Journal of English-Medium Instruction - Volume 1, Issue 1, 2022

This article presents English-medium instruction (EMI) in higher education (HE) from a language policy and planning (LPP) perspective. Based on a review of EMI policy research in diverse higher education contexts, we address several key contemporary policy tensions in EMI such as English native-speakerism, English monolingualism, and language education with attention to corpus, status and acquisition planning as well as the role of individual policy actors. In light of this review, we argue for an orientation to policymaking for EMI-HE institutions that acknowledges the value of individuals as policy arbiters and aligns institutional goals with “on the ground” needs and practices. We also point to areas of future research that would benefit all EMI stakeholders, in particular critical engagement with the nature of language competence in EMI settings and the enhanced development of evidence-based EMI learning outcomes. Finally, we propose an ecological framework for EMI-HE policy development that could be employed as a heuristic to guide universities in designing concrete EMI policies for their local contexts. As an extension, we also offer an inventory of reflective questions to guide key university stakeholders in effectively engaging in EMI policy processes.

Reflecting the global push for internationalisation, higher education institutions (HEIs) have experienced a surge in English-medium education in multilingual university settings (EMEMUS). Of the many topics and angles pursued in the equally vast research landscape, multilingualism has so far received comparatively less attention, especially when approached from the perspective of students. By combining recent conceptualisations of multilingualism and of EMEMUS, this paper offers a qualified literature review, discussing four research scenarios that foreground different student groups and some of their multilingual experiences and practices. Based on the ROAD‑MAPPING framework, such discussions retain a level of detail that allows for a comprehensive interpretation across scenarios, offering insights into the complexity and fluidity of multilingualism within EMEMUS.

This paper focuses on lecturers’ preparedness to teach EMI courses. Although many higher education institutions worldwide have rushed to jump on the EMI bandwagon, a strikingly low percentage of them have deemed it necessary to organise pre-service or in-service courses to help practitioners tackle this new teaching scenario. As a result, some potential teachers are reluctant to take part in EMI programmes, while some in-service EMI teachers complain because of a feeling of helplessness that arises from what they feel as lack of assistance from their institutions. In this article, after reviewing recent surveys on current practices in the training and accreditation of university teachers in EMI, I will examine what skills EMI teachers consider essential to deliver their classes effectively, whether they believe those can or even should be accredited, and, last but not least, how universities could support EMI teacher preparation. This analysis will allow us to reach EMI stakeholders by sharing research findings with them. Finally, a research agenda for future work on teacher preparedness for EMI will be put forward in an attempt to fill the gaps found in the review of the literature on the topic.

This paper reviews how higher education should rethink the Continuous Professional Development (CPD) of their teaching staff, so that English-Medium Education (EME) is integrated in addressing issues of sustainability (solving problems that threaten humanity and the quality of life). Four focal points are selected: promoting inclusive and equitable quality education; shifting to a transdisciplinary approach; dialogic teaching and learning; and digitalising EME practices. The paper, which draws on research findings, presents an overview of the current contexts of teacher training for EME in Europe, with specific examples of available best practices. This is followed by a vision for future directions to link internationalisation of education and EME to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with a focus on educational development fit for global engagement. The current importance of training EME lecturers for teaching in English is acknowledged, but it is stressed that professional development must evolve to include emerging global teaching and learning competences. The last section is dedicated to practical recommendations for all EME community members.

The role of English language teaching (ELT) in English-medium instruction (EMI) can vary widely depending on education policy objectives and teachers’ responses to EMI students’ language and learning needs. In this paper, we provide a narrative review of a growing number of studies reporting language-related challenges as the foremost barrier to successful implementation of EMI. Such research highlights the fundamental roles that English for Academic Purposes (EAP) and English for Specific Purposes have in the provision of targeted language support for EMI students. Based on this review, we set a future research agenda, calling for explorations into the efficacy of English language programs for supporting EMI students to reach educational outcomes. We also call for explorations of greater collaboration between English language practitioners and content lecturers to ensure the right type of language support is being provided to students. The paper ends with a discussion for the need to reposition EAP as English for Specific Academic Purposes to ensure students’ specific academic needs are met. Essentially, universities offering EMI will need to account for their unique institutional characteristics to ensure ELT provision is central in organizational and curricular structures; otherwise, they may be setting their own students up to fail.

As English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) continues to expand across the globe, there is a glaring absence of research on assessment. This article reviews the scarce literature to date and maps out a research agenda for the future. Drawing on Shohamy’s (2001, 2007) Critical Language Testing and McNamara et al.’s (2019) notions of “fair” and “just” language assessment, our reading of the literature to date is that it has revealed considerable complexities around implementing assessment in EMI contexts, with key questions centring not only on what and who to assess but also on how and why assessment should take place. In outlining a research agenda for the future, we suggest that one way of bypassing such challenges may be to carve out a greater role for assessment for learning in higher education. This could capitalize on – and raise stakeholders’ awareness of – bodies of knowledge that are well established within applied linguistics about the integral role of language in learning. Whilst we acknowledge challenges in securing institutional buy-in for putting this agenda into practice, we suggest that doing so could turn assessment challenges into opportunities and significantly enhance learning not only in EMI contexts but beyond.

Since English-Medium Instruction (EMI) has emerged as an important field of policy and research, there are a multiplicity of issues that are unexamined but need critical attention. This paper features some key scholars of EMI who together highlight contemporary issues of EMI as a field of research and its primary future research agendas moving forward, including appropriate methods of collecting information about EMI. The nine researchers, who represent different geographical contexts (South/East Asia, Africa, Europe, and South America), have offered their views regarding the future research agendas of EMI. Based on the conversations with these researchers, this paper presents eight strands of EMI research agendas that need to be carried on.