TY - JOUR
T1 - Exploring Chinese EMI lecturers’ pedagogical engagement through the lens of culturally informed positive psychology
T2 - an intervention study
AU - Ma, Yue
AU - Han, Jinghe
AU - Smith, Scott
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Authors
PY - 2024/10
Y1 - 2024/10
N2 - This research is situated in the context of English Medium Instruction (EMI) teaching in higher education. The importance of lecturers' skilled implementation of engagement strategies to enhance students' learning is acknowledged. However, literature identifies a need for theoretically informed professional development (PD) programs to improve EMI lecturers' pedagogical engagement. In light of the identified concerns and issues, an intervention, drawing on a pedagogical engagement framework informed by positive psychology, was implemented and reported in this paper. The intention of the study was to contribute to the development of Chinese EMI lecturers' engagement portfolios. A group of twenty-five EMI lecturers in a South China university participated in the study. Through analysing their pre- and post-intervention teaching data and a focus group discussion, it was found that the quality of their cognitive engagement, and the quality of their emotional and behavioral engagement episodes in practice were noticeably improved. It can be concluded that an intensive intervention through a theoretically informed engagement framework contributes to EMI lecturers' pedagogical commitment to students' cognitive learning, and psychological investment in learners’ well-being. However, cultural and institutional factors somewhat constrained the participants from fully embracing the workshops, impacting their perception and post-intervention practice.
AB - This research is situated in the context of English Medium Instruction (EMI) teaching in higher education. The importance of lecturers' skilled implementation of engagement strategies to enhance students' learning is acknowledged. However, literature identifies a need for theoretically informed professional development (PD) programs to improve EMI lecturers' pedagogical engagement. In light of the identified concerns and issues, an intervention, drawing on a pedagogical engagement framework informed by positive psychology, was implemented and reported in this paper. The intention of the study was to contribute to the development of Chinese EMI lecturers' engagement portfolios. A group of twenty-five EMI lecturers in a South China university participated in the study. Through analysing their pre- and post-intervention teaching data and a focus group discussion, it was found that the quality of their cognitive engagement, and the quality of their emotional and behavioral engagement episodes in practice were noticeably improved. It can be concluded that an intensive intervention through a theoretically informed engagement framework contributes to EMI lecturers' pedagogical commitment to students' cognitive learning, and psychological investment in learners’ well-being. However, cultural and institutional factors somewhat constrained the participants from fully embracing the workshops, impacting their perception and post-intervention practice.
KW - Engagement
KW - Intervention
KW - Pedagogical engagement
KW - PERMA
KW - Positive psychology
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85201890489&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.system.2024.103444
DO - 10.1016/j.system.2024.103444
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85201890489
SN - 0346-251X
VL - 125
JO - System
JF - System
M1 - 103444
ER -