Disciplinary writing in EMI courses: Faculty beliefs and practices in the Korean higher education context

Abstract

This study sought to identify the association between English-medium instruction (EMI) teachers’ beliefs and their practices of disciplinary writing (DW) in content courses. Drawing on qualitative research data from interviews with Korean college professors and their course materials, the study found that instructors prioritized content learning over language learning. They also placed relatively more emphasis on speaking than writing, which led to the use of speaking-integrated writing, such as writing scripts for oral presentations. Although they acknowledged writing proficiency to be an integral component of global competence, they confined the role of writing tasks to superficially displaying students’ content knowledge. Writing tasks varied according to disciplines, although many of them were not specifically related to the field in question. While most instructors used general writing tasks in a skill-integrated approach, very few adopted discipline-specific writing tasks. In implementing DW in their EMI courses, all the instructors viewed content as far more important than language and perceived themselves to be content experts, not language teachers. Their beliefs were manifest in their assessment practices, particularly in their feedback provision. They rarely offered feedback and, if they did, it was minimal, mostly addressing content issues. These findings have implications for teachers who conduct EMI for content courses in higher education.