A critical investigation into students’ perceptions of the impact of EMI policy on their content learning and social equity in a HEI in Oman

Abstract

In Oman, English has been the exclusive medium of instruction in higher education (HE) for scientific, technological and business specialisations. However, little research has been conducted to understand the academic and socioeconomic impacts of implementing this English medium instruction (EMI) policy on students’ learning experiences. This study aims to fill in this gap by investigating HE students’ perceptions on the impact of EMI policy on their content learning and on social equity. It further aims at exploring participants’ perceptions of lecturers’ translanguaging practices to understand their impact on students’ access to content knowledge and on social equity in HE.

This qualitative study, informed by interpretivism and critical theory, obtained data from online semi-structured interviews with thirty students from a HEI in Oman. Braun and Clarke’s (2006) thematic analysis approach was used to analyse data.

Drawing on Bourdieu’s theory of practice, this study offers a fresh perspective to EMI research by relating students’ chances of success in EMI HE to their socioeconomic circumstances (Bourdieu, 2003). Findings indicated that participants entered HE with varying levels of English proficiency, mostly influenced by their families’ possession of economic and cultural capital. Consequently, participants had inequitable access to content knowledge and socioeconomic benefits since they stood at unequal distances from the linguistic capital valued by university. The study concluded that EMI policy in this HEI did not serve students’ academic and socioeconomic needs equally well.

Rooted in critical sociolinguistics, this study sought to highlight and legitimise participants’ nuanced perceptions of the globally-driven EMI policy. While all participants acknowledged the usefulness of English in the current globalisation era, some exercised their agency by questioning the legitimacy of EMI policy, and suggesting using English in HE in ways that can better empower them. One major response identified in the data to this policy was participants’ favourable perceptions of translanguaging practices. Findings demonstrated that participants and lecturers’ deployment of translanguaging practices, though surreptitiously, apparently enabled students to have better and more equitable access to content knowledge. This localised/contextualised understanding of students’ linguistic needs is integral for developing language-in-education policies that can more equitably serve students’ academic and socioeconomic needs.

Date of Award	3 Oct 2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Bristol
Supervisor	Robert Sharples (Supervisor) & Frances Giampapa (Supervisor)