English Medium Instruction (EMI), Challenges, and Coping Strategies: Stances of Dalit Students and Teaches in Institutes of HE in India

Using English as the exclusive medium of higher education (HE) creates disparities between students who know English and those who do not, leading to unequal access to knowledge, resources, and opportunities. Learning through English medium instruction is a pervasive problem for Dalit students whose English is generally considered poor due to poor schooling. The objective of this study is to explore the attitudes of Dalit students and teachers towards EMI at institutes of HE in Tamil Nadu. While doing so, this study also attempts to understand their desires, struggles, coping strategies, disappointments, and successes concerning EMI at HE. The findings are based on an analysis of a questionnaire survey completed by 57 research students and 25 teacher interviews. Findings show that English is the preferred medium of HE, especially for accessing knowledge, resources, and educational and employment opportunities globally. However, they also view the use of their mother tongue as a strategic tool to mitigate Dalit Students’ dual challenge: a) mastering content and b) managing EMI in HE. The findings of this study recommend that teachers and other stakeholders of HE reconsider equity, linguistic justice, and democratisation of choice of MI and adopt linguistically and culturally responsive pedagogies that recognise and empower Dalit students.