English as a Medium of Instruction and Students’ Classroom Participation: A Discourse Analysis

Abstract

This research focused on how EMI influences students' participation in the classroom and the discourse strategies that suppress or boost participation. An evidence synthesis using a qualitative (discourse orientation) approach was conducted on 25 peer-reviewed empirical studies on EMI in higher education from 2018 to 2025. The setting for the recordings comprised Asia, Europe, and the Middle East; observations, interviews, surveys, and studies of learning outcomes at the various sites supplemented the recordings. Analysis followed a sociocultural theory approach, content- and sequentially analysing the questioning, feedback, turn allocation, wait time, multilingual practice, and scaffolding in the data using deductive coding; and comparing participation trajectories using an inductive approach. No primary transcript or participant data was created, and reported interactional patterns were analysed in relation to. EMI indirectly impacted participation through an unequal distribution of processing time, linguistic risk and epistemic authority. The interplay between the three above-mentioned issues (fast pace, teacher-fronted talk, display questions, and immediate evaluation) along with the norm of English-only resulted in fewer participation figures. It grew with the use of referential follow-up and extended wait time, contingent reformulation, multimodal explanation, and bounded translanguaging by the lecturers. These strategies were in effect as configurations and not as single techniques. The focus of the EMI quality assessment should be on interactional access, not just lecturers' English levels. The discourse-sensitive professional development, language support and multilingual participation policies they wish to apply to their discipline should be integrated within EMI provision at university.