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Article published In: 10th Anniversary Celebration
Edited by Pádraig Ó Duibhir and Laurent Cammarata
[Journal of Immersion and Content-Based Language Education 10:2] 2022
► pp. 265–285

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EMI as discursive positioning

Exploring the voices of content subject teachers in Hong Kong

 | The Education University of Hong Kong
Published online: 2 March 2022
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https://doi.org/10.1075/jicb.21018.tre
Abstract
Set against a background of societal pressure and preference for English language education in Hong Kong, this paper explores the policy and practice of English medium instruction (EMI) from the perspective of one group of content subject teachers. Grounded in Bakhtin’s dialogism, the paper reports the results of a qualitative study that used in-depth interviews to explore the perspectives and experiences of these teachers as they implement EMI policy in Hong Kong schools. The results reveal the existence of several discourses of EMI in Hong Kong that position the teachers at community, institutional, and professional levels. The results also suggest that the interplay of EMI discourses can offer content subject teachers positions which they regard as undesirable. Suggestions for ensuring that the voices of these teachers are heard within the context of teacher professional development opportunities in EMI settings are considered and implications for future research are discussed.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Conceptual framework
    • 2.1Positioning
    • 2.2Dialogism
  • 3.Data collection and analysis
    • 3.1Data collection
    • 3.2Data analysis
  • 4.Results
    • 4.1The discourse of business
    • 4.2The discourse of education
    • 4.3The discourse of professionalism
    • 4.4The discourse of status
    • 4.5The discourse of business versus the discourse of education
    • 4.6The discourse of business versus the discourse of professionalism
    • 4.7The discourse of status versus the discourse of education
    • 4.8The discourse of status versus the discourse of professionalism
  • 5.Discussion
    • 5.1Perception – realism
    • 5.2Community – individual
    • 5.3Discretion – disclosure
    • 5.4Positioning and repositioning EMI content subject teachers
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Note
  • References
References (34)
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