High school to university transitional challenges in English Medium Instruction in Japan
Despite the rapid expansion of English-medium instruction (EMI) at higher education institutions around the world, little research has explored the language-related challenges faced by students when entering an EMI university from a first language (L1) medium high school. This study identifies chall...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2020
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| _version_ | 1797107859806224384 |
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| author | Aizawa, I Rose, H |
| author_facet | Aizawa, I Rose, H |
| author_sort | Aizawa, I |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | Despite the rapid expansion of English-medium instruction (EMI) at higher education institutions around the world, little research has explored the language-related challenges faced by students when entering an EMI university from a first language (L1) medium high school. This study identifies challenges posed by the school–university transition encountered by L1 Japanese undergraduates who study academic subjects through English at a university in Tokyo. 103 students from various academic disciplines completed questionnaires on academic English challenges in addition to receptive and productive academic vocabulary size tests as a measure of their linguistic preparedness for academic study in English. Semi-structured interviews were subsequently conducted with 20 students. Results show that students who attended Japanese medium high schools where English language classes were taught through English obtained a larger academic vocabulary size and encountered fewer linguistic challenges adjusting to English-medium learning than their counterparts who had studied English through Japanese. This suggests that even ‘soft-EMI’ high school experiences may lead to an easier transition to university-level EMI contexts. Based on the findings, implications are discussed in terms of the design of EAP (English for Academic Purposes) curricula with a specific focus on vocabulary learning for EMI university students across a range of English language levels.
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| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T07:21:33Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:9b49327b-69b2-4a96-a7ad-018bfa9b4dd9 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T07:21:33Z |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:9b49327b-69b2-4a96-a7ad-018bfa9b4dd92022-10-10T07:30:53ZHigh school to university transitional challenges in English Medium Instruction in JapanJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:9b49327b-69b2-4a96-a7ad-018bfa9b4dd9EnglishSymplectic ElementsElsevier2020Aizawa, IRose, HDespite the rapid expansion of English-medium instruction (EMI) at higher education institutions around the world, little research has explored the language-related challenges faced by students when entering an EMI university from a first language (L1) medium high school. This study identifies challenges posed by the school–university transition encountered by L1 Japanese undergraduates who study academic subjects through English at a university in Tokyo. 103 students from various academic disciplines completed questionnaires on academic English challenges in addition to receptive and productive academic vocabulary size tests as a measure of their linguistic preparedness for academic study in English. Semi-structured interviews were subsequently conducted with 20 students. Results show that students who attended Japanese medium high schools where English language classes were taught through English obtained a larger academic vocabulary size and encountered fewer linguistic challenges adjusting to English-medium learning than their counterparts who had studied English through Japanese. This suggests that even ‘soft-EMI’ high school experiences may lead to an easier transition to university-level EMI contexts. Based on the findings, implications are discussed in terms of the design of EAP (English for Academic Purposes) curricula with a specific focus on vocabulary learning for EMI university students across a range of English language levels. |
| spellingShingle | Aizawa, I Rose, H High school to university transitional challenges in English Medium Instruction in Japan |
| title | High school to university transitional challenges in English Medium Instruction in Japan |
| title_full | High school to university transitional challenges in English Medium Instruction in Japan |
| title_fullStr | High school to university transitional challenges in English Medium Instruction in Japan |
| title_full_unstemmed | High school to university transitional challenges in English Medium Instruction in Japan |
| title_short | High school to university transitional challenges in English Medium Instruction in Japan |
| title_sort | high school to university transitional challenges in english medium instruction in japan |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT aizawai highschooltouniversitytransitionalchallengesinenglishmediuminstructioninjapan AT roseh highschooltouniversitytransitionalchallengesinenglishmediuminstructioninjapan |