Instructor positioning as participants in a transnational EMI program

Abstract

Abstract The simultaneous global growth in higher education’s student population and demand for English-medium instruction (EMI) have created various models of transnational education (TNE) partnerships that use EMI to recruit students and increase opportunities for international collaboration. Inevitably, in transnational collaborative efforts, stakeholders have far more conflicting considerations as they navigate multiple countries’ academic policies and norms, diverse student, staff and faculty expectations, and the myriad of linguistic and cultural differences. In response to these concerns, this qualitative case study analyzed instructor discursive positioning in a TNE partnership between a US and a Vietnamese institution. Using a collaborative action research approach, this article features the experience of two instructors teaching in a TNE partnership using an EMI model in Vietnam. Using identity and positioning theory as guiding theoretical frameworks, instructors’ and students’ discourses were thematically analyzed. The findings reflect dominant discourses and language ideologies surrounding the “Englishization” of higher education, in addition to highlighting stakeholders’ challenges of working between two institutions and having conflicting responsibilities as both instructors and administrative staff. Similarly, the students’ interview data reflected their navigation of being participants at two universities with different academic systems and norms.