申論題

 Instruction:The ability to write from multiple sources is one of the key competences that a graduate student needs to develop to succeed in graduate studies. In this writing test, you are asked to write an academic essay of no more than 800 words to discuss this topic:  English as a medium of instruction in Asian countries.  Extracts of three source texts are provided for you to use in your essay. Provide and support your arguments on the issue by referring to the three source texts. Include in-text references for all sources you cite. This writing task is to evaluate your ability to1) read and accurately integrate source materials 2) paraphrase, summarize, and reference original ideas and 3) synthesize materials across multiple texts and 4) establish your own voice as an author when composing a new text through integrating ideas from the source materials.  The weight for each of the above-mentioned abilities is 25% of the total score.

                                                            Source text extracts

(1) Vu, N. T., & Burns, A. (2014). English as a medium of instruction: Challenges for Vietnamese tertiary lecturers. Journal of Asia TEFL, 11(3). p.1-2 It is now a truism to state that English is spreading rapidly around the world. Speakers of English as a first, second and foreign language are said to have increased from 1.2 billion in 2003 to 1.5 billion in 2006 (Crystal, 2006). The most common factors accounting for this surge in international use include globalization, economic development, internationalization, technological development and the expansion of education (Coleman, 2011c; Doiz, Lasagabaster, & Sierra, 2012b; Hamid, Nguyen, & Baldauf Jr, 2013). The impact of English means in many international educational contexts there is a rapidly growing tendency for English to be adopted as the medium of instruction, even when a majority of the population speaks a local language. For example, Wachter and Maiworm (2008, as cited in Doiz et al., 2012b, p. xvii) note that at over 400 European higher education institutions there were 2400 English-medium programs in 2007, which represented a 340-percent increase within bachelor and master courses compared with 2002. However, the rapid spread of EMI does not imply immediate success. Hamid et al. (2013), who examined medium-of-instruction (MOI) policies in ten Asian countries, conclude that implementation is "fraught with difficulties and challenges" (p.11).  Examples from India, Indonesia and Pakistan suggest that EMI leads to social division (Meganathan, 2011), inequitable resource allocation (Coleman, 2011a), and "language apartheid" (Coleman, 2011b), a phenomenon whereby local languages are dominated by English at school. Further difficulties such as shortage of competent teachers and learners, inadequate resources and support, content and language trade-offs, and inappropriate methodology are also reported in school settings implementing EMI (Byun et al., 2011; Coleman, 2006; Hamid et al., 2013; Kennedy, 2011; Kyeyune, 2010; Manh, 2012; Sert, 2008; Shohamy, 2012; Vinke, Snippe, & Jochems, 1998). Other possible reasons for failure are naive goals mandated from macro-level policy makers without careful consideration of the power and agency of micro-level actors, especially teachers and students, or inadequate resources (Hamid et al., 2013; Lia, Leungb, & Kemberb, 2001; Manh, 2012; Tsui & Tollefson, 2004).