Dialogue 2: The Role of English in Higher Education: Issues, Policy and Practice

Segovia, Spain,
18-20 November 2013

British Council Regional

Policy Dialogue 2:

The Role of
English in Higher
Education:
Issues, Policy
and Practice

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 Dialogue 2: The Role of English in Higher Education: Issues, Policy and Practice

EMI within a Global Context

– Towards a British Council
Perspective
John Knagg

Introduction: The British Council, moved to teaching English at primary level in droves
English and EMI. over the last two decades.

The charitable objectives and core mission of The It is in this context that we see a surge of interest and
British Council are laid down in its Royal Charter. One activity in the area of English-medium instruction (EMI)
explicit objective is to develop a wider knowledge around the world. To be clear, I am referring to the use
of the English language. Another is to promote the of the English language in education systems at all
advancement of education. The global social context levels (early years, primary, secondary, tertiary, adult)
in which we develop a wider knowledge of English has to teach and learn other subjects such as mathematics,
changed dramatically in the 80 years since the British science and history in a context where the majority of
Council was founded. In the 1930s, English, while in learners (and teachers) are not first-language English
widespread use around the world, was by no means the speakers. I will not attempt a more sophisticated
global lingua franca that it has become. Belonging to the definition here. What I am clearly not talking about
traditional English-speaking countries, English was on a when I refer to EMI is the traditional teaching of English,
much more equal footing globally with other European especially English as a foreign language, as a subject
languages like French and German. It was in part a on the school or university timetable. While there is
symbol in a wider ideological battle in Europe which some blurring of the boundaries between EMI and
culminated in the Second World War. When the British ‘English as a subject’, the distinction is clear in most
Council started teaching English in those early years in contexts, yet the discourse and debate around EMI is
countries such as Egypt and Portugal, the language was littered with confusion between these two concepts.
seen in quite different terms from today – certainly with While seemingly easy to distinguish the two (EMI and
strong socio-political connotations, but not as the basic ‘English as a subject’), they surprisingly often confuse
skill necessary for functioning internationally, sometimes educational debates, especially when those debates
nationally, in a wide range of domains, which it has now take on a political element and are played out in the
become. While the ideological battles involving the media, as we can see in various contexts recently.
English language have changed since the 1930s, they
have by no means disappeared. This particular paper is written following a conference
on one particular element of the EMI wave, namely the
It can be argued that English no longer needs to be growth in EMI in European universities in non-English
promoted. It has acquired a force of its own across the speaking countries. It might seem natural to think that
world, with over one billion people learning English and the British Council, with its well-known objective of
over two billion either learning or knowing the language developing a wider knowledge of English, would be
to some extent. I cannot think of a national education almost unconditionally in favour of EMI. I will argue that
system which does not teach English at secondary this is in fact far from being a sensible position, and is
school level, and national education systems have not the position that we should take or do take.

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 Dialogue 2: The Role of English in Higher Education: Issues, Policy and Practice

