Main Challenges of EMI at the UCLM: Teachers’ Perceptions on Language Proficiency, Training and Incentives

Esther Nieto Moreno De Diezmas,Alicia Fernández Barrera

doi:10.14198/raei.2021.34.02

Esther Nieto Moreno De Diezmas, Alicia Fernández Barrera

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.14198/raei.2021.34.02

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Abstract

English-medium instruction (EMI) has become commonplace in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Spain and in many other countries, being implemented as a strategy to increase the competitiveness and attractiveness of universities at the international level. The present article investigates the stances of lecturers involved in various internationalization programmes in regard to the challenges that EMI inception and implementation entails, such as language and content integration, English proficiency of teachers and students, teachers’ drives, teacher training needs and institutional support, among other issues. To gain a more comprehensive insight into the development of EMI, data were collected by means of semi-structured interviews with three separate groups of lecturers: (i) EMI practitioners, (ii) lecturers interested in EMI and (iii) lecturers from the Department of Modern Languages, experts in second language acquisition (SLA) and bilingual education. The results showed that the implementation of EMI at the University of Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM) is still in its infancy and there are several areas for improvement such as (i) the approval of a multilingual language policy that includes a specific and legally-binding protocol for lecturer recruitment and commitment in the programme, and (ii) the design of a more comprehensive teacher training plan offering accreditation to enter EMI and supporting effective implementation by means of in-service courses.

Highlights

IntroductionThe popularity of English-Medium Instruction (EMI) in Europe mostly stems from the recommendations included in the internationalization agenda of the Bologna Declaration (1999), where the teaching of university courses in English is promoted as an essential means to increase the international competitiveness and excellence of European Universities
Pressed by global demands to make Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) internationally competitive, English-Medium Instruction (EMI) programmes have increased dramatically since 2001 (Wächter and Maiworm 2014) in European Universities, spreading “the use of the English language to teach academic subjects in countries or jurisdictions where the first language of the majority of the population is not English” (Macaro et al 2018, 37).The popularity of EMI in Europe mostly stems from the recommendations included in the internationalization agenda of the Bologna Declaration (1999), where the teaching of university courses in English is promoted as an essential means to increase the international competitiveness and excellence of European Universities
The research questions this study addresses are as follows: i) What motivates lecturers to participate in the EMI programme? ii) What are the main challenges lecturers have to face in order to implement EMI? iii) What are the strengths and weaknesses of the EMI plan at the University of CastillaLa Mancha (UCLM) according to lecturers? iv) What suggestions do lecturers have to improve the EMI plan at the UCLM?

Summary

Introduction

The popularity of EMI in Europe mostly stems from the recommendations included in the internationalization agenda of the Bologna Declaration (1999), where the teaching of university courses in English is promoted as an essential means to increase the international competitiveness and excellence of European Universities. While the benefits for HEIs are, quite self-evident, it is necessary to gain more insight into the reasons and motivations which drive lecturers to leave their comfort zone and teach in another language In this vein, to fully understand the conjoint effort lecturers and universities have to make to successfully implement EMI, it is necessary to look into the main challenges practitioners have to face, and the role HEIs play in organizing and supporting the whole process. The study conducted by Doiz et al (2019)

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