Are students prepared and supported for English medium instruction in Chinese higher education to promote educational equality?

Abstract

The global spread of EMI is a response to the internationalisation and marketisation of higher education. However, students may not fully benefit from EMI programmes if they are not adequately prepared. The extent to which students have been prepared to succeed in such programmes and acquire English as linguistic capital is an underexplored area. The present study addressed the research gap by investigating the preparation and support that students received in EMI programmes in Chinese higher education. The study adopted a mixed-methods design by collecting responses to an online survey from 248 students in different Chinese universities and conducting semi-structured interviews with 12 students regarding their preparation and support for, their learning motivation and views of EMI programmes as well as their expectations of EMI teachers. The findings showed that the students did not seem to be sufficiently prepared to achieve the dual goal of EMI (i.e., subject and language learning) and that the EMI programmes tended to widen the gap between students with different English proficiency and might lead to educational inequality. Finally, the students were critical of the quality of EMI teachers and favoured teachers with high English proficiency and pedagogical skills in delivering sophisticated content knowledge. These findings suggested that future studies need to explore strategies to better prepare and support students to benefit from EMI programmes and promote educational equality. Furthermore, the criteria for recruiting EMI teachers should be reconsidered to meet students’ learning needs and development.