English Medium Instruction in Higher Education: Findings from a 50 country survey

Author(s):

Ernesto Macaro(presenting / submitting)

Conference:

ECER 2014

Network:

22. Research in Higher Education

Format:

Paper

Session Information

22 SES 03 B, Policy, Management and Governance in Higher Education

Paper Session

Time:

2014-09-02

17:15-18:45

Room:

B021 Anfiteatro

Chair:

Jaakko Kauko

Contribution

English medium instruction (EMI, also known as CLIL in Europe) is a fast developing phenomenon. Particularly in higher education, more and more institutions across the world are using English to teach academic subjects, spurred on by a desire to internationalize their offer and their academic profile. This phenomenon has very important implications, in non-anglophone countries, for teaching and learning as well as for language policy decisions. This talk will present findings from a 50+ country survey carried out in 2013-2014 which investigated: the extent of EMI in higher education and its likely impact on secondary education; the general trends both national and regional; the provision for teacher/faculty professional development when switching from home language to EMI; the attitudes of faculty towards the introduction of EMI.

Method

this research project used British Council operatives in each country to provide access and an initial (phase 1) insight as to how and the extent that English Medium Instruction was being implemented and putting the researchers in contact with essential policy documents. Phase 2 involved an anonymous online questionnaire aimed at higher education and secondary education professors/teachers asking them their views, aspirations and challenges with regard to English Medium Instruction. the project team also carried out face to face interviews with faculty in three European countries

Expected Outcomes

Our tentative conclusions are that the phenomenon of English Medium Instruction in higher education is advancing too quickly for us to be confident of its success and that was is urgently needed is a comprehensive research evidence base.

References

Coleman, J.A. English-Medium Teaching in European Higher Education. Language Teaching 39, 1: 1-14. 2006. Doiz, A. Lasagabaster, D. Sierra, J.M. (Ed.) English-Medium Instruction at Universities. Multilingual Matters 2013. Johnstone, K. Learning Through English: Policies Challenges and Prospects, Insights from Asia. The British council

Author Information

Ernesto Macaro (presenting / submitting)

University of Oxford

Oxford

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