Paper abstract:

The globalization and internationalization of higher education have consolidated the spread of English Medium Instruction (EMI) among universities around the globe. Nevertheless, EMI phenomenon is still in its infancy in Central Asian countries. Kazakhstan is one of the active pioneers of EMI among other Central Asian countries. Just in the past decade, higher education institutions (HEIs) in Kazakhstan have launched EMI education following multiple governmental directives, references, initiatives, and policies. EMI, just like most of the reforms and policies in Kazakhstan and in the majority of post-soviet countries, is imposed top-down, and not much is known about how institutions translate policies into practice. Little knowledge exists on institutional readiness for the EMI policy and how HEIs are enacting the policy that is not clearly articulated at the ministry level. However, when inchoate state policy is introduced, institutions, as a rule, may introduce policy, ignoring their capacity and/or enacting it substantially on their interpretation. Thus, policy actors’ interpretation of EMI policy and any (mis)alignment between EMI as policy and the actual experiences deserve rigorous and in-depth investigation. Therefore, the proposed study explores how the national policy of EMI is being interpreted and enacted in two HEIs located in two different regions in Kazakhstan and explored successes and challenges in the enactment of EMI policy. The study employs an interpretive multiple-case study research design to achieve its aim. It uses a conceptual framework that combines the enactment theory, the onion framework, and Language-in-education planning. The use of these frameworks helps understand the enactment process at multiple levels and from the perspectives of a range of policy actors (including university senior leadership, deans, faculty, and students). The views of policy actors were gathered through individual interviews and focus group discussions. The results of the study may be significant for policymakers and university stakeholders in understanding the process of EMI implementation and developing effective strategies to address the challenges encountered in the implementation of EMI. Also, the integrated conceptual framework may lead to our deeper understanding of language policy enactment at universities both in Kazakhstan and other Central Asian countries.