Abstract
This chapter will approach the concept of English-medium instruction (EMI) in Turkish higher education from the perspective of quality assurance and enhancement of teaching and learning in the academic programmes. Following the market driven global higher education trends, Turkey’s signatory commitment to the Bologna Declaration in 2001 indicated its intention to provide a transparent, comparable and accountable higher education environment to enable student and staff mobility, which has increased the country’s focus both on quality and EMI matters. Increasing acceptance of English as a global academic lingua franca and worldwide implementations of it as the instructional language at undergraduate and graduate levels in higher education institutions have brought challenges worldwide as well as in Turkey. While existing studies present valuable insights into the issue focusing on various aspects of EMI in higher education, they are largely inconclusive and/or lack the rigor to make generalised conclusions. Thus, rather than elaborating on the challenges that EMI has caused in Turkish academia, this chapter will focus on how challenges can become opportunities to enhance the quality of education in Turkish higher education institutions for both academics and students by providing recommendations derived from international experiences.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
The Bologna Declaration is a regional treaty initially signed by 29 countries in 1999 to build the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). The declaration aims to create coherence and comparability and promote collaboration among European countries in the field of higher education (European Commission, n.d.) and “… to increase Europe’s global competitiveness in the knowledge-based economy.” (EHEA). The European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) was developed with the aim of increasing participation in higher education and providing students with mutually recognised degrees. Turkey has incorporated ECTS into its HE sector since its signatory commitment in 2001.
- 2.
A series of symposia entitled ‘Using English as the medium instruction in higher education institutions: A holistic approach’ were initiated by Mustafa Akincioglu to discuss EMI issues in Turkish HEIs. They were held in Istanbul (June 19, 2018), in Izmir (October 19, 2018), in Famagusta (November 9, 2018) and in Ankara (April 19, 2019) and attended by a wide range of stakeholders from over 100 institutions, including rectors, vice rectors, deans, professors, lecturers, English language department heads, language and EAP specialists as well as representatives from the business world, existing students, graduates and administers and K-12 teachers. The outcomes of the symposiums can be reached from the websites of the host universities (Kadir Has University, Izmir University of Economics, Eastern Mediterranean University).
References
AdvancedHE. (2011). The UK professional standards framework for teaching and supporting learning in higher education. https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/assets.creode.advancehe-documentmanager/documents/advance-he/UKPSF%20large%20print_1570613686.pdf. Accessed October 29, 2021.
Airey, J. (2015). From stimulated recall to disciplinary literacy: Summarizing ten years of research into teaching and learning in English. In S. Dimova, A. Hultgren, & C. Jensen (Eds.), English-medium instruction in European higher education (Language and social life 4) (pp. 151–176). De Gruyter Mouton.
Airey, J., & Linder, C. (2006). Language and the experience of learning university physics in Sweden. European Journal of Physics, 27(3), 553–560.
Airey, J., Lauridsen, K. M., Räsänen, A.,Salö L., & Schwach, V. (2017). The expansion of English-medium instruction in the Nordic countries: Can top-down university language policies encourage bottom-up disciplinary literacy goals? Higher Education, 73(4), 561–576. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-015-9950-2
Al-Issa, A. (2017). English as a medium of instruction and the endangerment of Arabic literacy: The case of the United Arab Emirates. Arab World English Journal (AWEJ), 8(3), 3–17. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3053550
Altbach, P. G., Reisberg, L., & Rumbley, L. E. (2019). Trends in global higher education: Tracking an academic revolution. UNESCO Publishing.
Arkın, E., & Osam, N. (2015). English-medium higher education: A case study in a Turkish university context. In S. Dimova, A. Hultgren, & C. Jensen (Eds.), English-medium instruction in European higher education (Language and social life 4) (pp. 177–199). De Gruyter Mouton.
Arkoudis, S., Baik, C., & Richardson, S. (2012). English language in higher education: From entry to exit. ACER.
