English Medium Instruction (EMI) in a Spanish University:

Sonja Andjelkov

doi:10.5565/rev/clil.75

Abstract

This article reports on the case of a non-native English-speaking university instructor who teaches her academic subject in the English Medium of Instruction (EMI) track of the Primary Teacher-Education Bachelor’s Degree programme offered by a publicly- funded Catalan university. By means of three semi-structured interviews with the instructor, this study seeks to explore whether and how content and language are integrated into her EMI teaching and assessment practices. Analysis of the instructor’s comments suggests that, on a practical level, the change in the language of instruction seems to change the dynamics of how she teaches and consequently how she assesses, leading to points of conflict among her rationale, institutional policy, and her students’ needs. This tension is most sharply felt when the instructor tries to cope with the lack of clear assessment criteria that could be applied fairly and consistently. The study concludes by noting the practical implications of these results for pre-service teacher education.

Highlights

During the previous few decades English has gained global prominence in all spheres of our lives including business, trade, technology, science, popular culture, and education (Crystal 2003; Dimova et al, 2015; Kuteeva, 2013)
The analysis was based on full transcripts of the interviews and on actual course-related materials submitted by the instructor
The goal of the analysis was in part to determine the degree of consistency between her rationale regarding English Medium Instruction (EMI) teaching and assessment, and her actual practices, as reflected and demonstrated in the documents she shared with the researcher

Summary

Introduction

During the previous few decades English has gained global prominence in all spheres of our lives including business, trade, technology, science, popular culture, and education (Crystal 2003; Dimova et al, 2015; Kuteeva, 2013). Increased cross-national mobility, whether for political or economic motives, greater international travel facilitated by low-cost airlines, and the development of online communities, have all contributed to the promotion of English to the status of a global lingua franca (Crystal, 2003; Graddol, 2006; Ushioda & Dörnyei, 2009). This tendency has played a key role in the transformation of European higher education (HE), starting with the ratification of the Bologna Declaration in 1999 and the creation of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), whose goal was to standardise HE systems and facilitate students’ mobility (Knight, 2008; Unterberger, 2012). Many university programmes and curricula have been restructured with English introduced for teaching and learning along with national languages (Smit & Dafouz, 2012)

Literature Review

Results

Discussion and Conclusions

21. Was the support offered by the university beneficial to you?

41. Do you think it is important to give them feedback?

52. Are there any particular reasons why you avoid assessing student

Could you show me the tasks you created for the written exam?

12. How do you think that the quality of their writing influences your decisions?

Does evidence of critical thinking have any weight in the final mark?