Book Reviews by Samantha Curle
Applied Linguistics, 2023
English-Medium Instruction (EMI) in global higher education is the subject of two insightful book... more English-Medium Instruction (EMI) in global higher education is the subject of two insightful books, 'English-Medium Instruction Practices in Higher Education: International Perspectives' and 'The Englishization of Higher Education in Europe'. The former, edited by McKinley and Galloway, offers a comprehensive analysis of EMI across the world, featuring macro-, meso-, and micro-level perspectives. It emphasizes the need for language support and an equitable approach in implementing EMI programs. The latter book, edited by Wilkinson and Gabriels, delves into the increasing adoption of EMI in European universities, the effects on language policies, academic identities, and the social role of universities. Both books underscore the importance of an interdisciplinary approach, shedding light on the complexities and implications of EMI from diverse perspectives. However, both lack a clear theoretical framework, which could provide a more coherent analysis of EMI. Nonetheless, these volumes provide valuable insights into EMI's advantages, challenges, and potential for marginalizing non-English proficient students, making significant contributions to EMI literature for scholars, practitioners, and policymakers.
British Council, 2020
TO CITE:
Curle, S., Jablonkai, R., Mittelmeier, J., Sahan, K., & Veitch, A. (2020). English Mediu... more TO CITE:
Curle, S., Jablonkai, R., Mittelmeier, J., Sahan, K., & Veitch, A. (2020). English Medium Part 1: Literature review. In N. Galloway (Ed.) English in higher education (Report No. 978-0-86355-977–8). British Council. https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/english-higher-education-%E2%80%93-english-medium-part-1-literature-review
In this literature review, we examine the research
on all of these issues in relation to EMI in HE. We
begin with definitions of EMI and the growth of EMI
in HE. We then examine EMI in the context of
internationalisation and the main driving forces
behind and perceived benefits of EMI. We then look
at approaches to implementing EMI policy, followed
with an examination of the successes and challenges
of studying through English. We report on quality
assurance mechanisms and end with an examination
of literature on student and staff support.
Journal of Immersion and Content Based Language Education (JICB)., 2020
Kumiko Murata’s book provides a timely contribution to the rapidly expanding literature on Englis... more Kumiko Murata’s book provides a timely contribution to the rapidly expanding literature on English Medium Instruction (EMI) in higher education (HE). EMI is the use of English to teach and learn academic subjects in contexts where English is not the majority language of the population (Macaro et al, 2018). In such contexts, English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) is used; that is, the use of English to communicate between speakers with different first languages. This is relevant to an EMI context where lecturers and students may not share the same first language, and therefore rely on English to communicate.
![Research paper thumbnail of Book review. [Review of the book English-Medium Instruction in Japanese Higher Education: Policy, Challenges and Outcomes, by A. Bradford, H. Brown (Eds)]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/64512963/thumbnails/1.jpg)
System, 2018
English-Medium Instruction in Japanese Higher Education: Policy, Challenges and Outcomes. A. Brad... more English-Medium Instruction in Japanese Higher Education: Policy, Challenges and Outcomes. A. Bradford, H. Brown (Eds). Multilingual Matters (2017). xxiii + 300pp. I have been researching EMI in Japan since my Master's degree in 2013. I looked at a trilingual international professor's strategic use of code-switching. My DPhil research is investigating what the main predictors are of professor and students' attitudes towards EMI. I am familiar with the Japanese context and have witnessed how the eruption of EMI seems to have caught everyone off guard. This is also a personal matter for me as I have two, largely monolingual, Japanese godsons who will one day face the same challenges faced by all Japanese university students in Japan. As a result, Bradford and Brown's edited book piqued my interest as it is the first volume focused solely on Japan. As research on EMI in Japan is still in its infant stages I hoped to read more large-scale empirical research, nevertheless, contributors do provide valuable contextual descriptions, theoretical contributions, small-scale qualitative study findings, and insights from personal experience. A look back into the history of Japanese education policy highlighted to me a tangential relationship between EMI and money. Bradford and Brown (p. 7) note the key role that the Japan Business Federation plays in education policy making. Motivated by a shrinking domestic market, Japanese businesses are calling on universities to foster graduates that are equipped with the linguistic skills and the cultural capital to operate in a global trading arena. This lack of graduate global competitiveness is reinforced by Hashimoto (p. 15). What the authors lack to explain is why such competitiveness has not yet been fostered in the last 10 years of EMI expansion.
