English as a Medium of Instruction in Lower- and Middle-Income Countries: Opportunities and Challenges in Ghana and India

Investigators

Elizabeth Erling, The Open University (Principal Investigator)
Lina Adinolfi, The Open University
Kristina Hultgren, The Open University

Funding

Funding is gratefully acknowledged from The Open University, the British Council and the Education Development Trust. All content on this page is the sole responsibility of the project investigators.

Grant period: 1 January 2015 - 31 May 2017

Summary

A legacy of British colonialism is the continued use of English as a medium of instruction in many African and Asian countries, even in primary education. While this may be perceived as providing opportunities in terms of employment and life chances, it challenges learning, since many students don’t have sufficient competence in English to benefit from and engage with their learning.

The aim of English as a Medium of Instruction in Lower- and Middle-Income Countries is to explore policies, practices and attitudes relating to English as a medium of instruction in Ghanaian and Indian primary schools. It will engage with stakeholders such as the British Council and Education Development Trust to improve policy and practice so that teaching and learning in these diverse multilingual contexts is supported.

Journal Article

Erling, E J and Adinolfi, L, Hultgren, A K, Buckler, A and Mukorera, M (2016): Medium of Instruction Policies in Ghanaian and Indian Primary Schools: An Overview of Key Issues and Recommendations. Comparative Education 52(3): 294-310

Conference Papers

Erling, E J and Adinolfi, L (2016): Promoting Classroom Translanguaging to Support India’s Three-Language Educational Formula. 10th International Conference on Multilingualism and Third Language Acquisition, University of Vienna, 1-3 Sept

Adinolfi, L and Erling, E J (2015): Implementing English-Medium Instruction (EMI) in Lower- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs): Teacher Challenges and Strategies. 11th Language and Development Conference, Delhi, 18-20 Nov

Contact

Elizabeth Erling