ABOUT OUR PROJECT
WHAT WE WANTED TO KNOW
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To what extent do students in English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) or polylingual programs develop academic skills (i.e. genre knowledge) in 3 languages?
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How do students transfer these skills among languages?
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What institutional resources help students develop academic skills in English?
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What institutional supports might still be needed to help students develop academic skills in English, Kazakh, and Russian?
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HOW WE DID IT
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Sites:
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6 universities in 4 regions of Kazakhstan receiving SPIID funding for research and trilingual education
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National or regional, comprehensive or specialized
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Quantitative method
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Surveys of students in Master’s and PhD programs in to self-assess a) genre knowledge in three languages, and b) value of different institutional supports in learning English
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Qualitative methods:
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Focus groups with students and faculty
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Interviews with administrators
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WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED
1. A minimum proficiency level in a language is needed for advanced (graduate) study in that language
2. “Proficiency” is more than knowledge of grammar or four skills (reading, writing, speaking, and listening). Proficiency is knowing how to produce different types of texts for different purposes and audiences, and recognizing similarities and differences within and across texts and languages
3. The ability to use and adapt skills across languages is a sign of proficiency
4. Students, teachers, and administrators value opportunities to meet international students and scholars at home, to travel abroad, and to access library resources and databases in multiple languages. These opportunities also develop content and language skills
5. Poor policies and processes for EMI and multilingual education, especially for selecting students and preparing teachers, create challenges for teaching and learning in these programs