Three Fallacies in EMI yet?”. EMI is not even a single continuum but more
likely a number of continua. At institutional level, some
To move towards our position on EMI, I will first address faculties, departments within faculties, courses within
three issues, which complicate or cloud the debate. departments, and modules within courses may contain
I will present each issue in the form of a fallacy or some elements of EMI. At course level, some (often not
perhaps a misunderstanding of what EMI is – with a nod all) elements of a course might be wholly or partially
to Phillipson’s use of fallacies in building his Linguistic EMI, and those elements might be on an optional or
Imperialism hypotheses (Phillipson, 1992). compulsory basis for the learner. By elements here I
mean, for example, the spoken interaction in lectures,
The Monolithic Fallacy tutorials, and study groups, the reading list, acceptable
language of written assignments, and the language of
The first fallacy is that EMI is monolithic - there is just examination and assessment (oral and written). The
one type. This fallacy is generated by the (imagined) interplay between different levels and elements of EMI,
individual who sees, researches, understands one along with issues of optionality and obligation, lead us
particular EMI context, and then transfers that context to see EMI as a much more nuanced concept.
to other contexts inappropriately. It is difficult to adopt
a generic policy approach to EMI without considering The ‘Policy is Practice’ Fallacy
the specific situation. Consider the widely differing
characteristics of the following EMI contexts to The third fallacy is that EMI policy in a given context
appreciate a flavour of the diversity of EMI. is the same as EMI practice in that context. We notice
a tendency to assume that if a national or institutional
 UK university campus in Malaysia - a course led by
A authority states that a certain context is EMI in policy
a British academic; statements and publicity material, then that is actually
the case. This equation of policy and practice is
 university course in Scandinavia. Local students
A
far from reality. A senior educationalist’s personal
have selected the EMI track;
story to me exemplifies this. Working in a prestigious
 nother university in Scandinavia – the medium of
A university in a South Asian city, he walked the corridors,
instruction changes to English due to the presence of listening to teaching of many subjects going on. The
foreign exchange students; language of the lecturers and students had one thing
A university in “anglophone” Africa, or in India; in common – they were all speaking the dominant local
language, which is universally spoken and understood
 rural primary school in Africa - children share a
A
by the university community. He recommended to
common language;
the university’s senior management that there should
 secondary school in an African city - children have
A be a university language policy. The response of the
many language backgrounds; university managers was that there indeed was a clear
university language policy – this was an EMI situation
 course for refugees from a middle-eastern country
A
and the teaching and learning in class should take
in UK;
place and indeed did take place in English. There are
 well-resourced public school in Spain – curriculum
A two elements to the mismatch here. Firstly the practice
is part EMI, part Spanish. was not at all in line with the policy. Secondly the
policy-makers had not recognised that the practice
The On-Off Fallacy was not in line with the policy, though it was a simple
issue to verify that it was not. Pride in the university’s
The second fallacy is that education is either EMI EMI policy seems comparable to Andersen’s fairytale
or not-EMI, that EMI is an on-off switch, a black and of “The Emperor’s New Clothes”. The books in the
white concept. This fallacy is perpetuated in questions university library were indeed predominantly in English.
along the lines of “Has (that institution) gone EMI Around the world, and across educational sectors, we

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 Dialogue 2: The Role of English in Higher Education: Issues, Policy and Practice

see examples of top-down imposed EMI policies leading students from foreign-language backgrounds who might
to a variety of practices as teachers struggle to balance travel inwards.
the requirement to implement EMI with their natural
drive to give learners the best educational outcomes, Stakeholders in the EMI debate will presumably have
and often with their own linguistic capabilities. The most a common aim of maximising learning outcomes in
obvious manifestation of this is the practice of teacher any given context. It would seem uncontroversial to
and learner code-switching (or translanguaging) in state that learners will learn better if they have a good
which more than one language is used in interactions command of the language of instruction (whether
in an effort to efficiently impart skills, knowledge and referring to speaking, listening, reading or writing
attitudes. It seems clear that such classroom code- skills) and many of us with advanced level skills in
switching, often viewed negatively, can be a powerful foreign languages are still aware that we can learn
educational technique when properly used. more effectively and efficiently through the use of
a first language. Here clearly lies the biggest risk in
In developing a position on EMI then, we need to be EMI. Inappropriate introduction can lead to diminished
looking at a world of EMI in which there are many educational outcomes if either learners or teachers do
different practices in different contexts, with a complex not have a sufficiently advanced command of English.
situation within each of those contexts, where what is
actually happening may well be quite different from A good deal of research has taken place in the area of
what we are told is happening. the impact of learning in a second language, particularly
in the African EMI context at primary level. As early as
1953, UNESO made the statement, “On educational
The Case of HE in Europe, and Lessons grounds we recommend that the use of the mother
from Elsewhere. tongue be extended to as late a stage in education as
possible” (UNESCO Vernacular Languages in Education
I now turn to the particular phenomenon of the dramatic 1953). A separate issue is the required level of English of
increase in EMI in Higher Education in Europe and Asia teachers. Haryanto (2013) shows an example at school
over the last decade or so, with an apparent significant level in Indonesia, “teachers could not fully use English
acceleration in the last two to three years. Coleman as medium of instruction because they may not be
wrote in 2006 of the drivers for the growth in EMI proficient in the language.”
already discerned – “a rainbow of motives ranges from
the ethical and pedagogical through the pragmatic to The debate in EMI often revolves around the relative
the commercial. Foreign language learning in itself is rights of stakeholders. These stakeholders with rights
NOT the reason why institutions adopt English medium obviously include the learners (whose rights might
teaching”. Noticeable in this quote is the correct conflict with each other, for example the case of a
assumption that it is institutions rather than higher level local and an exchange student), the teachers, the local
systems that are making the policy decisions in the language community more widely, the university’s right
direction of EMI. In general terms it would appear true to make policies in support of its underlying mission,
and uncontroversial to say that the move to EMI in this and indeed the right of a national government to seek
sector is largely as a result of two factors. These are economically competitive education policies and to
firstly the increasing dominance of English as a global legislate to protect one or more national languages. We
and European lingua franca in an ever larger number of should consider those who wish to retain the right to
domains, and secondly the growth in mobility, especially interact within their domains in languages that are not
student and staff mobility in Higher Education. In Europe English, as well as those who strive to master the English
this is commonly largely attributed to the standardisation needed to operate in the many domains that require it.
of European HE systems through the Bologna process. If access to education is in any sense a right, and that
EMI is then often seen by institutions as a benefit both includes access to an education of quality, then access
to local students who might travel outwards and to in a language that is understood by the learner must be