Aslan, M. (2018). The debate on English-medium instruction and globalisation in the Turkish context: A sociopolitical perspective. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 39(7), 602–616. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2017.1417413
BALEAP. (2008). The competency framework for teachers of English for academic purposes. Retrieved from https://www.baleap.org/resources
Beaumont, J. (2020). Cross-disciplinary professional development at community colleges. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 44(2), 99–116.
Björkman, B. (2016). English-medium instruction and English as the lingua franca in higher education in central and northern Europe. In P. Marie-Luise & R. Osimk-Dale (Eds.), English as a lingua franca: Perspective and prospects (pp. 57–68). De Gruyter Mouton.
Brennan, J., & Shah, T. (2000). Quality assessment and institutional change: Experiences from 14 countries. Higher Education, 40, 331–349. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1004159425182
Brinton, D. M., & Snow, M. A. (2017). The evolving architecture of content-based instruction. In M. A. Snow & D. M. Brinton (Eds.), The content-based classroom: New perspectives on integrating language and content (pp. 2–20). University of Michigan.
Central Intelligence Agency. (2020, May 31). The world factbook. Turkey. Age Structure. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/tu.html
Çetinsaya, G. (2014). Büyüme, kalite, uluslararasilaşma: Türkiye yükseköğretimi için bir yol haritasi. Yuksekoğretim Kurulu Yayin No 2014/2. Anadolu University. Retrieved from https://www.yok.gov.tr/Documents/Yayinlar/Yayinlarimiz/buyume-kalite-uluslararasilasma-turkiye-yuksekogretim-icin-bir-yol-haritasi.pdf
Coşkun, A. (2013). An investigation of the effectiveness of the modular general English language teaching preparatory program at a Turkish university. South African Journal of Education, 33(3), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.15700/201503070754
Cummins, J. (2000). Language, power and pedagogy: Bilingual children in the crossfire. Multilingual Matters.
Dearden, J. (2014). English as a medium of instruction-a growing global phenomenon. British Council.
Dearden, J., Akıncıoğlu, M., & Macaro, E. (2016). English medium instruction in universities: A collaborative experiment in Turkey. Studies in English Language Teaching, 4(1), 51–76. https://doi.org/10.22158/selt.v4n1p51
Derewianka, B., & Jones, P. (2016). Teaching language in context (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press.
Dil Eğitim Programları Değerlendirme ve Akreditasyon Derneği (DEDAK). Retrieved from https://www.dedak.org/
Dimova, S., & Kling, J. (2018). Assessing English-medium instruction lecturer language proficiency across disciplines. TESOL Quarterly, 52(3), 634–656.
Donohue, J., & Erling, E. (2012). Investingating the relationship between the use of English for academic purposes and academic attainment. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 11, 210–219.
Dreyfus, S., Humphrey, S., Mahboob, A., & Martin, J. (2016). Genre pedagogy in higher education: The SLATE project. Palgrave Macmillan.
Duran, D., & Sert, O. (2019). Preference organization in English as medium of instuction classroom in a Turkish higher education setting. Linguistics and Education, 49, 72–85. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.linged.2018.12.006
Eaton, J. S. (2011). U.S. accreditation: Meeting the challenges of accountability and student achievement. Evaluation in Higher Education, 5(1), 1–20.
Education First. (2019). EF English Proficiency Index. Retrieved from https://www.ef.com/wwwen/epi#
Educational Quality at Universities for inclusive international Programmes (EQUiiP). Retrieved from https://equiip.eu/
Emil, S. (2018). Can world-class universities really exist in Turkey: A question of autonomy and academic freedom. In M. Rabossi, K. M. Joshi, & S. Paivandi (Eds.), In pursuit of world-class universities: A global experience (pp. 239–269). Studera Press.
