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The EMI content lecturer as a street-level bureaucrat : discretionary actions and coping mechanisms in micro-level language policy-as-produced

Alexander De Soete (UGent) and Stef Slembrouck (UGent)
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Abstract
The field of English as a Medium-of-Instruction (EMI) research in tertiary education is undergoing a context-specific turn, focusing attention on how the official medium of instruction interacts with local languages, as well as the multi-faceted interplay between national and/or institutional language policies and classroom practice. This article reports on findings from linguistic ethnographic fieldwork at a Belgian higher education institution: for two semesters, the interactions between a lecturer and his students in an English-medium Industrial Design Engineering course were observed. The lecturer's micro-level didactic choices are studied through the lens of Lipsky's Street-Level Bureaucracy. This reveals a systematic pattern of on-the-ground language policy construction which is evidenced in classroom practice. While the findings of this study problematise the pillarized 'either/or' language choices that continue to dominate a polarised language policy debate, they equally underline the micro-level agency of the disciplinary EMI instructors in shaping public policy. For EMI-contexts more generally, our analysis suggests the viability and sociolinguistic relevance of an enactment-of-policy-in-interaction perspective which is equally a matter of disciplinary induction. The study of 'coping mechanisms' thus becomes an arena for policy development and teacher training.
Keywords
Tertiary education, language policy, linguistic ethnography, interactional analysis, street-level bureaucracy, English-medium instruction, TEACHERS, IMPLEMENTATION, BOTSWANA, BELIEFS

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MLA
De Soete, Alexander, and Stef Slembrouck. “The EMI Content Lecturer as a Street-Level Bureaucrat : Discretionary Actions and Coping Mechanisms in Micro-Level Language Policy-as-Produced.” JOURNAL OF MULTILINGUAL AND MULTICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT, 2025, pp. 1–20, doi:10.1080/01434632.2023.2229801.
APA
De Soete, A., & Slembrouck, S. (2025). The EMI content lecturer as a street-level bureaucrat : discretionary actions and coping mechanisms in micro-level language policy-as-produced. JOURNAL OF MULTILINGUAL AND MULTICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2023.2229801
Chicago author-date
De Soete, Alexander, and Stef Slembrouck. 2025. “The EMI Content Lecturer as a Street-Level Bureaucrat : Discretionary Actions and Coping Mechanisms in Micro-Level Language Policy-as-Produced.” JOURNAL OF MULTILINGUAL AND MULTICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2023.2229801.
Chicago author-date (all authors)
De Soete, Alexander, and Stef Slembrouck. 2025. “The EMI Content Lecturer as a Street-Level Bureaucrat : Discretionary Actions and Coping Mechanisms in Micro-Level Language Policy-as-Produced.” JOURNAL OF MULTILINGUAL AND MULTICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT: 1–20. doi:10.1080/01434632.2023.2229801.
Vancouver
1.
De Soete A, Slembrouck S. The EMI content lecturer as a street-level bureaucrat : discretionary actions and coping mechanisms in micro-level language policy-as-produced. JOURNAL OF MULTILINGUAL AND MULTICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT. 2025;1–20.
IEEE
[1]
A. De Soete and S. Slembrouck, “The EMI content lecturer as a street-level bureaucrat : discretionary actions and coping mechanisms in micro-level language policy-as-produced,” JOURNAL OF MULTILINGUAL AND MULTICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT, pp. 1–20, 2025.
@article{01HAW41MK6EB1EYMHCSYVS61EB,
  abstract     = {{The field of English as a Medium-of-Instruction (EMI) research in tertiary education is undergoing a context-specific turn, focusing attention on how the official medium of instruction interacts with local languages, as well as the multi-faceted interplay between national and/or institutional language policies and classroom practice. This article reports on findings from linguistic ethnographic fieldwork at a Belgian higher education institution: for two semesters, the interactions between a lecturer and his students in an English-medium Industrial Design Engineering course were observed. The lecturer's micro-level didactic choices are studied through the lens of Lipsky's Street-Level Bureaucracy. This reveals a systematic pattern of on-the-ground language policy construction which is evidenced in classroom practice. While the findings of this study problematise the pillarized 'either/or' language choices that continue to dominate a polarised language policy debate, they equally underline the micro-level agency of the disciplinary EMI instructors in shaping public policy. For EMI-contexts more generally, our analysis suggests the viability and sociolinguistic relevance of an enactment-of-policy-in-interaction perspective which is equally a matter of disciplinary induction. The study of 'coping mechanisms' thus becomes an arena for policy development and teacher training.}},
  author       = {{De Soete, Alexander and Slembrouck, Stef}},
  issn         = {{0143-4632}},
  journal      = {{JOURNAL OF MULTILINGUAL AND MULTICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT}},
  keywords     = {{Tertiary education,language policy,linguistic ethnography,interactional analysis,street-level bureaucracy,English-medium instruction,TEACHERS,IMPLEMENTATION,BOTSWANA,BELIEFS}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{1--20}},
  title        = {{The EMI content lecturer as a street-level bureaucrat : discretionary actions and coping mechanisms in micro-level language policy-as-produced}},
  url          = {{http://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2023.2229801}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}

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