Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Journal of English-Medium Instruction, cilt.4, sa.1, ss.74-98, 2025 (Scopus)
English-medium instruction (EMI) continues to grow in prominence in higher education because of its various advantages for stakeholders regarding improved job prospects, access to current literature, and the internationalisation of universities. Home to a few of the very first EMI higher education institutions (HEIs) worldwide, Türkiye continues to follow this trend. However, despite numerous benefits of EMI in today’s globalised world, certain subject areas surprisingly lack any EMI programmes. Approximately 69.1% of all undergraduate programmes are taught in Turkish-medium instruction, while the majority of the remaining programmes are taught in English. This study aims to establish the reasons why Turkish remains the medium of instruction (MoI) in some subjects. The investigation was conducted using an interdisciplinary approach that incorporates (1) the human capital theory of socioeconomics and (2) the linguistic protectionism of sociolinguistics. In semi-structured interviews, administrative stakeholders indicated that one reason for the lack of interest in pursuing an EMI programme in their subjects is low demand for EMI graduates in particular sectors. The paper also discusses the implications of adopting theories from other fields for EMI. Hence, linguistic protectionism, which accounts for an ideological and political wish to protect Turkish as MoI in this study, was also investigated.