Papers by Samantha Curle
Qualitative Research Methods in English Medium Instruction for Emerging Researchers
Journal of multilingual theories and practices, Apr 24, 2023
This article presents a qualitative study investigating lecturers’ translanguaging practices in E... more This article presents a qualitative study investigating lecturers’ translanguaging practices in English medium instruction (EMI) courses in a Turkish higher education setting. Specifically, a comprehensive investigation of the functions of translanguaging used by lecturers was conducted following Lo’s (2015) and Sahan and Rose’s (2021) frameworks, which propose pedagogical and social and affective functions. Eighteen hours of EMI lectures from eight different classes were video recorded. The findings demonstrate that lecturers and students used translanguaging mainly for content transmission (a pedagogical function subcategory) by translating technical terminology, presenting new content, and asking and/or answering content-related questions. The lecturers also used translanguaging to encourage student participation and for social and affective functions, such as establishing rapport. These functions have also been observed in previous studies in various EMI settings (e.g., Sahan & Rose, 2021; Söderlundh, 2013; Tarnopolsky & Goodman, 2014), however, our analyses highlighted new context-specific differences. This study elaborates these innovative differences, as well as the pedagogical implications of these original findings.
Journal of Engineering Education
BackgroundMindsets are based on two basic assumptions: some people think that their intellectual ... more BackgroundMindsets are based on two basic assumptions: some people think that their intellectual abilities can be developed through hard work and instruction (i.e., a growth mindset), whereas others believe that nothing can change their level of intellectual ability (i.e., a fixed mindset). The association between mindsets and academic achievement has been examined in different academic subjects, such as biology and math. However, no previous study has examined the effects of language learning mindsets (LLMs) and math mindsets (MMs) on academic success in an English medium instruction (EMI) setting in which English, rather than the first language of the students, is used for teaching content (e.g., mechatronics engineering).Purpose/HypothesisThis study explores the relationship between Turkish mechatronics engineering undergraduate students' domain‐specific mindsets, LLMs and MMs, and their academic success.Design/MethodStudent test scores for English medium and first‐language m...
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research), Nov 1, 2022
The research title was Rural Women's participation in Non-farm Income generating activities becau... more The research title was Rural Women's participation in Non-farm Income generating activities because Non-farm activities contributed significantly to employment and income in rural areas. The study's general objective was to identify the level of rural women's participation in Non-Farm incomegenerating activities. The specific objectives were to identify the current status of women's participation and factors that affect women's participation in Non-Farm Income Generating activities. This study took Damot Woyde Woreda, Wolaita Zone, Southern Nations and Nationalities region, Ethiopia. In order to undertake the study, total women households were a population of data to determine a sample; a random sampling method was used to select 96 sample respondents. After selection, a structured interview schedule was used to collect primary data and for further information, Key Informant Interviews and focus group discussion groups were selected for qualitative data. The study employed simple descriptive and inferential statistical analysis and an ordered logit model, and data were analyzed by SPSS 20 version. The dependent variable of the study was rural women's participation. In addition, there were fifteen independent variables of the study, were age, education, family size, dependency ratio, household income, cooperative membership, livestock holding, land holding, access to market, access to road, training exposure, access to credit, government intervention, risk-taking behaviour and economic motivation. As a result, 61.5 % of the sampled respondents were under the low participation category, 30.2 % were under the medium-level of participation category, and 8.3 % were under the high participation category. In the study, 6 variables were continuous, and the rest 9 variables were categorical. In model analysis, 5 variables were significant, and the other 10 were insignificant. As a model result, the dependency ratio, household income, land holding size, and livestock holding had negative significance, except credit access was significantly positively related to women's participation. So the researcher has recommended that improving access determinant factors and giving attention to policy support for non-farm incomegenerating activities was very important.
Online dating has gained substantial popularity in the last twenty years, making picking one's be... more Online dating has gained substantial popularity in the last twenty years, making picking one's best dating profile photos more vital than ever before. To that effect, we propose Photofeeler-D3-the first convolutional neural network to rate dating photos for how smart, trustworthy, and attractive the subject appears. We name this task Dating Photo Rating (DPR). Leveraging Photofeeler's Dating Dataset (PDD) with over 1 million images and tens of millions of votes, Photofeeler-D3 achieves a 28% higher correlation to human votes than existing online AI platforms for DPR. We introduce the novel concept of voter modeling and use it to achieve this benchmark. The "attractive" output of our model can also be used for Facial Beauty Prediction (FBP) and achieve state-of-the-art results. Without training on a single image from the HotOrNot dataset, we achieve 10% higher correlation than any model from literature. Finally, we demonstrate that Photofeeler-D3 achieves approximately the same correlation as 10 unnormalized and unweighted human votes, making it the state-of-the-art for both tasks: DPR and FBP.
