Abstract

With pandemic lockdowns restricting movement and contact, we began a podcast series in March 2020 to interview academics with whom we had an interest in speaking. After several months of content, we began to analyze the interviews as a source of qualitative data.

A narrative emerged related to the current state of World Englishes (WE) and English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) courses from several interviews with experts in the field, including Dr. Jennifer Jenkins, Dr. Aya Matsuda, Dr. Nobuyuki Hino, and Dr. Ahmar Mahboob. In this presentation, we introduce our method of investigation and what we have learned about the current state of these academic fields, which includes strong disagreement on the future directions of related research among these and other experts.

We also highlight how this narrative has affected the progress of our project through subsequent interview testimony and commentary. The intent of this project is to learn more about state-of-the-art research in various fields and better understand the backgrounds of the researchers writing the books and articles shaping our modern academic landscape.