Outcome-Based Language Teaching in EMI Listening: Balancing Accountability With Ungraded Supports for Low-Proficiency Learners
A three-year reform of an EMI listening course involving 533 low-proficiency STEM students found that graded accountability alone was insufficient. Adding collaborative, voluntary, and reflective ungraded supports coincided with lower failure risk, sustained voluntary engagement, and stronger strategic awareness. Cohort-based reform does not prove that the supports caused the changes.