European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA). (2015). Standards and guidelines for quality assurance in the European higher education area. Retrieved from https://enqa.eu/index.php/home/esg/
European Commission. (n. d.). The Bologna Process. Towards the European Higher Education Area. Retrieved from education/policies/educ/bologna/bologna_en.html>,
Evaluation and Accreditation of Quality in Language Services (EAQUALS). (2020). Retrieved from https://www.eaquals.org/
Fang, Z., & Schleppergrell, M. (2008). Reading in secondary content areas: A language-based pedagogy. University of Michigan Press.
Farrell, T. (2020). Professional development through reflective practice for English-medium instruction (EMI) teachers. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 23(3), 277–286. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.1612840
Friedman, G. (2010). The next 100 years: A forecast for the 21st century. Anchor.
Göktürk, S., Kaymaz, O. S., & Bozoğlu, O. (2018). Experimenting with internationalisation in troubled times: The critical case of Turkish higher education. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 40(6), 566–582. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360080X.2018.1530418
Gossman, P., Haigh, N., & Jiao, X. (2009). The status of the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) in New Zealand universities: Three institutional case studies. Final report to the Ministry of Education and Ako Aotearoa: The National Centre of Teriary Teaching Excellence. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/
Gregersen, F. (2018). More parallel, please!: Best practice of parallel language use at Nordic universities: 11 recommendations. Nordic Council of Ministers. https://doi.org/10.6027/TN2018-523
HEA. (2014). The higher education academy UK professional standards for university teachers.
Hellekjær, G. O. (2010). Lecture comprehension in English-medium higher education. HERMES-Journal of Language and Communication in Business, 45, 11–34. https://doi.org/10.7146/hjlcb.v23i45.97343
Henard, F. (2017). Review of the national forum for the enhancement of teaching and learning. Learning Avenue. Retrieved from https://hea.ie/policy/policy-development/teaching-and-learning/
Hou, A. Y. C., Morse, R., Chiang, C. L., & Chen, H. J. (2013). Challenges to quality of English medium instruction degree programs in Taiwanese universities and the role of local accreditors: A perspective of non-English-speaking Asian country. Asia Pacific Education Review, 14(3), 359–370. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-013-9267-8
https://hea.ie/policy/policy-development/teaching-and-learning/
Hu, G. (2019). English-medium instruction in higher education: Lessons from China. Journal of Asia TEFL, 16(1), 1. https://doi.org/10.18823/asiatefl.2019.16.1.1.1
Hu, G., & Li, X. (2017). Asking and answering questions in English-medium instruction classrooms: What is the cognitive and syntactic complexity level? In J. Zhao & L. Q. Dixon (Eds.), English medium instruction in Chinese universities: Perspectives, discourse and evaluation (pp. 184–203). Routledge.
IIE. (2019). Project atlas. Retrieved from https://www.iie.org/en/Research-and-Insights/Project-Atlas/Explore-Data
Jenkins, J. (2013). English as a Lingua Franca in international university: The politics of academic English language policy. Routledge.
Jewels, T., & Albon, R. (2012). “We don’t teach English, we teach in English”: Teaching non-native English speaking university students. Learning and Teaching in Higher Education: Gulf Perspectives, 9(1). https://ithe.zu.ac.ae
Kamaşak, R., Şahan, K., & Rose, H. (2021). Academic language-related challenges at an English-medium university. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 49(100945), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2020.100945
Karakaş, A. (2014). Lecturers’ perceptions of their English abilities and language use in English-medium universities. International Journal on New Trends in Education and Their Implications, 5(2), 114–125.
Karakaş, A. (2019). A critical look at the phenomenon of ‘A mixed-up use of Turkish and English’ in English-medium universities in Turkey. Journal of Higher Education and Science, 9(2), 205–215.
