University English-Medium Instruction Teaching Professionals' Beliefs About English During Study Abroad as Professional Development

• In Event: Moscone Center North Roundtable Session 8
  In Roundtable Session: Deconstructing Language Ideologies: Students' and Teachers' Practices and Perspectives

Abstract

With the internationalization of higher education and the perceived importance of English in globalization, many Chinese universities have started promoting and implementing English-medium instruction (EMI) in various subjects (Ministry of Education, 2005, 2007). To improve instructors’ English proficiency and instructional skills in English, many Chinese universities have started sending teaching professionals to English-dominant countries. This paper is a part of my dissertation study focusing on Chinese University English-medium instruction (EMI) teaching professionals’ beliefs about English in a 12-week study abroad as professional development (PD) program (Borg, 2011; Wernicke, 2010) in a Canadian institution. The purpose of the study is to investigate what beliefs these teachers have about English and how their study-abroad experiences influence their beliefs.

Framing the study in the conceptual work of language ideology, this qualitative case study enables understandings of how university teachers’ beliefs about English are produced by broader linguistic, social, economic, and political factors. In general, language ideology can be understood as people’s beliefs, opinions and perceptions about the language (Piller, 2015; Woolard & Schieffelin, 1994). Adopting a perspective of language ideology highlights the interrelationship between language practice and other social, historical and institutional factors, including practices, values and interests (Kroskrity, 2010).

The study employed a qualitative case study approach to examine beliefs about English among a group of Chinese university EMI teaching professionals who participated in an overseas PD program in a Canadian institution. The dissertation data were gathered from four rounds of semi-structured interviews with 11 participants, for a total of 44 interviews lasting 50 to 60 minutes each. In this presentation, I analyze two rounds of interview data of the beginning and the end of the program to provide a more straightforward development of the participants’ beliefs about English.

A thematic analysis highlighted varied and shifting ideologies among participants: the importance of immersion into an English-speaking environment; the value of native-like English accents vs. strong academic English communicative competence; and liberal views about multiple Englishes. While all the participants mentioned their expectation of improving their English proficiency through the immersion context at the beginning of the program, most of them later changed their views due to the lack of English-speaking opportunities. In addition, the so-called standard English accent initially desired and pursued by most of the participants became less important toward the completion of their training. Instead, all the participants acknowledged the role that communicative competence of academic English plays in EMI classrooms. Last but not the least, though having expressed welcoming attitudes to all the English varieties encountered in Canada, when choosing their own English language instructor, quite a few participants still preferred the white Canadian-born instructor rather than the Asian immigrant instructor. The analysis also demonstrates how the developing beliefs about English are bolstered by language ideologies such as standard English and native speakerism.

The results of the study will provide educational insight regarding the significance of study abroad as PD, not only from a pragmatic perspective but also in terms of political and ideological implications.

Author

• Jun Ma, University of British Columbia