Home The dark side of EMI?: a telling case for questioning assumptions about EMI in HE
Article
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

The dark side of EMI?: a telling case for questioning assumptions about EMI in HE

  • David Block ORCID logo EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: March 3, 2022
Become an author with De Gruyter Brill
Submit Manuscript Author Information
Educational Linguistics
From the journal Educational Linguistics Volume 1 Issue 1

Abstract

The neoliberalisation of higher education (HE), which began in earnest about three decades ago, and the global spread of English, which began earlier, together have motivated an exponential increase in the number of universities worldwide offering English-medium instruction (EMI) as a key part of their internationalisation policies. EMI in HE is by now a much discussed and examined phenomenon; however, all too often research does not challenge certain assumptions about its existence. One assumption is that the introduction of EMI is an on-the-whole innocuous change in how HE courses are delivered, and that any negative side effects for the primary stakeholders, lecturers or students, are minimal. This paper takes a contrarian and critical view of EMI, highlighting its more problematic side. This is done to some extent through a short and selective discussion of relevant literature in the next section. However, the critique comes through most clearly in subsequent sections of the paper, in which interview data collected from an EMI lecturer at a university in Catalonia are examined. As will become clear, the perspective of this single informant, presented as a ‘telling case’ (Mitchell, John C. 1984. Typicality and the case study. In R. Ellen (ed.), Ethnographic research: A guide to general conduct, 237–241. London: Academic Press), is illuminating, as it highlights aspects of EMI that do not often appear in policy documents and research publications focussing on the topic.

Keywords: English-medium instruction; Englishisation; individualism; internationalisation in HE; neoliberalism in HE; telling case
Corresponding author: David Block, Departament d'Humanitats, ICREA, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain, E-mail:

Funding source: El Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad

Award Identifier / Grant number: FFI2016-76383-P

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Li Wei for his support, and John Gray, Guzman Mancho-Barés and an anonymous reviewer for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this paper. Obviously, they are not in any way responsible for any deficiencies in the final product. This is a considerably extended version of a paper published in the proceedings of the AELFE-TAPP conference held in Villanova i Geltrú (Spain), 7–9 July 2021. That paper, and this one, are based on a plenary given by the author at that conference.

  1. Research funding: Data presented in this paper is from the project entitled ‘Towards an empirical assessment of the impact of English medium instruction at university: language learning, disciplinary knowledge and academic identities’ (ASSEMID). ASSEMID was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (El Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad – MINECO) (code FFI2016-76383-P) and ran from 30 December 2016 to 29 December 2019.

  2. Informed consent: Informed consent was obtained from all individuals included in this study.

  3. Ethical approval: The local Institutional Review Board deemed the study exempt from review.

  4. Author contributions: The author has accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.

  5. Competing interests: The author states no conflict of interest.

Appendix A: Stanzas in original version (Spanish)

Stanza 1: Getting started (09/09/17)

  1. mira primero te digo

  2. primero porqué entré en esto y yo luego lo que veo vale?

  3. entonces yo entré en esto porque

  4. te he dicho que voy a ser sincera

  5. porque nos vendieron la moto el vicerrectorado de profesorado

  6. he estado de lectora

  7. y ahora entonces llevo ya dos o tres

  8. creo que este es el tercer año de agregada interina vale?

  9. entonces nos dijeron en un momento dado que con esto

  10. cuando empezaron a plantearse lo de la docencia y todo no sé qué

  11. la [name of university] en Europa

  12. que nos iban a promocionar antes a los profesores lectores que diéramos docencia en inglés

  13. X del vicerrectorado

  14. tengo hasta los mails

  15. te lo puedo hasta

  16. entonces eso es mentira cochina {laughing}

  17. entonces esta asignatura

  18. esto fue justo en el cambio de la licenciatura

  19. o sea te hablo ya de hace tres o cuatro años creo

Stanza 2: A teaching experience (09/09/17)

  1. entonces yo venía de hacer con ellos el curso con unas súper preparaciones de prácticas de todo:

  2. así de meter actividades interactivas

  3. y ahí me puse yo a dar clase

  4. entonces claro tú vienes con todo esto

  5. llegas con todo súper bien montado

  6. sí sí voy a hacer todo súper interactivo

  7. y lo que me encuentro es que mi nivel de inglés es una porquería

  8. cuando me sube el cortisol que digo yo

  9. cuando me sube el nivel de estrés mi inglés hace así {makes a gesture of something slipping away}

