I’ve had the luxury of designing and delivering my own curriculum for the faculty training work in English-medium instruction I’m carrying out at the Universidad Católica de Manizales, supported by the ICETEX Expertos Internacionales program.

One thing that was very important to me as I designed this program was that it be critical. I sought criticality not just in terms of theory or critical perspectives included in course content, but also in terms of skills-based outcomes that the participating faculty members would be working towards. The practice of English-medium higher education worldwide is ripe with instances of inequality and marginalization (of languages, knowledge, learners, and teachers). I wanted to build some basic skills so that these professors can seek opportunities to amplify marginalized voices and reduce inequality in ways big or small that are meaningful in their professional contexts.

Or in other words, moving from theoretical learning to Freire’s (1972) definition of praxis, or “reflection and action upon the world in order to transform it” (p. 52).

But this is a short, practical professional development program for a multidisciplinary group of lecturers, not a year-long course in critical pedagogy. So whatever ideas, frameworks, concepts, etc., I included had to be straightforward and easy to understand no matter what one’s disciplinary background, as well as easy to operationalize and apply in one’s EMI courses.

Mustafa Akıncıoğlu’s (2024; 2025) Critical EMI Framework fit the bill. The three Critical EMI concepts that Akıncıoğlu proposes are:

• multilingualism,
• universities as sites for liberation, and
• English as an international language.

These concepts are related to Akıncıoğlu’s EMI Professionalisation Framework (EMI ProF), which is a “guiding political normative model informed by prior research to drive the EMI reform and support the professionalisation agenda” in EMI. The framework “proposes a structured, solution-oriented approach, grounded in [the three critical EMI concepts mentioned above]. EMI policy and quality are structured around three cyclic stages, with academic learning outcomes at the core”. This complete framework was beyond the scope of my role in the project I’m carrying out at UCM.

However, the Critical EMI concepts of multilingualism, universities as sites for liberation, and English as an international language have been integrated as guiding concepts for my courses. After an overview exploring both the benefits of and inequalities that can arise from or be perpetuated by EMI in higher education, I introduced these concepts (and closely related ones such as plurilingualism and translanguaging, etc.) and illustrated them with practical examples from different disciplines and world contexts. We had lively and productive class discussions about them.

Through learning activities such as developing a language use policy for one’s EMI course, critical reflection and peer review focusing on these critical points, thus far we’ve been developing key skills. We’ve been taking a critical lens and examining our course and lesson design, course policies, and facilitation practices for opportunities to amplify marginalized voices and empower learners to pursue knowledge, skills, and opportunities that align with their values.

So far so good—the course is still underway and I’m looking forward to continuing my experimentation with learning activities that can contribute to these faculty members’ critical praxis to bring about positive transformation in the world of EMI.

References

Akıncıoglu, M. (2024). Transforming research into a framework for professionalisation of English as a medium of instruction (EMI) at the tertiary level: The EMI ProF. [Doctoral dissertation, University of Sunderland, UK]. SURE Repository 〈https://sur e.sunderland.ac.uk/id/eprint/18643/〉.

Akıncıoğlu, M. (2025). Reforming EMI in higher education: The EMI ProF as a political normative framework for policy, quality, and professionalisation. International Journal of Educational Development, 115, 103276. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2025.103276

Freire, P. (1972). Pedagogy of the oppressed. Penguin.