New Roles for Language Teachers in Higher Education. A Collaborative Perspective of Language and Content Teachers’ Views

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the new roles language teachers have taken on in a university context, where English, German, French are used as lingua francas for multiple academic purposes. The framework for the study is provided by the new developments initiated at the Bucharest University of Economic Studies, such as the internationalisation agenda and the introduction of new study programmes, e.g. Applied Modern Languages at undergraduate level, the English medium Teacher and Researcher Development master’s programme (EDU-RES), the English Medium Instruction (EMI) language training. The participants in the EDU-RES master’s programme and the EMI-related training are peer-academics teaching and carrying out research mainly in economics and business-related specialisations. This study aims to explore changes in language teacher roles in our higher education environment, as perceived by the teachers themselves. A further research aim is to identify relevant aspects of the interaction between language teachers and content teachers, as encapsulated in their reflections on their academic activities and professional development processes.