  10. entonces claro porque yo no tengo experiencia hablando inglés

  11. o sea tengo mucha experiencia en inglés de leer de entender más o menos

  12. pero no de hablar

  13. entonces claro te puedes saber una clase en inglés

  14. y sí que te puedes poner a vomitar el contenido leyendo el Power Point

  15. pero es que no se trata de eso

  16. es que si tú sabes

  17. si tú vienes de dar una buena clase en castellano

  18. y sabes cómo tú puedes transmitir las emociones

  19. claro no

  20. ya no te digo transmitir las emociones en inglés

  21. te digo de tú estar cagado de miedo

  22. o sea porque yo lo que sentía literalmente era miedo

  23. entonces estaba dándoles la clase

  24. y claro empecé a tartamudear

  25. empiezas a ver que te atascas

  26. empiezas a ver que te estás poniendo cada vez más nerviosa cada vez que te atascas

  27. y era a estar a los cinco años casi de estar dando clase en inglés

  28. o sea volver al día uno

  29. o sea volví a mi vida estudiando inglés

Stanza 3: Student evaluations (08/10/18)

  1. entonces hay comentarios que son

  2. hay comentarios de gente de estos dos lados

  3. gente de los que están diciendo que

  4. la profesora no debería dar la asignatura en inglés

  5. porque no se le entiende bien

  6. este es el que sabe mucho inglés

  7. y el que se está haciendo así {grimaces}

  8. y luego está el otro de

  9. yo no soy capaz de seguir este contenido en inglés

  10. porqué es muy complejo

  11. entonces, ¿qué hago yo?

  12. tú qué harías?

Stanza 4: On the ‘system’ and work (08/10/18)

  1. el sistema te pide muchas cosas

  2. y algunas de ellas no son racionales

  3. no son para nada racionales

  4. y dices vale

  5. entras a cosas que realmente el cuerpo te está diciendo que no las hagas

  6. y te lo dice

  7. y te lo esta diciendo

  8. no hagas esto que no adquieres este:

  9. que lo estás haciendo arrastrado

  10. porqué resulta que eso vale un milipunto en la currículum

  11. que te tienen que valorar los del AQU para darte la no sé qué

  12. y estás arrastrándote todo el día o sea

  13. y al final hay muchas veces que llevas un desgaste

  14. que yo digo

  15. hay veces que

  16. es que hoy yo no me echo a dormir

  17. entro en coma directamente

  18. o sea es que no puedo

Stanza 5: Seeking recognition (08/10/18)

  1. esperas que se te reconozca

  2. porqué estás buscando el reconocimiento del sistema

  3. que a veces ese reconocimiento no llega

  4. y aún te vuelves más majara porqué dices

  5. encima esto para qué?

  6. que esto ya es cuando te mueres del todo no?

  7. cuando te estás buscando

  8. tú te das cuenta de que estás buscando reconocimiento

  9. o sea esto

  10. porqué yo he dado clases en inglés?

  11. porqué he estado buscando reconocimiento al sistema

  12. así de claro

  13. no porque a mí me aportara nada

  14. porque yo me complicaba la vida

  15. porque mi nivel de inglés no era el que a mí me permitía dar una clase de manera fluida

  16. y hacer todas esos conexiones que te explicaba antes

  17. por qué lo he hecho?

  18. porque me

  19. porque buscaba reconocimiento al sistema

  20. me lo ha dado?

  21. bueno pues al final he aprendido a hacerlo

  22. estoy contenta

  23. estoy satisfecha

Appendix B: Transcription conventions

Italics voicing oneself or another
{ } comments on a salient feature of the turn
? rising intonation

References

Andrews, Paul. 2017. Is the ‘telling case’ a methodological myth? International Journal of Social Research Methodology 20(5). 455–467. https://doi.org/10.1080/13645579.2016.1198165.Search in Google Scholar

Bazo Martínez, Plácido, Dolores González Álvarez, Aurora Centellas Rodrigo, Emma Dafouz Milne, Alebero Fernández Costales & Víctor Pavón Vázquez. 2016. Documento marco de política lingüística para la internacionalización del sistema universitario español, 10. Madrid: Conferencia de Rectores de las Universidades Españolas.Search in Google Scholar

Beck, Ulrich. 1992. Risk society: Towards a new modernity. London: Sage.Search in Google Scholar

Block, David. 2022. Seeking methodological rigour in language and identity research: Applying a version of positioning theory to a research interview excerpt. In Wendy Ayres-Bennett & Linda Fisher (eds.), Multilingualism and identity: Interdisciplinary perspectives, TBD. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/9781108780469.009Search in Google Scholar

Block, David & Guzman Mancho-Barés. 2021. NOT English teachers, except when they are: The curious case of oral presentation evaluation rubrics. In David Block & Sarah Khan (eds.), The secret life of English-medium instruction in higher education: Examining microphenomena in context, 96–119. London: Routledge.10.4324/9781003005667-5Search in Google Scholar

Block, David Balbina Moncada-Comas. 2022. English-medium instruction in higher education and the ELT Gaze: STEM lecturers’ self-positioning as NOT English language teachers. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. 25(2). 401–417. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2019.1689917.Search in Google Scholar

