Writing and Writing Instruction in Different Academic Contexts Writing in and across Disciplines
PROFILE (PROFESSIONAL LITERACY IN ENGLISH) – A STUDY OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ENGLISH AS THE MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF PROFESSIONAL ENGLISH LITERACY
1 4 5 Andreas Eriksson , Magnus Gustafsson², Charlotte Hommerberg³, Hans Malmström , Ibolya Maricic , Diane 6 7 Pecorari , Phillip Shaw
1
Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden ²Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden ³Linnaeus University, Växjö, Sweden 4 Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden 5 Linnaeus University, Växjö, Sweden 6 Linnaeus University, Växjö, Sweden 7 Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
In many European universities, English is today used as a medium of instruction (EMI). One of the rationales behind using English is that it is believed to develop students’ disciplinespecific knowledge of English. This knowledge is then often seen as providing a competitive advantage supporting professional success. The design of many educational programs shows that this knowledge is supposed to develop incidentally rather than through explicit instruction. Recent research has, however, offered reason to question the extent to which such incidental learning actually occurs (Pecorari et al. 2011, Shaw et al. 2010). In addition, little is known about what type of knowledge is developed in different educational contexts. The present paper reports on the preliminary findings of a project testing assumptions about the development of Englishlanguage skills in EMI environments. The study is longitudinal, and students from several master's programs in Sweden are followed from the beginning of their degrees into the workplace. Various methods are used to gather data, including language tests, interviews and observations. The aim is to carry out a thorough analysis of proficiency levels, the development of English literacy, literacy demands, and the extent to which activities in the programs support the development of disciplinary discourse and workplace demands. Preliminary analyses reveal several themes: evidence that instructors and students see the use of English as both opportunity and disadvantage; a wide diversity of English proficiency levels (based on four tests distributed to approximately 150 students); and significant differences across programs in terms of the sorts of Englishlanguage proficiencies their students are believed to need in the workplace.
References
Pecorari, D., Shaw, P., Irvine, A. & Malmström, H. (2011) ‘English for Academic Purposes at Swedish Universities: Teachers' objectives and practices’. Ibérica 22, 5878.
Shaw, P., A. Irvine, H. Malmström & D. Pecorari. (2010) ‘Intertextual episodes in lectures as apotential enhancement of incidental learning from reading’. Hermes Journal of Language and Communication Studies . 45, 115128.