Language Alternation to Scaffold Learning in EMI Classrooms
Abstract
Research on English Medium Instruction (EMI) has shown that students draw on their L1, to scaffold learning. However, little is known about the use of L1 to scaffold learning in the higher education (HE) context in Bangladesh. The country has also implemented English Medium Instruction (EMI) in some of its HE institutions, although most students (emergent bilinguals) attending them are not being adequately prepared to learn through English [4]. Therefore, this research aims to investigate the use of whether, L1 (Bangla), is used as a scaffolding strategy to ensure the comprehensibility of HE lectures, and the effectiveness of whether this strategy is helpful. This research has two important implications, one practical and one theoretical. It shows that using Bangla supports students’ understanding of English medium lectures. Additionally, this investigation shows that explanations in Bangla do not challenge the status of English as the instructional medium. Therefore, policy can be insightfully established on the benefits of encouraging, tolerating or rejecting the use of Bangla in EMI HE classrooms. Moreover, the research specifies and adds detail to the often-stated claim that, in EMI contexts, L1 can be used as a scaffolding strategy [5]. It indicates that, in its function as a scaffolding strategy, L1 works either as an additional resource to usual scaffolding strategies found even in monolingual teaching situations, or as a scaffold in its own right.
Author: Sameya Priom
Published in: World Congress on Education (2024)
- Date of Conference: 26-28 August, 2024
- DOI: 10.20533/WCE.2024.0027
- Electronic ISBN: 978-1-913572-71-6
- Conference Location: Churchill College, Cambridge, UK