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 Dialogue 2: The Role of English in Higher Education: Issues, Policy and Practice

fundamental. This language rights issue is not limited to Towards a British Council Perspective
education, but applies to other domains such as access
to health services and to public information. It is against this background that we seek to find a
The issue of conflicting rights in an EMI situation led to reasonable starting position on this still emerging
a court case in Italy in 2013, which the language rights phenomenon in all its complexity. My developing credo
lawyer Rosemary Salomone addresses: on EMI for the 2013 Segovia EMI conference contains
the following points:

“In zeroing in on the language question, the court EMI is neither a positive nor a negative move in itself;
opened the discussion to the nature of language
 s an agency active in international education and
A
learning, the role of language in the university
English, British Council will support organisations and
classroom and the potential effect on instructional
individuals to develop and implement appropriate
quality. Mere proficiency in a language, the court
policies in EMI;
noted, does not necessarily imply competency
to teach effectively in the language. Teaching EMI should improve or maintain learning outcomes;
in a university calls for the ability to formulate  ny EMI policy should take account of the rights and
A
and explain complex concepts at a high level of needs of all stakeholders;
abstraction. While many professors may publish
 MI policy should be explicit in terms of learner and
E
in English, especially in the sciences, and may
teacher choices in each element;
be familiar with the technical terms of their
disciplines, they are not necessarily equipped to  move towards EMI will probably require extra
A
convey fluid thoughts in an academic lecture or support for teachers;
in an unscripted class discussion. Of course, that
 MI requires learners and students with high English
E
does not mean that such skills cannot be acquired
proficiency;
with time, practice and exposure”.
(The rise of English in academe – A cautionary  move towards EMI requires careful preparation of
A
tale. Rosemary Salomone, University World News, learners;
20 July 2013) EMI will change standards of acceptability in English.

Perhaps time will tell whether EMI is an inevitable

Moving from social to the linguistic issues, we should consequence of internationalisation whose benefits
also be aware that an increase in EMI is certain to outweigh some undoubted costs. Meanwhile we
have an effect on accepted forms of English usage should strive to make sensible decisions in individual
as the population of judges of such acceptability is contexts based on sound educational principles. While
widened substantially beyond the traditional group of the current paper is a personal view, I would say that
native-speaker knowers, to a much wider group of non- the British Council position on EMI in general is by
native speaking teachers of content subjects. Those no means as clear as it is on many high-level issues. I
teachers, unconstrained by native-speaker notions of cannot think of any colleagues who would disagree with
correctness, will accept different ways of expressing a positive answer to the following questions:
in English. The new forms will become codified and
widely accepted. This is a natural process of language Do we believe in the right of everyone to access high-
evolution. English, like other languages, does have the quality education? Yes.
capacity for substantial simplification without significant
loss of meaning. Do we believe that language rights form an important
subset of human rights? Yes.

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 Dialogue 2: The Role of English in Higher Education: Issues, Policy and Practice

Do we believe in the benefits of knowing more than one the perceptions of learners and teachers, as well as
language and of multilingualism in general? Yes. more analytical work on the effect of EMI on learning
outcomes and the distillation and dissemination of best
In the more specific case of EMI, things are not so clear- EMI practice.
cut. We can see that EMI has the potential for damage
as well as undoubtedly for benefit. We certainly believe Do we believe in English-medium instruction?
that this is an under-researched issue that needs more Sometimes.
descriptive work on what is actually happening and

References and Further Reading

Andersen, H.C. The Emperor’s New Clothes. The Hans Christian Andersen Centre.
http://www.andersen.sdu.dk/vaerk/hersholt/TheEmperorsNewClothes_e.html - accessed February 2014.

Coleman, J.A. (2006) English-medium teaching in European higher education. Language Teaching 39/1:
pp 1-14.

