Re-examining the ‘E’ in EMI: towards a ‘pragmatic multilingualism’ for STEM subjects teaching in Kazakhstan

What is it about?

ABSTRACT This study examines STEM teachers’ perspectives on languaging practices against the backdrop of the government’s push for a ‘full immersion’ model in mainstream schools in Kazakhstan, where EMI policy has been introduced for STEM subjects. Based on qualitative interviews with 58 teachers and 10 school leaders, the findings reveal conflicting orientations toward classroom language use among teachers, which I categorize as monolingual idealism and pragmatic multilingualism. Monolingual idealism reflects teachers’ preference for a ‘full immersion’, advocating for English as the sole medium of instruction. In contrast, another group of teachers adopts a pragmatic multilingual stance, emphasizing the need for utilizing multilingual resources to foster a more engaging, linguistically flexible, and locally responsive pedagogy. The study calls for a reconceptualization of EMI grounded in greater theoretical and pedagogical clarity, alongside a critical rethinking of the role of “English” that recognizes learners’ multilingual repertoires and advances teachers’ awareness of critical multilingual pedagogy.

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