Exploring EMI students’ attitudes towards translanguaging and English language proficiency threshold across different disciplines

Abstract

The current study explores the discipline-based differences in terms of the relationship between English language proficiency and attitudes towards translanguaging in partial English Medium Instruction (EMI) programmes at a Turkish university. Quantitative data were collected from undergraduates in the Faculty of Engineering (n = 173) and the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences (n = 172). Analyses revealed that English proficiency did not predict students’ general attitudes towards translanguaging and their attitudes towards the use of translanguaging in class in engineering programmes. However, proficiency was a significant predictor of both factors for the social science students. MANOVA results showed that the multivariate effect of proficiency was significant in social science programmes but not in engineering programmes. An apparent proficiency threshold was observed with social science students but not with engineering students, where attitudes towards the use of translanguaging decreased at the B2 proficiency level. The paper discusses the pedagogical implications of the relationship between language proficiency and attitudes towards translanguaging in different disciplines.