The 5th Annual International Conference of the Asian Association for Language Assessment (AALA) (AALA 2018)

218 / 2018-04-12 18:39:06

Interactive spoken English demands for English-medium instruction in tertiary education: A case study of Taiwan

English-medium instruction,interactive speaking tasks

Plenary track > Standards in developing language assessments

The purpose of the present study is to explore the academic English language demands, specifically the interactive speaking skills that are expected of university students in the English as the medium of instruction (EMI) context in Taiwan, where English is taught and learned as a foreign language.

Due to the fact that EMI has been actively promoted by the Taiwanese government and universities as a globalization strategy, the pressure to introduce EMI for academic subjects at the tertiary level in Taiwan has intensified. In light of such trends, the training and testing of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) has become a new focus for many universities. In addition, it has become increasingly important for stakeholders involved in readying students for EMI programs, such as language teachers and test providers, to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the language demands in EMI classrooms.

Recent studies on EMI suggest that pedagogical challenges and learning problems related to classroom interaction and English proficiency levels often accompany its implementation (e.g. Chang, 2010; Evans & Morrison, 2011; Flowerdew, Miller, & Li, 2000; Hsieh, Kang, Li, Chang, & Chen, 2007; Huang, 2012, 2014; Tsou, 2017). This study therefore focuses on identifying and describing the interactive classroom tasks that require English to be spoken by students in EMI classes by conducting document analysis and interviews at a first-tier university in Taiwan. For these tasks, students are asked to talk to another student, a group of other students, or their teachers in an assigned pair or team activity that has an expected outcome. Descriptions of the tasks, such as the language requirements in relation to performing the tasks, will be offered.

The research results can have implications for the design and development of Taiwan's English for Academic Purposes (EAP) training and assessment. By identifying the commonly-employed interactive speaking tasks in EMI courses and also by relating language requirements to the situations in which they occur, the study will be able to provide supplementary information for language teachers and EAP course developers. It is also expected that the study will offer opportunities to review tasks that may need to be represented in EAP speaking assessments.