Doiz, A. Lasagabaster, D. Sierra, J.M. (Ed.) (2013) English-Medium Instruction at Universities. Bristol,
Multilingual Matters.

Fortanet-Gomez, I. (2013) CLIL in Higher Education. Bristol, Multilingual Matters.

Haryanto, E. (2013) Language policy: administrators and teachers’ view on English as medium of
instruction implementation in Indonesia. Journal of Education and Practice 4/2.

Jenkins, J. (2014) English as a Lingua Franca in the International University. London, Routledge.

Knagg, J. The Changing Role of English and ELT in a Modern, Multilingual, and Internationalised HE world.
British Council – Going Global 2013 proceedings (forthcoming).

Phillipson, R. (1992) Linguistic Imperialism. Oxford, Oxford University Press.

Preisler, B. Klitgard, and I. Fabricius, A.H. (2011) Language and Learning in the International University: From
English Uniformity to Diversity and Hybridity. Bristol, Multilingual Matters.

Van der Walt, C. (2013) Multilingual Higher Education: Beyond English Medium Orientations. Bristol,
Multilingual Matters.

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 Dialogue 2: The Role of English in Higher Education: Issues, Policy and Practice

Defining and Researching

English Medium of
Instruction: The Need for
Clear Thinking and a Clear
Research Agenda
Ernesto Macaro

What is “English Medium Instruction” (EMI) and in what geopolitical factors have determined that such a subject
way is it different from other terms which are used (in non-Anglophone countries) should be taught through
to describe a relationship between a subject being the medium of English rather than in the majority
learned and the language through which it is learned? language of the country in which the programme is
These are crucial questions which I believe underpin taking place.
any discussion about the value of EMI and need to be
considered in any research into EMI. “Content and Language Integrated Learning” (CLIL),
“Content- based language teaching” (CBLT) and
We therefore can begin by asking, is the notion and “Immersion”, we could argue, should go somewhere
practice of EMI fixed or is it fluid? If it is fixed, then who in the middle of the continuum because they aim to
has fixed it? If it is fluid, who is involved in shaping the promote both knowledge and understanding of a
course of its trajectory? subject and improved language skills. Indeed CLIL has
this dual aim embedded in its title.
If we take the view of EMI as fixed notion and practice
then we can go about comparing it to other related Then we have “English for Special Purposes” (ESP) and
notions and practices. For example we could place it “English for Academic Purposes” (EAP). Where to place
somewhere on a continuum which would be based on these on the continuum? Well, on the one hand, as in
the educational aims of the teacher and the learners. Figure 1a, we can posit that the main aim of any ESP
(See Figure 1) So at one end of that continuum we or EAP course is to improve the students’ mastery of
could place “General English” or “English Language the English language but focusing on a very specific
Teaching” (ELT). This is where the subject being learned register and lexical set. Therefore we would place
is the English language itself, the orientation of that it on the language-dominant aim of the continuum.
subject is communication using the four skills, and its On the other hand we could argue, as in Figure 1b,
content is vocabulary, morphology, syntax and so on. Of that the aims of these courses are so geared to the
course there is still a debate about whether ELT should acquisition of subject content or the ability to operate
be taught through the medium of English but that does in such a specific ‘language use’ situation, that they
not concern us here today. should be placed nearer the content-dominant aim of
the continuum. We need not take this further for now,
At the other end of the continuum we could put EMI. but I mention it just to raise the question in our minds
We could say that EMI’s overarching aim is to promote that fixing educational notions and practices can be
knowledge and understanding of an academic subject problematic.
such as physics or economics, and that historical and

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 Dialogue 2: The Role of English in Higher Education: Issues, Policy and Practice

The comparison approach

figure 1a

Another way to start thinking about and defining EMI is

Figure 1a. The comparasion approach
to say that it is in a state of fluidity and that over time
it will go through a process of evolution. That process
EMI CBLT Immersion CLIL EAP ESP ELT
of evolution, in my view, should be research evidence-
informed. The research should be gathered from groups
The comparison approach
Content-dominant aims Language-dominant aims
of stakeholders and end-users of EMI.
figure 1b
The first group of these is university faculty and
secondary school teachers (see Figure 2). Clearly being
Figure 1b. The comparasion approach
able to adopt EMI in tertiary education will have a knock-
on effect on how and why English is taught in secondary
EMI EAP ESP CBLT Immersion CLIL ELT
education. Whilst I don’t believe that any individual
Content-dominant aims Language-dominant aims phase of education should be beholden to the phase
further up, there nonetheless needs to be a dialogue
between them.

