All English and No Code-switching : A thematic analysis of writing behaviours among EMI master's students

Abstract: As a kind of education strategy, English as a medium of instruction (EMI) has become increasingly widespread across the world in recent years. The increased adoption means that many students are performing study activities such as reading, writing, and giving presentations in English all while maintaining and using a native language in other situations. One area of interest within EMI research is how it may relate to academic writing, and here there are relatively few studies aiming to examine the interactions between EMI and writing among master’s students. This paper collected qualitative interview data from five EMI master’s students who were asked to describe how they go about writing academic texts, what experiences and opinions they have of multilingualism in their lives, as well as how they may utilise the languages available to them to assist in their writing through code-switching or translanguaging. A thematic analysis was conducted which generated ten themes within two overarching categories, language use and multilingualism and writing behaviours. Participants in the present study reported no code-switching behaviours at any point throughout their writing, contrasting with previous research in multilingual university settings. This may be due to constraints of the EMI environment, where all produced materials from students need to be in English, discouraging the use of multiple languages and leading to opinions of sticking to one language being easier. Future research could usefully examine language use within EMI educational contexts with a focus on how it facilitates or otherwise affects code-switching tendencies.