English-Medium Instruction and Pronunciation: Exposure and Skills Development(131 Second Language Acquisition)

This book offers new insights into the language gains of adult learners enrolled in an English-medium instruction (EMI) degree programme. It provides longitudinal empirical evidence of the phonological gains of the learners; discusses which individual factors contribute to the changes in the learners’ pronunciation and investigates whether and to what extent increased exposure to the target language in EMI classrooms leads to incidental learning of second language pronunciation. Furthermore, it expands on the discussions surrounding the Critical Period Hypothesis, the native-speaker norm, foreign language accent and the role of English as a Lingua Franca. The comparative and longitudinal design of the research study fills a significant gap in the literature and the book offers considerable original and important research-informed insights into the fields of EMI, bilingual education and second language acquisition. As such, it is a valuable resource and must-read book for researchers, practitioners and policymakers in these areas.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements Tables and Figures List of Abbreviations Chapter 1. Introduction Chapter 2. English-Medium Instruction in European Higher Education Chapter 3. Language Learning in the English-Medium Classroom Chapter 4. Factors Influencing L2 Pronunciation Mastery Chapter 5. The Development of the Austrian Accent in the EMI Classroom Chapter 6. Conclusion References Appendix Subject Index

About the Author :
Karin Richter is Senior Lecturer at the University of Vienna, Austria. She has been working in the field for over 15 years and her research focuses on English-medium instruction, teaching speaking skills and pronunciation learning and teaching.

Review :
This book not only effectively demonstrates that long run EMI instruction can improve students’ pronunciation, it also shows that the critical period is not absolute – adults can improve their pronunciation. The impressive literature reviews of EMI in Europe, of language learning in the EMI classroom, and of factors influencing L2 pronunciation mastery, are in themselves are compelling reasons to read the book. Those interested in pronunciation will find this volume most enlightening. At a time when EMI programmes are burgeoning, pronunciation has unfortunately been largely disregarded by researchers, although both teachers and students are very concerned about its role in EMI. This study successfully manages to bridge this research/concern gap. The book is well written, highly informative, and of high interest to anyone interested in either EMI research or accent attainment research. ...this book is a bridge between EMI and L2 speech learning, to which little attention has been devoted so far. If readers are experts in EMI but novices in L2 pronunciation and/or L2 speech learning, this book takes the first step toward understanding this area. I am deeply convinced that the study will pave the way for similar empirical investigations in the future and will set standards for how similar research should be executed. The book provides a useful overview of EMI in Europe and how it is developing. By undertaking research into the case of a UAS in Austria it sheds a significant amount of light on how such courses are and should be run.