End-user driven approach

Figure 2. End-user driven approach
figure 2
English Medium Instruction

Evolution

University students
University faculty
Policy makers
School students
Secondary school teachers Employers
Parents

RESEARCH EVIDENCE

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 Dialogue 2: The Role of English in Higher Education: Issues, Policy and Practice

The second group of stakeholders and end-users of about the nature of authenticity in language learning.
EMI are students (both secondary and tertiary) and In being able to understand an academic lesson we
parents. It seems to me that their attitudes towards, and have an indisputable authenticity – or so the argument
understandings of the notion and practice of EMI need might go.
to be explored and taken into account. What are their
views of the costs and benefits of an EMI programme The following could be described as being about
approach? bringing benefits to the institution adopting the EMI
programme:
The third group is made up of policymakers and
employers. We often hear from policymakers that  o internationalise universities. By offering courses
T
language skills are essential for the workplace, but the through the medium of English the institution will
evidence that languages are then used by all employees attract students from all over the world thereby
is less strong and so a discussion needs to be had bringing both revenue and prestige to it;
about whether all students should be learning academic
 way of forcing change in Higher Education
A
subjects through EMI and, indeed, which subjects.
pedagogy. If it can be demonstrated that EMI
requires (among other things) much greater levels of
I am of course coming down on the side of the
interactivity, EMI will bring about a desirable change in
“evolutionary approach” to EMI rather than the fixed
the way that programmes are taught.
notion and definition of what it is, and I do so primarily
because of what motivation theory tells us. Goals which A different and more general aim might be a new
are arrived at by consensus are pursued with much multilingual and multicultural tool for developing
greater motivation than goals which are imposed on intercultural communication. In other words EMI might
us. So let us think briefly of what might be the goals or be adopted because by bringing different languages
the aims of adopting EMI. The following are aims which and cultures together, a greater ideal might be achieved
could be described as having potential benefits to the perhaps in terms of world peace and understanding.
students of the country adopting the EMI programme:
All the above could be perfectly laudable aims, but
 o facilitate learning of academic subjects by home
T are they shared by all the participants in the process?
students. The argument could be that much academic Research is clearly needed so that major mistakes are
content is written in English and therefore students not committed. So what kind of research questions
will find it easier if the teaching is done through might we want to ask? Here are just some of the
English; questions that we are beginning to investigate at Oxford:

 way of ensuring that home students can compete

A  hat is the current and predicted uptake of EMI
W
in a world market by enhancing their global globally?
employability in specific areas;
 hat are the different forms of EMI currently being
W
 o improve the English language capacity of the home
T developed?
country in general;
Is the learning of academic subjects improved by EMI?
 MI could be seen as a more cost-effective way of
E If so by which groups of students?
doing this than ELT/EFL;
 hat programmes related to EMI are being introduced
W
 MI as a more authentic way to learn a language. The
E in Initial Teacher Education, Professional Development
ELT/EFL community has been arguing for decades and is EMI reflected in Materials Development?

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 Dialogue 2: The Role of English in Higher Education: Issues, Policy and Practice

This is research evidence which needs to be established, carried out by Rima Dapous and Anne Wiseman
the current global landscape if you like, so that we do of the British Council in eight European countries
not jump to conclusions about what “everyone else suggests that: some two thirds of teachers felt there
is doing” and making assumptions that “what they are was no requirement to have a certain level of English
doing is right and at the right time”. The next set of competence/qualification to teach EMI; that, on the
research questions concerns how to deliver quality on other hand, the vast majority believed there was a need
EMI courses: to improve their English but only half of the institutions
surveyed were offering any help with improving their
 hat levels of English competence enable EMI
W English; that a very clear majority favoured a discipline-
teachers to provide quality instruction? specific English-upgrade course; that more than half of
respondents wanted accreditation, preferably from a
 hat are the implications for secondary education
W
UK institution.
resulting from EMI in tertiary education?
 o what extent do language assessment systems need
T With regard to drilling deep into the pedagogy of the
to change (for teachers and students)? classroom or lecture theatre, some research has also
 hat are the most sustainable mechanisms of teacher
W already been carried out, but before outlining some of
education and development beyond the immediate this research we should consider what is involved in
period of engagement on a course? the interaction of an EMI classroom. In my view there
is not a huge difference in what is involved compared
And then there are a set of research questions which to the interaction in a ELT/EFL classroom, except to
drill deeply inside the pedagogy of the classroom or say that in an EMI classroom the interaction is almost
lecture theatre: exclusively message-oriented, rather than the medium-
oriented interaction (i.e. about the language) which
 ow does classroom interaction change as the
H quite often characterises the ELT/EFL classroom. The
medium of instruction changes? EMI teacher is in the business of putting across ideas
 hat are the psycholinguistic representations in the
W and concepts and they do this by trying to explain these
mental lexicon of abstract concepts encountered in through language. Thus all the theories and constructs
academic subjects through EMI? that pertain to communicative ELT also pertain to EMI:
input modification, modified interaction, pushed output,
 o abstract concepts result in restructuring of the
D
teacher feedback, learner feedback/confirmation of
bilingual lexicon?
understanding, codeswitching, etc. There are some
 hat strategies are used by learners in EMI
W differences with ELT but essentially the task of putting
classrooms in oral and written comprehension tasks? across meaning is the same.

