Exploring EMI in the Americas: Current Status, Research Gaps, and Future Directions

This event brings together a panel of distinguished experts to examine the current state of EMI practice and research in the Americas.  The discussion will spotlight EMI developments in specific countries, including Brazil, Chile, and Colombia, and delve into their implications and future research directions.

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EMI in LATAM

Our presentation will offer an overview of EMI literature in Latin America which reveals common trends in the implementation of this mode of instruction. Drawing on a small-scale study that explores the experiences of teachers and students working in EMI higher education contexts, we identify aspects of this implementation that are salient across the contexts under study and reveal challenges and opportunities in relation to English for Academic Purposes (EAP). The findings of our investigation expose tensions between top-down and bottom-up approaches to the implementation of EMI and unveil that, in this context, EMI tends to be confused with Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) due to the fact that, in many cases, students are expected to develop their English skills as they learn course-specific content. We conclude that further planning and EAP support for teachers and students is needed.

Dr Loreto Aliaga Salas is a Teaching Fellow in TESOL at the School of Education of the University of Leeds (UK). She teaches and supervises students in the MA TESOL and MA TESOL studies programmes, and is the co-leader of the MA TESOL China programme. Her research interests focus on curriculum change and development in TESOL, language teachers' professional development, mentoring, and teacher research. She is a co-founder of RICELT, the Chilean network of research in ELT, and is the Web and Digital Manager of IATEFL's Research SIG. Academic profile.

Dr Gonzalo Pérez Andrade is a Senior Lecturer in English Language Teaching at London Metropolitan University and holds a PhD in Applied Linguistics from the University of Southampton. His research interests include teacher education, language ideologies, and multilingualism. Gonzalo is also a founding member of the Centre for Multilingualism with English (CME). Academic profile.

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Ensuring success in the implementation of EMI through a multifaceted approach: The role of EAP and ELT in Colombian universities

The current state of English-Medium Instruction (EMI) research and practice in Colombia indicates that there is a growing interest among higher education institutions to adopt this approach as part of their internationalization strategies (Tejada-Sánchez & Molina-Naar, 2020). In recent years, EMI has been integrated into university curricula, reflecting a trend towards internationalization and the enhancement of students’ English language skills (Rey-Paba et al., 2022). Nonetheless, the adoption of EMI presents challenges such as varying levels of English proficiency among students and the need for robust teacher training programs. Research shows that EAP and ELT are crucial for the success of EMI as they help bridge the gap between students’ language skills and EMI course demands and ensure that language barriers do not hinder academic progress (Hakim & Wingate, 2022). This is particularly pertinent in the Colombian context, where English proficiency levels have been ranked low according to the Education First 2023 report. In this presentation, we will examine how EMI implementation can be enhanced through a multifaceted approach, including creating English language tutoring centers, offering professional development for faculty, and strengthening existing EAP and ELT programs. Together, these strategies create a supportive ecosystem that enhances the overall effectiveness and sustainability of EMI initiatives in higher education.

References

Education First. (2023). EF English Proficiency Index. https://www.ef.com/epi/

Hakim, A., & Wingate, U. (2022). Mapping a way forward: toward a shared EMI and EAP research agenda. ELT Journal, 76(4), 547–550. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccac034

Rey-Paba, L., Corrales, K. A., & Lombana-Coy, J. (2022). Internacionalización de la educación superior: de la institución al aula. Editorial Universidad del Norte. http://hdl.handle.net/10584/11157

Tejada-Sánchez, I., & Molina-Naar, M. (2020). English medium instruction and the internationalization of higher education in Latin America: A case study from a Colombian university. Latin American Journal of Content & Language Integrated Learning, 13(2), 339–367.

Mario Molina Naar is a lecturer at the Department of Languages and Culture at Universidad de Los Andes in Bogota, (Colombia). Mario holds a PhD in Education (plurilingual and intercultural education) from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (Spain) and an MA in TESOL from Greensboro College (North Carolina, USA). His research focuses on English-medium instruction and the internationalization of higher education in multilingual contexts.