Katayama, J., Örnektekin, S., & Demir, S. S. (2018). Policy into practice on sustainable development related teaching in higher education in Turkey. Environmental Education Research, 24(7), 1017–1030. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2017.1360843
Kırkgöz, Y. (2009). Students’and lecturers’ perceptions of the effectiveness of foreign language instruction in an English-medium university in Turkey. Teaching in Higher Education, 14(1), 81–93. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562510802602640
Kırkgöz, Y. (2014). Students’ perceptions of English language versus Turkish language used as the medium of instruction in Turkey. International Periodical for the Languages, Literature and History of Turkey, 9(12), 443–459.
Kırkgöz, Y. (2018). Confronting similar challenges?: Exploring students’ experiences of studying engineering at a Turkish university: Turkish versus English-language medium of instruction. Rassegna Italiana di Linguistica Applicata, 2–3, 145–160.
Kortmann, B. (2019). Language policies at the LERU member institutions. Retrieved from https://www.leru.org/files/Publications/Language-Policies-at-LERU-member-institutions-Full-Paper.pdf
Koru, S., & Åkesson, J. (2011). Turkey’s English deficit. TEPAV.
Küçükcan, T., & Gür, B. S. (2010). Türkiye’de yükseköğretim: karşılaştırmalı bir analiz. SETA, Siyaset, Ekonomi ve Toplum Araştırmaları Vakfı.
Lauridsen, K. (CEL-ELC Working Group). (2013). Higher education language policy. European Language Council/Conseil Européen des Langues. Retrieved from https://celelc.org/activities/Working_groups/Concluded-Working-Groups/Univeristy_Language_Policy/index.html
Lehmann, J. P. (2011). Turkey’s 2023 economic goal in global perspective. Center for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies-Edam. Retrieved from https://edam.org.tr/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Lehmann-June-2011.pdf
Macaro, E. (2018). English medium instruction. Oxford University Press.
Macaro, E., Akıncıoğlu, M., & Han, S. (2019). English medium instruction in higher education: Teacher perspectives on professional development and certification. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 30(1), 144–157. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijal.12272
Marginson, S. (2010). Higher education in the global knowledge economy. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2(5), 6962–6980. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2010.05.049
Middle States Commission of Higher Education. (2020). Standards for accreditation and requirements of affiliation. Retrieved from https://www.msche.org/standards/
Nguyen, H. T., Walkinshaw, I., & Pham, H. H. (2017). EMI programs in a Vietnamese university: Language, pedagogy and policy issues. In B. Fenton-Smith, P. Humphreys, & I. Walkinshaw (Eds.), English medium instruction in higher education in Asia-Pacific (pp. 37–52). Springer.
O’Dowd, R. (2018). The training and accreditation of teachers for English medium instruction: An overview of practice European universities. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Billingualism, 21(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2018.1491945
O’Dwyer, J., & Atlı, H. H. (2018). ESP/EAP in university programs in a non-target language community–issues and challenges. In Y. Kırkgöz & K. Dikilitaş (Eds.), Key issues in English for specific purposes in higher education (pp. 291–304). Springer.
OECD. (2001). Knowledge, work organization and economic growth. DEELSA/ELSA 2. OECD.
Özen, E. F., Alpaslan, İ. B., Çağlı, A., Özdoğan, İ., Sancak, M., Dizman, A. O., & Vale, D. (2013). Turkey national needs assessment of state school English language teaching. British Council & TEPAV, ArkaikArt Media Design, Ankara, Turkey.
Pearson Assured Qualifications. (2020). Retrieved from https://qualifications.pearson.com/en/qualifications/pearson-assured-english.html
Pecorari, D., & Malmström, H. (2018). At the crossroads of TESOL and English-medium instruction. TESOL Quarterly, 52(3), 497–515. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.470
QS World Universities Ranking. (2020). Turkey. Retrieved from https://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2020
Retrieved from https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/uk-professional-standards-framework-ukpsf
Salmi, J. (2009). The challenge of establishing world class universities. The World Bank. https://doi.org/10.1596/978-0-8213-7865-6
Shulman, L. (1986). Those who understand: Knowledge growth in teaching. Educational Researcher, 15(2), 4–14.
