Content adaptations in English-medium instruction: Comparing L1 and English-medium lectures

While lecturers' teaching practices continue to be a focal point of English-medium Instruction (EMI) research, contrastive studies between EMI and L1 lectures remain extremely scarce. The present study addresses this research gap by analyzing five sets of matching L1 and English-medium lectures given in different disciplines at three Italian universities. Each set of lectures is given by the same lecturer, about the same topic. Thus, the study, closely examines the lectures’ content in order to investigate which changes, if any, accompany the linguistic shift from L1 to English-medium teaching. The investigation focuses mainly on quantity and organization of content; nonetheless, other variables (such as speech rate, questions, language alternation), which can play a relevant role towards the organization of the lecture, are also considered. The analysis reveals a high correspondence of the core topics addressed in the lecturers; however, significant differences in the way such knowledge is conveyed are also observed. Such differences are grouped into three categories: differences in content quantity, differences in content selection and differences in rhetorical devices used

English-medium Instruction in the Italian context: Policies, practices, and discourses of internationalization

Higher Education (HE) is currently undergoing macro changes that pull in a direction of increased mobility and internationality. As a type of education conducted through a shared lingua franca, English-medium Instruction (EMI) is playing an important role in this process, gathering on itself various kinds of needs, aspirations and challenges. This, in turn, fuels the need for a deep understanding of the phenomenon, as it continues to grow and evolve. The present thesis conducts a multifaceted investigation of EMI in the Italian context, exploring its conceptualization in relation to, on the one hand, internationalization as a macro-phenomenon and, on the other hand, the local culture and academic traditions. Thus, the thesis seeks to shed some light on the interplay of beliefs, behaviours and policies, to understand how language, culture and international education are positioned in EMI. The findings indicate that the Italian EMI experience raises important questions for EMI conceptualization in general. In particular, the evidence retrieved suggests that the communication tool plays a role in how knowledge is constructed and conveyed in EMI; a similar influence can also be ascribed to the local culture. This role, however, appears to remain silent, as it is scarcely discussed and represented in the policies. Discussing the significance of such findings, the thesis argues for a more nuanced understanding of EMI and of its aims as an international education

Language policy in Italian universities: Navigating the language ambiguities of higher education internationalisation

In recent years, the significant expansion of English-medium instruction (EMI) programmes across higher education institutions outside English-speaking contexts has brought with it an inherent set of language-related tensions and ambiguities. In this article, we explore how a selection of Italian universities have tackled these tensions. Via a content analysis of university policy documents, we investigate the key language-related themes in them, and the orientations to language that these themes entail. The results show that English is seen as necessary for and almost synonymous to internationalisation, as well as a language that can bring benefits to both institutions and individuals. However, a commitment to multilingualism and to the promotion of Italian from a non-protectionist stance is apparent in the documents analysed. This finding, we argue, puts the Italian context apart from other settings that have been previously investigated (e.g. the Nordic countries), and points to an original way in which universities can navigate the language ambiguities that come with the process of higher education internationalisation

The (in)justice of EMI: a critical discourse analysis of two key stakeholders’ views on the Polytechnic University of Milan court case

While English-medium Instruction (EMI) continues to be appealing for various stakeholders, it also raises some epistemological and ethical concerns, which have in the past found expression in polarized debates. A well-known example is the 2012 Milan court case, in which the academic staff sued the Polytechnic University of Milan over its attempt to promote an EMI-only policy. Now almost ten years after the case, the motivations of the key proponents and opponents of the policy are yet to be explored in depth. In order to explain how different interpretations of EMI could result in such unreconcilable positions, in this paper we adopt a new analytical angle, focusing on two elite participants: the rector who promoted the policy and the lawyer (also a faculty member) who represented the lecturers in court. Via a critical discourse analysis of interviews to these participants, we aim to unveil how different stakeholders from the same context frame EMI in relation to ideas of justice/injustice. Results indicate that, despite comparable personal commitment to education and similar understandings of language/power interactions, the participants evaluate English against different frames of reference (i.e. a horizon of globalized education, versus the traditional national understanding of the goals of education). This leads to diametrically opposite evaluations of the growing presence of English in higher education. Sebbene l’English-medium Instruction (EMI) continui ad essere attrattiva per vari attori, essa solleva anche questioni etiche ed epistemologiche, che in passato hanno trovato espressione in aspri dibattiti. Un noto esempio è rappresentato dalla caso di Milano del 2012, in cui lo staff accademico fece causa al Politecnico di Milano per il suo tentativo di promuovere una politica di esclusivo EMI. Ormai a quasi dieci anni dal caso, le motivazioni dei principali sostenitori e oppositori dell’iniziativa rimangono ancora parzialmente inesplorate. Al fine di spiegare come differenti interpretazioni dell’EMI abbiano potuto sfociare in posizioni talmente inconciliabili, in questo studio si adotta una nuova prospettiva analitica, concentrata su due partecipanti élite: il rettore che promosse la politica e l’avvocata (lei stessa appartenente al corpo accademico) che rappresentò gli accademici in corte. Lo scopo è quello di rilvelare, tramite un’analisi critica del discorso delle interviste di questi partecipanti, come attori provenienti dallo stesso contesto posizionino l’inglese in relazione a idee di giustizia/ingiustizia. I risultati indicano che, nonostante un comparabile impegno personale verso istruzione e una simile comprensione delle interazioni lingua/potere, i partecipanti giudicano l’inglese sulla base di diversi quadri di riferimento (ossia un orizzonte di istruzione globalizzata, contro i valori nazionali tradizionalmente attribuiti all’istruzione). Questo a sua volta risulta in valutazioni antitetiche della crescente presenza dell’inglese nell’istruzione superiore

