Abstract

English-Medium Instruction in Japanese Higher Education provides a touchstone for higher education practitioners, researchers and policy makers. It enables readers to more clearly understand why policies concerning English-medium instruction (EMI) are in place in Japan, how EMI is being implemented, what challenges are being addressed and what the impacts of EMI may be. The volume situates EMI within Japan’s current policy context and examines the experiences of its stakeholders. The chapters are written by scholars and practitioners who have direct involvement with EMI in Japanese higher education. They look at EMI from perspectives that include policy planning, program design, marketing and classroom practice.

In the rapidly expanding field of English Medium Instruction, this important volume covers a range of challenges and good practice relevant to contexts where English is not the dominant language. It provides a touchstone for policy and implementation in the use of EMI as a support for internationalization at home.

This is a book about content instruction delivered in English, in the particular national context of contemporary Japan. As such, it is likely to be of the greatest interest to stakeholders in Japanese higher education, but it also offers insights for those seeking to implement EMI programs in other similar contexts - those where English is not a lingua franca - outside Japan. It also offers an excellent example of how to identify and conduct research on the perceptions of key stakeholders.

Annette Bradford is Associate Professor in the School of Business Administration, Meiji University, Japan. Her research focuses on education policy, specifically the internationalization of higher education, student mobility and English-medium instruction.

Howard Brown is Associate Professor in the Faculty of International Studies and Regional Development, University of Niigata Prefecture, Japan. His research interests center on best practices for curriculum planning and program design in English-medium instruction, and the relationship between English-medium instruction and English for Academic Purposes.

This edited volume provides the reader with deep insights into a whole range of issues connected with the EMI phenomenon in Japanese higher education. Whether the reader is involved in Japanese education or not, the book acts as an excellent model of how to compose a case study of one particular country, how language policies are arrived at, how EMI is conceptualised and how to evaluate the reactions of the various stakeholders.