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‘For the Dutch-speaking students, I will translate it' : code-switching as discretionary transformation of EMI language policy

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Abstract
In the study of English-medium instruction in higher education, attention is being drawn to discrepancies between codified language policy and its enactment in classroom practice. This can be situated in a larger trend in language policy studies, in which researchers document and analyze language policy as an interactional concept, revolving around norms which guide language selection and use. In this context, I discuss how lecturers discretionarily transform institutional policy through code-switching in interactions with students, resulting in the production of a micro-level classroom language policy. The dataset consists of 23 classroom recordings which capture the interactions between six engineering lecturers and their students in two English-medium engineering programs at a Belgian university. Drawing on Street-Level Bureaucracy and Frame Analysis, I study code-switching in lecturer-student interaction, with a specific focus on the initiation, timing, procedure, and purpose of code-switching, including whether it involves meta-pragmatic commentary and/or enactment routines which seek, grant, or presume permission. Findings highlight a functional distribution of code-switching driven by pedagogical and pragmatic considerations. In conclusion, the study brings into focus how an explanation for the unfolding multilingual dynamics of the English-medium classroom necessarily appeals to both activity-specific interactional expectations and (overlaps in) individual speakers’ repertoires.
Keywords
sociolinguistics, language policy, multilingualism, EMI, Tertiary education, linguistic ethnography, interactional analysis, street-level bureaucracy, English-medium Instruction, INSTRUCTION, UNIVERSITY, CLASSROOM

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MLA
De Soete, Alexander. “’For the Dutch-Speaking Students, I Will Translate It’ : Code-Switching as Discretionary Transformation of EMI Language Policy.” CURRENT ISSUES IN LANGUAGE PLANNING, 2025, pp. 1–24, doi:10.1080/14664208.2025.2471158.
APA
De Soete, A. (2025). ’For the Dutch-speaking students, I will translate it’ : code-switching as discretionary transformation of EMI language policy. CURRENT ISSUES IN LANGUAGE PLANNING, 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/14664208.2025.2471158
Chicago author-date
De Soete, Alexander. 2025. “’For the Dutch-Speaking Students, I Will Translate It’ : Code-Switching as Discretionary Transformation of EMI Language Policy.” CURRENT ISSUES IN LANGUAGE PLANNING, 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/14664208.2025.2471158.
Chicago author-date (all authors)
De Soete, Alexander. 2025. “’For the Dutch-Speaking Students, I Will Translate It’ : Code-Switching as Discretionary Transformation of EMI Language Policy.” CURRENT ISSUES IN LANGUAGE PLANNING: 1–24. doi:10.1080/14664208.2025.2471158.
Vancouver
1.
De Soete A. ’For the Dutch-speaking students, I will translate it’ : code-switching as discretionary transformation of EMI language policy. CURRENT ISSUES IN LANGUAGE PLANNING. 2025;1–24.
IEEE
[1]
A. De Soete, “’For the Dutch-speaking students, I will translate it’ : code-switching as discretionary transformation of EMI language policy,” CURRENT ISSUES IN LANGUAGE PLANNING, pp. 1–24, 2025.
@article{01JVY4SDE9KSGNWH5451V3W25G,
  abstract     = {{In the study of English-medium instruction in higher education, attention is being drawn to discrepancies between codified language policy and its enactment in classroom practice. This can be situated in a larger trend in language policy studies, in which researchers document and analyze language policy as an interactional concept, revolving around norms which guide language selection and use. In this context, I discuss how lecturers discretionarily transform institutional policy through code-switching in interactions with students, resulting in the production of a micro-level classroom language policy. The dataset consists of 23 classroom recordings which capture the interactions between six engineering lecturers and their students in two English-medium engineering programs at a Belgian university. Drawing on Street-Level Bureaucracy and Frame Analysis, I study code-switching in lecturer-student interaction, with a specific focus on the initiation, timing, procedure, and purpose of code-switching, including whether it involves meta-pragmatic commentary and/or enactment routines which seek, grant, or presume permission. Findings highlight a functional distribution of code-switching driven by pedagogical and pragmatic considerations. In conclusion, the study brings into focus how an explanation for the unfolding multilingual dynamics of the English-medium classroom necessarily appeals to both activity-specific interactional expectations and (overlaps in) individual speakers’ repertoires.}},
  author       = {{De Soete, Alexander}},
  issn         = {{1466-4208}},
  journal      = {{CURRENT ISSUES IN LANGUAGE PLANNING}},
  keywords     = {{sociolinguistics,language policy,multilingualism,EMI,Tertiary education,linguistic ethnography,interactional analysis,street-level bureaucracy,English-medium Instruction,INSTRUCTION,UNIVERSITY,CLASSROOM}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{1--24}},
  title        = {{‘For the Dutch-speaking students, I will translate it' : code-switching as discretionary transformation of EMI language policy}},
  url          = {{http://doi.org/10.1080/14664208.2025.2471158}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}

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