 hat are the psycholinguistic and sociolinguistic

W
One of the differences is that in the EMI classroom we
effects on students’ L1 resulting from EMI used in
have three registers for the learner (and the teacher) to
various phases of education?
have to contend with. There is the technical language
I think these questions need to be asked and the which is specific to that discipline (“electrode”, “voltage”,
research carried out as EMI programmes are being “zinc sulphate”). There is the more general academic
adopted. Of course we cannot stop the “phenomenon vocabulary and “ways of talking” (“factual recall”,
of EMI”, and I would not necessarily want to, but I think “describe”, “calculate”, “solution”, [plus] “discourse
some measure of reflection is needed and the pace of markers” and “conventions”). Then there is what we
introduction needs to be thought about. might call the “vernacular” or “everyday colloquial
English” (just some stuff; you stick it in something; you
With regard to the “landscape” in Europe we do have end up with). It is likely that the technical language
some tentative initial research evidence. A survey will not cause too many problems; it may be easily

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 Dialogue 2: The Role of English in Higher Education: Issues, Policy and Practice

memorised and subsequently recalled. The general

academic vocabulary may pose difficulties. Consider
the word “solution” as used in chemistry and how its
meaning differs from “solution” used in mathematics
and “solution” used in international politics. This
difficulty posed by the different “senses” of “solution”
is compounded by the respective equivalents in the
learners’ first language. For example each sense
of “solution” in English is rendered in Chinese by a
different set of morphemes/characters. Then there is
the difficulty encountered by students with vernacular/
colloquial English, with its metaphors, its collocations
and its phrasal verbs.

EMI teachers will need to undertake their explanations

of concepts using many linguistic resources
among which we could list: Definition, Paraphrase,
Circumlocution, Exposition, Contextualization, Synonym/
Antonym and Hierarchical Exemplification. This will
need considerable amounts of teacher professional
development and language update in some cases.

One piece of research that I have been involved

in which would suggest this need for professional
development was in collaboration with Dr Yuen Yi Lo
now at the University of Hong Kong (Lo and Macaro,
2012). We found that in those academic subjects that audience to request clarification. All these aspects of
switched to EMI at grade 10 (from Cantonese in Grade classroom/lecture room discourse, previous research
9) the proportion of teacher talk increased significantly suggests, contribute to interactivity and hence to
while the percentage of student talk decreased. The better comprehension. What this study implies is that
mean length of teacher turns rose significantly. The non-native speaker teachers may need these kinds
“richness” of student responses deteriorated and of linguistic resources in order to communicate more
basically lessons became less interactive and more in effectively and that merely relying on reducing the
the “transmission mode”. complexity or lexical range of one’s language is not
going to be enough.
Another interesting study carried out by Tatsiana Senina
at the University of Oxford (Master’s Dissertation) used One issue that will remain on the research agenda for
50 public lectures given by both native speakers of EMI is what the role of the first language (the L1) is in
English and non-native speakers. What Tatsiana found delivering subject content. Of course the easy answer
was that non-native speakers used far fewer discourse is to say “ban the L1 and, in any case, with mixed L1
markers, referential questions, display questions, survey classes the lingua franca has to be English and English
questions, checkpoint questions, and rarely had an only”. However in banning the L1, I would argue, we
“informal question time” for the audience. She also found may be depriving teachers and learners of a very
in non-native speaker lectures less use of the pronoun important tool in their toolbox. And if there are mixed
”we” (which brings the audience into a discussion L1 classes, research may be able to show creative ways
frame) and fewer opportunities for the members of the of using some L1 to help everyone understand. Let us

