English Medium Instruction in Chinese Higher Education: A Systematic Review of the Factors that Influence Quality

Abstract Nowadays, in the higher education sector of mainland China, the rapid expansion of English medium instruction (EMI) is an evident trend, attracting the attention of many scholars. With the proliferation of EMI programs and EMI studies, a concern about how to improve the EMI quality in the practice process has been raised. The aim of this study is to provide EMI stakeholders with a clear and comprehensive understanding of the quality-related issues in EMI courses or programs. This study adopts the systematic review method to synthesize and analyze empirical studies of EMI programs in China, both in English and Chinese from January 2001 to January 2025. To identify the relevant literature, the author searches three English databases, Scopus, Web of Science Core Collection, ProQuest Education Database, and one Chinese database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI). After topic word search, quality check, and two rounds of screening to ensure titles, abstract and full text of the articles satisfy the inclusion criteria, 17 English articles and 20 Chinese articles remain. Then, through thematic analysis, this study identifies eight factors influencing EMI quality. The author discusses how these factors impact EMI quality and suggests what can be done to enhance EMI quality. This review is concluded by situating this study’s contributions to EMI research literature on a global scale and within mainland China. Implications for future EMI research directions are presented, and recommendations for possible EMI quality research methodologies are made.