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10 - Problematizing ‘English’ in EMI

A View from Malaysia and Brazil

from Part III - The Politics of English in Education

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 January 2025

By
Azirah Hashim  and
Kyria Finardi
Edited by
Seyyed-Abdolhamid Mirhosseini  and
Peter I. De Costa
Seyyed-Abdolhamid Mirhosseini
Affiliation:
University of Hong Kong
Peter I. De Costa
Affiliation:
Michigan State University
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Summary

This chapter aims to discuss the presence and implications of using English Medium Instruction (EMI) in two contexts of the Global South; namely, Malaysia, a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and Brazil in Latin America. In both countries language policy and planning are complex. EMI has been adopted following a recent trend towards the internationalization of the higher education system where English has also become the main language for research and publication. The dominance of Western scientific paradigms, the promotion of English as the language of education, and the dissemination of knowledge through English have led to a neglect of knowledge produced in languages other than English. Furthermore, the adoption of a single language threatens the role of other languages in higher education. This chapter examines this trend in face of the need to protect the national language as well as other languages to guarantee an ecology of knowledges and languages in higher education.

Keywords

EMIMalaysiaBrazilEnglishhigher education
Type
Chapter
Information
Critical English Medium Instruction in Higher Education , pp. 165 - 182
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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