Effects of English Medium Instruction on Developing Executive Functions of Students

The process of globalization made countries undergo the process of implementing educational programmes in English in order to increase their competitive advantage. The Russian Federation is not an exception. English as Medium of Instruction (EMI) is one of the instruments that can help to acquire English in different professional fields and nurture the work force that can promote Russian science, education the international market. Moreover, EMI is effective for fostering executive functions, specifically cognitive skills. This paper is devoted to the research of EMI influence on student's executive functions. The hypothesis of the experiment states that EMI is beneficial for advancing inhibitory control and working memory of a person. We designed two modules for teaching Economics and Information Technologies in English which we are implementing in two university groups. To see the results of the study students are to take pre-tests and post-tests on the level of English proficiency, inhibition, mental flexibility, verbal fluency and working memory. At the end of the experiment we will use a statistical analysis to process the results to find out if the hypothesis of the study is true or false.