New insights into the trend towards English as a medium of instruction in European higher education through transdisciplinary participation

The drive towards English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) in universities in non-English-dominant countries can generate heated debates, yet the drivers of EMI are still not fully understood. This position paper argues for transdisciplinary participation in order to shed new light on the drivers of EMI. Transdisciplinary participation is conceptualized as engaging with theories, methodologies and practices in other disciplines in order to approach a topical issue in a new way. We exemplify transdisciplinary participation as bringing together applied linguists and those involved in academic governance to re-theorize the rise of EMI as linked to steering at a distance governance reforms that have swept across the European higher education sector since the 1980s. Showcasing three cases from across Europe, we argue that steering at a distance may shed new light on the drivers of EMI. At a more general level, we highlight how disciplinary positioning shapes the creation of knowledge

English-medium Instruction through the lens of discipline and culture: Lecturers’ beliefs and reported practices

In the last few decades, English-medium Instruction (EMI) has been the focus of a rapidly increasing body of research. While such research has tended to cover certain aspects of the phenomenon extensively, others still remain under-researched. For example, in focusing primarily on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) disciplines, EMI investigations have devoted limited attention to the potential relevance of disciplinary differences. Similarly, while EMI has been noted to differ from context to context, the practical implications of cultural differences in EMI implementations continue to be overlooked. The present study aims to shed some light on the role played by disciplinary and cultural specificities via an investigation of beliefs and reported practices of 13 Italian lecturers. The lecturers were selected to represent a variety of disciplinary backgrounds and individually interviewed about their experiences as teachers and scholars. The interviews were subsequently subjected to a thematic analysis. The results reinstate to an extent the influence of disciplinary culture; however, they also point to an important role played by the local culture in shaping both beliefs and practices. Additionally, the results also reveal a nuanced understanding of the opportunities and challenges of EMI among these participants, stressing the need for more attention to cultural mediation in international higher education. 

English-medium Instruction in the Italian context : Policies, practices, and discourses of internationalization

Higher Education (HE) is currently undergoing macro changes that pull in a direction of increased mobility and internationality. As a type of education conducted through a shared lingua franca, English-medium Instruction (EMI) is playing an important role in this process, gathering on itself various kinds of needs, aspirations and challenges. This, in turn, fuels the need for a deep understanding of the phenomenon, as it continues to grow and evolve.  The present thesis conducts a multifaceted investigation of EMI in the Italian context, exploring its conceptualization in relation to, on the one hand, internationalization as a macro-phenomenon and, on the other hand, the local culture and academic traditions. Thus, the thesis seeks to shed some light on the interplay of beliefs, behaviours and policies, to understand how language, culture and international education are positioned in EMI.  The findings indicate that the Italian EMI experience raises important questions for EMI conceptualization in general. In particular, the evidence retrieved suggests that the communication tool plays a role in how knowledge is constructed and conveyed in EMI; a similar influence can also be ascribed to the local culture. This role, however, appears to remain silent, as it is scarcely discussed and represented in the policies. Discussing the significance of such findings, the thesis argues for a more nuanced understanding of EMI and of its aims as an international education.

Oral Examinations in EMI: A Focus on Pragmatic Competence

The oral examination is an area of EMI in which students' language difficulties often come to the fore, and studies from different countries have shown that inadequate language competence may negatively impact on exam results. However, very little research has been done on oral examination interaction in EMI contexts. The aim of this paper is to help fill this gap by comparing the performance of students with different language backgrounds and levels of English. Attention was devoted to those linguistic structures spanning different levels of language description that reveal pragmatic competence, and, in particular, register awareness. These include features like premodification in complex nominals - which are typical of English, and even more so of ESP, but not so common in other languages - and information structure, with the attendant range of syntactic choices (active/passive, cleft constructions, extraposition, inversion and existential there)