Macro-level language policy and planning to promote and maintain English-taught programmes in Turkish higher education: a Process Tracing perspective

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper explores how higher education governance and macro-level (governmental) language policy and planning (LPP) impact (a) the growth and (b) sustainability of English-medium instruction (EMI) programmes in the Turkish higher education context, an Expanding Circle country (Kachru, 1985). We examine higher education policy documents and regulations and interview elite participants (N = 20), i.e. higher education administrative and governance staff who play significant roles in the decision-making processes of the universities. We make innovative use of a Process Tracing methodology to provide a broader perspective on the growth of EMI. We also examine the impact of macro-level LPP on the regulation and sustainability of EMI programmes. Regarding the growth of EMI programmes in Turkiye, we identify three significant milestones, namely the foundation of the Council of Higher Education, massification, and privatisation. While sustaining the quality and quantity of EMI programmes, higher education actors also implement some language policies. By employing Process Tracing, this study goes beyond simply identifying the relationship between policies and their impact: it sheds light on the causal mechanisms at play, revealing how adopting a ‘steering at a distance’ approach can have unintended consequences that fuel the growth of EMI programmes.