Research Methods in English Medium Instruction, 2021
studies in second language learning and teaching, 2022
To expand the literature on the rather new concept of student burnout, the present study examined... more To expand the literature on the rather new concept of student burnout, the present study examined the influence of teacher immediacy and stroke variables on English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students' experience of burnout. To fulfill this aim, a group of 631 undergraduate EFL students from various universities in Iran answered questionnaires including the Immediacy Behavior Scale, the Student Stroke Scale, and the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student
Uploads
Book Reviews by Samantha Curle
Curle, S., Jablonkai, R., Mittelmeier, J., Sahan, K., & Veitch, A. (2020). English Medium Part 1: Literature review. In N. Galloway (Ed.) English in higher education (Report No. 978-0-86355-977–8). British Council. https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/english-higher-education-%E2%80%93-english-medium-part-1-literature-review
In this literature review, we examine the research
on all of these issues in relation to EMI in HE. We
begin with definitions of EMI and the growth of EMI
in HE. We then examine EMI in the context of
internationalisation and the main driving forces
behind and perceived benefits of EMI. We then look
at approaches to implementing EMI policy, followed
with an examination of the successes and challenges
of studying through English. We report on quality
assurance mechanisms and end with an examination
of literature on student and staff support.
Papers by Samantha Curle
Curle, S., Jablonkai, R., Mittelmeier, J., Sahan, K., & Veitch, A. (2020). English Medium Part 1: Literature review. In N. Galloway (Ed.) English in higher education (Report No. 978-0-86355-977–8). British Council. https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/english-higher-education-%E2%80%93-english-medium-part-1-literature-review
In this literature review, we examine the research
on all of these issues in relation to EMI in HE. We
begin with definitions of EMI and the growth of EMI
in HE. We then examine EMI in the context of
internationalisation and the main driving forces
behind and perceived benefits of EMI. We then look
at approaches to implementing EMI policy, followed
with an examination of the successes and challenges
of studying through English. We report on quality
assurance mechanisms and end with an examination
of literature on student and staff support.
relationship between English language proficiency and academic languagerelated
challenges experienced by students when studying through English
Medium Instruction (EMI). Questionnaire data using the EMI Challenges Scale
and student English language test score data were collected at a public
university in Turkey. Two academic subjects were compared: International
Relations (a Social Science subject, n = 99) and Electronic Engineering (a
Mathematics, Physical and Life Sciences subject, n = 99). Results revealed that
in both subjects, English language proficiency statistically significantly
predicted academic language-related challenges. Furthermore, a gain in English
proficiency significantly predicted the challenges in International Relations but
not in Electronic Engineering. Finally, Electronic Engineering students
experienced significantly different levels of linguistic-related challenges in each
language skill when at a lower proficiency (A2) compared to a higher
proficiency (B2). In International Relations, a proficiency threshold was more
evident; students experienced significantly higher levels of linguistic-related
challenges as proficiency decreased. Important pedagogical implications of this
established relationship between language proficiency, language gain, and
language-related challenges in two academic divisions are discussed.
Each chapter focuses on a specific type of research methodology. It begins with an overview of the literature of the topic under discussion. Then an example study is provided to illustrate how this methodology can be used to investigate EMI. Each chapter identifies the process that the EMI researcher used to conduct their research and discusses key dilemmas they faced, focusing particularly on the methodological issues they encountered. By exploring these issues, this volume hopes to inform theory (or the lack thereof) underlying research into the phenomenon of EMI.
This volume is indispensable for EMI tutors, curriculum developers, policymakers, and teachers, as well as students at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. It is particularly valuable for researchers from across the globe working in the fields of applied linguistics, language education, English for Academic Purposes (EAP), English Language Teaching (ELT), and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL).
Each chapter focuses on a specific type of research methodology. It begins with an overview of the literature of the topic under discussion. Then an example study is provided to illustrate how this methodology can be used to investigate EMI. Each chapter identifies the process that the EMI researcher went through to conduct their research, key dilemmas they faced, and focuses particularly on the methodological issues they encountered. By exploring these issues, this volume hopes to inform theory (or the lack thereof) underlying research into the phenomenon of EMI.
This volume is indispensable for EMI: tutors, curriculum developers, policymakers, teachers, as well as students at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. It is particularly valuable for researchers from across the globe reading in the fields of applied linguistics, language education, English for Academic Purposes (EAP), English Language Teaching (ELT), and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL).