An Investigation on classroom discourse in EMI courses in Turkish higher education

This study mainly investigated what kind of scaffolding practices EMI instructors used and how these scaffolding practices had an impact on classroom interaction in English Medium Instruction (EMI) courses in a university setting. It also explored the perspectives of both students and instructors regarding scaffolding practices and classroom interaction. The research combined observational data through classroom video recordings, quantitative data through student questionnaires and qualitative data through focus group discussions with students and interviews with instructors. The findings showed that instructors employed different types of scaffolding during different instructional phases: warm-up to topics, transitioning to the main topic, helping students understand, assessment and guiding. The study also classified three levels of interaction in the classroom after the impact of scaffolding practices. In the questionnaire with students and interviews with students and instructors, the participants also recognized the importance of scaffoldings and classroom interaction in EMI courses and offered practical suggestions for improving classroom interaction. Additionally, a framework was designed to analyze scaffolding techniques, which could help EMI researchers utilize the same design for their studies and help EMI instructors create more interactive and supportive learning environments for their students. As a result, this study suggests that although scaffolding practices vary in class, effective scaffolding practices can impact classroom interaction.