A Case Study of Instructors’ Explanations in Online EMI Lectures in China

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to reveal features of instructors’ explanations in online EMI lectures in China. Through a mixed methods case study, the researcher examined the distribution and linguistic realizations of different types of explanations in the lectures of two online EMI courses and how the instructors and students perceived the explanations. The results showed that instructors’ explanations were prevalent in the lectures of both courses with expositions being the most dominant type regardless of subject contents whereas the other explanation types such as comparisons, clarifications, additions, justifications, solutions and generalizations being subject-specific. Moreover, both instructors were capable of using various linguistic devices for different types of explanations despite some linguistic mistakes in explanations. The results also showed that instructors chose particular types of explanations mainly because of the specific teaching aims and methods of the course, and that students were positive about instructors’ use of different types of explanations in the lectures except for the suggestions that one of the instructors’ pronunciation be improved and more visual means be used to aid explanations. The study has implications for future research on enhancing EMI instructors’ explanatory capacity and addressing students’ linguistic discomfort with EMI lectures in a broader sense.