Students’ academic reading in EMI and assessment for social justice: the case of a university in Nepal through the lens of Honneth’s <i>mutual recognition</i>

Assessment probably plays the most influential role in student learning in higher education. However, only limited research evidence is available in the context of social justice, assessment and English medium instruction (EMI) universities in the low and middle income countries (LMICs), despite the significant continuous growth of EMI resulting from a desire to internationalise and marketise higher education. By adopting an assessment for social justice perspective inspired by Axel Honneth’s mutual (mis)recognition theory, this chapter aims to address this gap. It will therefore examine academic reading and high-stakes English language testing in an EMI university setting in Nepal, an LMIC, and the unique challenges facing students who are studying in a language other than their L1. A sequential mixed-methods approach was employed in order to gather substantive and authentic qualitative data from participants immersed in EMI settings. The data consisted of (1) reading logs (text types & reading load) by 19 students; (2) a survey with 69 students examining their academic reading demands, reading skills and practices, and suitability of TOEFL iBT® for EMI; (3) TOEFL iBT reading test scores from these 69 students; and (4) semi-structured interviews with 15 students. The findings revealed that the participants’ English academic reading proficiency is low, influenced by socioeconomic factors, school backgrounds and existing EMI policy and practices. The English monolingual EMI assessment misrecognises translingual students’ linguistic repertoire which may lead to unintended consequences. The chapter will discuss the findings from an assessment for social justice perspective and conclude with implications for assessment in EMI universities in LMICs.