The Canadian Bureau for International Education’s (CBIE) annual conference is a fabulous opportunity to catch up with folks involved in international ed from across the country. The list of conferences attendees, who occupy widely varying roles in colleges, universities, K-12, not-for-profit as well for-profit companies from across Canada and beyond, really highlights just how many people are stakeholders in international education in one way or another.

So it’s a great space to cross disciplines, and put forward transdisciplinary ideas that draw on concepts from different fields to propose ways of improving the way we “do” international education.

At the CBIE Conference in November 2022, I had the pleasure of presenting alongside Dr. Ayesha Mushtaq on a topic at the cross-section of several topics we love to nerd out on: English-Medium Instruction (EMI), Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), Internationalization of the Curriculum (IoC) and Internationalization at Home (IaH).

At least in Anglophone North American circles, discussions of EMI and CLIL would tend to be confined to language education spaces. Our aim was to introduce these concepts to a broader audience of non-language-educators, and explore how taking an EMI lens and applying some aspects of CLIL pedagogy could help advance Anglophone Canadian institutions’ IaH strategies.

Slides and abstract are below.

English-Medium Instruction (EMI) and Internationalization at Home (IaH): Questions for Canadian Institutions

English-Medium Instruction (EMI) refers to “the use of the English language to teach academic subjects in countries or jurisdictions where the first language (L1) of the majority of the population is not English” (Dearden, 2014). EMI features in the IaH strategies of many institutions worldwide, for the benefits to inbound international student and faculty mobility, reputation and ranking, and English language proficiency gains it can provide (Macaro, 2018). However, EMI is not without criticisms in terms of its reinforcing of the dominance of English as the language of academia while supplanting scholarship in other languages and the fact that if not implemented appropriately, reduced learning outcomes in both the English language and the subject-matter being taught have been observed (Macaro, 2018).

Many Canadian institutions contribute to the phenomenon of EMI at partner institutions via instructor training and capacity building in teaching methodology for EMI, requirements for EMI built into exchange or other institutional agreements, or sending students or faculty to engage in study or teaching via EMI. The first part of this session will revolve around questions and considerations for Canadian institutions to move toward critical and equitable EMI work with their partners.

EMI and its related techniques and methodologies can also provide lessons for IaH at Canadian universities. While the traditional definition of EMI describes it taking place in contexts where English is not the first language of the majority of the population, given the growing rates of linguistic diversity on many Canadian campuses in Anglophone Canada, approaching aspects of IaH in Canada through an EMI lens could provide benefits in terms of teaching and learning, student outcomes, and global competency development. The second part of this session will  present various strategies and ideas that Canadian institutions can take into consideration as they design IaH strategies and programming.

References:

Dearden, J. (2015). English as a medium of instruction-a growing global phenomena. Oxford University, Department of Education and British Council. https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/english-a-medium-instruction-%E2%80%93-a-growing-global-phenomenon

Macaro, E. (2018). English medium instruction. Oxford University Press.