Singh, M. (2010). Quality assurance in higher education: Which pasts to build on, what futures to contemplate? Quality in Higher Education, 16(2), 189–194. https://doi.org/10.1080/13538322.2010.485735
Staub, D. (2019). The increasing need for quality assurance and accreditation in foreign language. In D. Staub (Ed.), Quality assurance and accreditation in foreign language education (pp. 1–5). Springer.
Staub, D., & Kırkgöz, Y. (2019). Standards assessment in English language teacher education. Novitas-ROYAL (Research on Youth and Language), 13(1), 47–61.
Stelma, J., & Fay, R. (2019). An ecological perspective for critical action in applied linguistics. In A. Kostoulas (Ed.), Challenging boundaries in language education: Second language learning and teaching (pp. 51–69). Springer.
TAEC EMI Handbook. (2019). TAEC Erasmus+ project (2017–2020). Retrieved from http://cip.ku.dk/english/projects-and-collaborations/taec/
TAEC. (2020). Transnational Alignment of English Competences for University Lectures (TAEC). Retrieved from file:///Users/z9685/Downloads/taec_handbook_feb_2020_noedit%20(5).pdf
Tezcan-Unal, B., Jones, W., & Littlewood, S. (2019a). Curriculum review: Analysis through a learning organization. Innovative Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-019-09472-y
Tezcan-Unal, B., Winston, K., & Qualter, A. (2019b). Learning-oriented quality assurance in higher education institutions. Quality in Higher Education, 24(3), 221–237. https://doi.org/10.1080/13538322.2018.1558504
The Commission on English Language Program Accreditation (CEA). Retrieved from https://cea-accredit.org/
The World Bank. Data. Country Profile, Turkey, population. https://data.worldbank.org/country/turkey?view=chart
Üstün, Ç. (2012). Analysis of Turkey's relations with the EU and the US in the light of 2011 Arab Revolts. Études helléniques/Hellenic Studies, 20(1), 51–68.
Van Vught, F. A., & Westerheijden, D. F. (1994). Towards a general model of quality assessment in higher education. Higher Education, 28, 355–337. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01383722
VSNU. (2018). University teaching qualifications. Retrieved from https://www.vsnu.nl/en_GB/teacher-quality.html
Wächter, B., & Maiworm, F. (2014). English-taught programmes in European higher education: The state of play in 2014. ACA Papers on International Cooperation in Education, Lemmens.
Werther, C., Denver, L., Jensen, C., & Mees, I. M. (2014). Using English as a medium of instruction at university level in Denmark: The lecturer's perspective. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 35(5), 443–462. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2013.868901
West, R., Güven, A., Parry, J., Ergenekon, T., Aşık, G., Aydın, İ., & Başıhoş, S. (2015). The state of English in higher education in Turkey. TEPAV and British Council. https://www.britishcouncil.org.tr/sites/default/files/he_baseline_study_book_web_-_son.pdf
Yamamoto, B. A., & Ishikura, Y. (2018). A pebble that creates great waves? Global 30 classes and internationalization of the student body. In A. Bradford & H. Brown (Eds.), English-medium instruction in Japanese higher education: Policy, challenges and outcomes (pp. 71–87). Multilingual Matters.
Yükseköğretim Kurulu Başkanlığı (YÖK). (2020). Turkish Higher Education Council. Istatistikler. https://istatistik.yok.gov.tr/
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Tezcan-Ünal, B., Schmitt, D. (2022). Reflections on English-Medium Instruction in Turkish Higher Education Institutions, Educational Quality and Insights from International Experience. In: Kirkgöz, Y., Karakaş, A. (eds) English as the Medium of Instruction in Turkish Higher Education. Multilingual Education, vol 40. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-88597-7_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-88597-7_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-88596-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-88597-7
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)