shape of guidelines, workshops, and “literacy window” lessons, should be provided.

Reference materials:  Ppt entitled “Academic Listening and Speaking I” and “Academic Listening and Speaking II”.

  5.3 Support in Academic Writing:

In EMI Education, students need to engage in a variety of academic writing tasks, some formally assessed and some not.  The EMI Teacher should decide the academic speaking activities students need to engage in, and consult the EMI Development Center and to decide what support, in the shape of guidelines, workshops, and “literacy window” lessons, should be provided.

Reference materials:  Ppt entitled “Academic Reading and Writing I” and “Academic Reading and Writing II”; the Monash University website: Language and Learning Online, Monash University, which provides useful information on task-types for different subject disciplines.