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Research Consultant: English as a Medium of Instruction in Higher Education

The British Council and the Ministry of Higher Education in Tunisia are interested in conducting a scoping exercise to explore the potential of introducing English as a Medium of Instruction at the tertiary level in Tunisia.

Details

• Location : Tunisia
• Duration : 03 January – 21 March 2019
• Closing date : Friday 14 December 2018

Role overview

Project description 

The British Council and the Ministry of Higher Education in Tunisia are interested in conducting a scoping exercise to explore the potential of introducing English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) at the tertiary level in Tunisia.

The work will evaluate the readiness of Tunisian public universities for EMI as well as examine current programmes that are running with EMI and the extent to which it promises a means to increasing the opportunities for social mobility and future economic prosperity.

The outcomes of this investigation will have a practical application and will be of interest to a range of audiences. We anticipate that international donors will be interested in this research.

Role description

The successfully appointed consultant will be responsible for designing the scoping methodology, selecting and or designing the data collection instruments, collecting the data and delivering the final report findings that describe the research process and answer the agreed research questions.

The research will include desk-research as well as field research. It will also require a review of literature. This would include high-level educational policies surrounding EMI, scrutiny of academic debate in the field, participation rates and barriers to participation, the role and relevance of linguistic proficiency in English among teachers and students and the role and relevance of different specialties.

The objectives of the research project are the following:

1. To benchmark teachers’ and students’ levels of English.
2. To identify the strengths and weaknesses of universities’ strategies for improving the standards of teaching English with a focus on the current capacity and possible capability of transitioning to EMI.
3. To set out a proposal for improving strategies towards a transition to EMI.

The research will answer the three following research questions:

1. What is the current English proficiency level of university students as well as English and subject teachers and academics?
2. To what extent does the Higher Education sector currently have the capacity, capability and curriculum to improve standards of teaching English to be able to transition to EMI?
3. What are the initiatives that need to be taken to transition to EMI?