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 Dialogue 2: The Role of English in Higher Education: Issues, Policy and Practice

not forget that the goal of language learning (and some We asked whether teaching through English was a
would argue of EMI) is to create bilinguals, not English stated policy of their university:
monolinguals. So there does need to be a principled
exploration of the role of the L1 in the EMI classroom. ■■ .....there are not enough courses taught in English. In
my case we do have incoming students but they end
I would now like to do a bit more shameless publicity for up being taught individually as the main course is
the research that we are doing at Oxford on EMI. Firstly, taught in German (A)
we have embarked, in collaboration with John Knagg
from the British Council, on a 60-country survey of the ■■ (We’re) trying to convince the rector/principal to offer
extent to which EMI is being introduced globally, and in more courses in English, we have to pull the wagon.
all phases of education. We want to know who is setting There is a strategy paper, internationalisation is a big
the policy, what the policy is and the extent to which goal and EMI is part of that (A)
there is adequate preparation for its introduction. We
■■ There isn’t a comprehensive policy - more a general
will follow this up with a phase 2 involving more in-depth
trend, not set in stone. It’s a new thing (I)
analysis of a smaller number of countries.

■■ One opinion is not to use Italian at all, so it becomes

We have also begun to carry out a series of semi-
quite complex for all the liberal professions that
structured interviews in universities in Europe where
should use Italian, for example medical doctor (I)
EMI is being introduced. We have so far 20 interviews
with academic subject teachers from Austria, Italy, and ■■ There is. The policy is exchange of students Erasmus,
Poland. We would like to collect many more of these Erasmus mundus (P).
interviews. So I will end my talk by letting others do the
talking. Here are some of the things that the teachers We asked whether they thought that the learning of
said in response to a question about why we might have academic content would be affected:
EMI in the first place and what they might be trying to
achieve by teaching in English: ■■ I have noticed that if I teach in English I give them
half of what I give them in Polish because I go slowly.
■■ To be more international…not only lecturer but also I don’t know if it’s worse, perhaps it’s even better
students (A) because I throw away things perhaps that are not so
important. It’s even better to say less but to explain
■■ Give the same opportunity to my students as I had more (P)
(she studied abroad) (A)
■■ I’m afraid so, from the point of view of the teacher I’m
■■  e’re linguistically an isolated country. I’m used to
W not able to tell them every single detail as I run out of
delivering talks to everybody who knows the subject words, it takes us longer to teach to understand (A)
but in a classroom it’s very different, especially here
because Italians are really, really bad with languages. ■■ in Maths you are saved by the formula, and the
..So I wanted to prove myself but it’s been quite tiring (I) formula is true or false in any language (I)

■■ I think there is an advantage teaching science in ■■ not in science. It’s probably easier because the
English because it’s the official language (I) number of words you have to use in English is
lower (I).
■■ I think our country is interesting for them [foreign
students], I ask them this question, they say because We asked whether students’ English would improve
of the position of ‘XXXX’ University which is the best through the introduction of EMI:
in Poland, but also because they would like to travel
around Europe (P).

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 Dialogue 2: The Role of English in Higher Education: Issues, Policy and Practice

■■  rrr I don’t think so, I’m not going to improve (their)

E We asked what level of English students need before
English. I’m going to transfer basic knowledge, try to they do EMI courses:
communicate in a correct way but I’m not going to
correct or teach them English!(P) ■■ Intermediate just to communicate. They don’t need to
use special terms, I can teach them (P)
■■  es because they are forced to communicate with me
Y
in English and forced to think in English (P) ■■ The university can support … I know there are English
courses for the students but I think it’s up to them (P)
■■ For sure yes, they will be exposed to more input,
relevant input (I) ■■ University-policy-wise, A2. I think it’s not enough they
should be B1 at least (A)
■■ I hope so, when I do a written exam, and it’s
sometimes very difficult to correct these tests ■■ I think they have to be able to listen ... to follow me
because I’m not going to correct the English …. this is to understand my words and my thoughts . They
not my duty (I) don’t have to be very good in written English just for
following my course (A)
■■ I’m not interested in their English, I’m interested in
their comprehension of micro-biogenetics (I) ■■ There is a wide variety. My class was 90% Italian
students and class with the exception of 2 or 3
■■ Probably not the level of spoken English, but give students the level was very low but it was even lower
them more confidence, understand more when for foreign students…from Africa and their language
reading (A). was an African language and French so in English they
didn’t feel at ease at all (I).
We asked what level of English the teacher needs to
teach in EMI: And we asked how the students get to the level of
English before they come to university:
■■ it’s not necessary that the teacher needs a higher
level than the students (A) ■■ 9 years English at school and if you have good
teachers it should be sufficient (A)
■■ Good question.. I don’t know actually…at least you
have to be able to understand the questions of the ■■ We try to get them to the right level by giving them
students (A) grammar classes in the first semester to prepare them
for the official course in the 2nd semester (I)
■■ I think for technical disciplines we don’t need very
deep knowledge of the language. The vocabulary is ■■ There isn’t a test so the preparation is very different.
400 or 500 words (I) In my experience European students are a bit equal,
different for Indian or Arab students (P)
■■ teachers should have quite an advanced level, in the
way that they’re not limited when they have to speak
Finally, we asked respondents where they think EMI will
and to make things understandable to the students (I)
be in 10 years’ time:
■■ high intermediate if it exists and must be fluent
in this specific subject language and be able to ■■ Other universities hurry to copy us, but I don’t really
communicate with students asking questions and know what is the objective of this hurry (P)
answering (P).

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 Dialogue 2: The Role of English in Higher Education: Issues, Policy and Practice

■■ In Italy? I doubt it will be much more diffused. There

are still so many of my peers who do not speak
English. They will never allow it to spread much more
than this (I)

■■ I assume that in 10 years perhaps 50% of the faculties

will also have English programmes. It will always be the
case that in some disciplines people will say English is
not necessary (A)

■■ It will get more for sure, more in technical studies

where they are more used to it, rather than in health
care, it’s not the area where people are using English
(A).

I think these testimonies offer plenty of scope for

research.

References

Lo, Y.Y. and Macaro E. (2012) The medium of instruction and classroom interaction: evidence from Hong Kong
secondary schools. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 15/1: pp 29-52.

Senina, T. (2012) Strategies of interactive academic discourse used by native and non-native English lecturers.
Master’s Dissertation, University of Oxford, Department of Education.

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 Dialogue 2: The Role of English in Higher Education: Issues, Policy and Practice

Conclusions from the Working Groups

Compiled by Mark Levy

■■ EMI is increasingly seen as an opportunity rather than ■■ Current international assessment tests aren’t always
a threat even by governments which are traditionally useful tools for EMI.
more hostile. Many governments are now seeing
marketing potential for their countries in EMI. ■■ There should be no differentiation in the assessment
of EMI and non-EMI courses. This should always be
■■ HE institutions are not looking for an EMI policy at EU based on agreed learning outcomes.
or national level, but there is a need for guidelines
and/or agreed principles to facilitate implementation ■■ All agree that assessment of the English language
and help assure quality. level of university teachers/lecturers is important, but
how this is done, and whether this is done at all, varies
■■ There is a need for a national foreign language widely.
strategy which links primary, secondary & tertiary
education and the transition between them. Language ■■ Is there the danger that students with a higher level
level expectations at HE need to reflect learning and of English might be assessed differently because
achievement in secondary education. expectations of them are greater?

■■ In the absence of a national policy, or even a clear ■■ Is there a risk of a “shared misunderstanding” between
internal strategy/policy, EMI appears to be developing teacher and students because of common low English
organically. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but …. levels?

■■ Universities need a clear language strategy which ■■ There is agreement that there is often a considerable
extra workload around EMI (e.g. extra administration,
encompasses the offer for both international students
preparation, marking, etc.) and therefore a question of
and “home” students.
how this might be compensated / how EMI teachers
■■ Successful EMI needs embedding in the institutions at might be rewarded / incentives for EMI teachers.
all levels. This includes interdepartmental support and
■■ Is EMI (inevitably) elitist? What are the selection
resourcing.
criteria? (The most motivated students? The most
■■ Public and private institutions present very different mobile students?)
scenarios.
■■ What is the definition of the internationalisation
■■ There were some calls for collaboration at a local/ of HE? Is there a shared definition or a common
regional/national/international level to pool, for understanding?
example, resources, training, best practice (Setting up
‘academic regions’?).

■■ EMI is an excellent opportunity to focus on pedagogy

and improve the quality of teaching (vs. the quality of
research).

■■ An “intercultural awareness” of different learning and

teaching styles/cultures is important.

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