Students’ Attitudes towards EMI: Translanguaging as an Approach for Engineering Courses in Kuwait

• In Event: Poster Session 7
  In Poster Session: Students’ Attitudes towards EMI: Translanguaging as an Approach for Engineering Courses in Kuwait

Proposal

It is a fact beyond dispute that English is the language of science, engineering, and medicine. English is also the language of business, technology, and the internet. In the College of Engineering and Petroleum at Kuwait University, engineering courses apply English as the Medium of Instruction (EMI), in alignment with global academic and professional standards. However, the implementation of this language policy presents challenges. Students who join the College are introduced with only three English language courses; however, these courses barely target the engineering content that should be applied. Engineering courses employ EMI; however, some faculty members apply switching to Arabic language during teaching. This practice reflects a de facto language policy that diverges from the official EMI policy, responding to the linguistic realities of the student body.

The paper uses both interviews (N=6) and a survey that was administrated to (N=218) engineering students to investigate their attitudes towards the use of English and the use of code-switching in teaching engineering courses. Findings showed that students appreciated these switches in explaining engineering concepts, particularly those who completed their high school diplomas in governmental schools where Arabic is primarily the language of instruction. This suggests that the current language policy might benefit from a more flexible approach that acknowledges students' linguistic backgrounds. Nevertheless, students emphasized that technical terminology is better understood in English and translating it to Arabic would be vague to them, underscoring the necessity of maintaining English as the primary language of instruction for technical content. This is a significant confirmation that English remains the language of science and engineering.

The paper also suggests remedial plans to introduce a more flexible language policy that incorporates translanguaging strategies in teaching within scientific colleges in Kuwait. Such an approach could better accommodate the linguistic needs of students while ensuring that they gain the necessary proficiency in English, which is critical for their professional development.

Author

• Munirah Alajlan, Kuwait University