Bradford, Annette & Howard Brown. 2017. Introduction: English-medium instruction in Japanese higher education. In Annette Bradford & Howard Brown (eds.), English-medium instruction in Japanese higher education, xvii–xxiii. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.10.21832/9781783098958-003Search in Google Scholar

Brown, Wendy. 2005. Edgework: Critical essays on knowledge and politics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Search in Google Scholar

Coleman, Jim, Kristina Hultgren, Wei Li, Cheng-Fang Cynthia Tsui & Philip Shaw. 2018. Forum on English-medium instruction. TESOL Quarterly 52(3). 701–720. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.469.Search in Google Scholar

Collini, Stephan. 2018. Speaking of universities. London: Verso.Search in Google Scholar

Crouch, Colin. 2011. The strange non-death of neoliberalism. Cambridge: Polity.Search in Google Scholar

Deardon, Julie. 2015. English as a medium of instruction: A growing global phenomenon. London: The British Council.Search in Google Scholar

Delgado, Luis. 2017. The strategy for the internationalisation of Spanish universities: Evaluation two years on. In Adriana Pérez-Encinas, Laura Howard, Laura. E. Rumbley & Hans de Witt (eds.), The internationalisation of higher education in Spain: Reflections and perspectives, 17–22. Madrid: Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte.Search in Google Scholar

Fleming, Peter. 2021. Dark academia: How universities die. London: Pluto.10.2307/j.ctv1n9dkhvSearch in Google Scholar

Foucault, Michel. 1973. The birth of the clinic. An archaeology of medical perception. London: Routledge.Search in Google Scholar

Foucault, Michel. 1989 [1969]. The archaeology of knowledge. London: Routledge.Search in Google Scholar

Franck, George. 2002. The scientific economy of attention: A novel approach to the collective rationality of science. Scientometrics 55(1). 3–26. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1016059402618.10.1023/A:1016059402618Search in Google Scholar

Franck, Georg. 2019. The economy of attention. Journal of Sociology 55(1). 8–19. https://doi.org/10.1177/1440783318811778.Search in Google Scholar

Galloway, Nicola (ed.). 2020. English in higher education Part 1: Literature review. London: The British Council.Search in Google Scholar

Gee, James Paul. 2011. An introduction to discourse analysis: Theory and method, 3rd edn. London: Routledge.Search in Google Scholar

Giroux, Henry. 2020. Neoliberalism’s war on higher education. New York: Haymarket Books.Search in Google Scholar

Goffman, Erving. 1974. Frame analysis: An essay on the organization of experience. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Search in Google Scholar

Haberland, Hartmut. 2005. Domains and domain loss. In Bent Preisler, Anne H. Fabricus, Hartmut Haberland, Susanne Kjærbeck & Karen Risager (eds.), The consequences of mobility: Linguistic and sociocultural contact zones, 227–237. Copenhagen: Roskilde Universitet.Search in Google Scholar

Harré, Rom. 2012. Positioning theory: Moral dimensions of social-cultural psychology. In Jan Valsiner (ed.), The Oxford handbook of culture and psychology, 191–206. Oxford: Oxford University Press.10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195396430.013.0010Search in Google Scholar

Holland, Dorothy, William S. Lachiocotte, Debra Skinner & Carole Cain. 1998. Identity and agency in cultural worlds. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Search in Google Scholar

Hyland, Ken. 2012. Disciplinary identities. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/9781009406512Search in Google Scholar

IAU. 2012. Affirming academic values in internationalization of higher education: A call for action. International Association of Universities.Search in Google Scholar

Kiely, Ray. 2018. The neoliberal paradox. London: Edward Elgar.10.4337/9781788114424Search in Google Scholar

Labov, William & Joshua Waletzky. 1967. Narrative analysis. In June Helm (ed.), Essays on the verbal and visual arts, 12–44. Seattle: University of Washington Press.Search in Google Scholar

Lanvers, Ursula & Kristina Hultgren. 2018. The Englishization of European education: Foreword. European Journal of Language Policy 10(1). 1–11. https://doi.org/10.3828/ejlp.2018.1.Search in Google Scholar

Law, David & Michael Hoey (eds.). 2018. Perspectives on the internationalisation of higher education. London: Routledge.10.4324/9781315160870Search in Google Scholar

Macaro, Ernesto. 2018. English-medium instruction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.10.30687/978-88-6969-227-7/001Search in Google Scholar

Macaro, Ernesto, Samantha Curle, Jack Pun, Jiangshan An & Julie Dearden. 2018. A systematic review of English medium instruction in higher education. Language Teaching 51(1). 36–76. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0261444817000350.Search in Google Scholar

Mitchell, James Clyde. 1984. Typicality and the case study. In Roy Ellen (ed.), Ethnographic research: A guide to general conduct, 237–241. London: Academic Press.Search in Google Scholar

Moncada-Comas, Balbina & David Block. 2021. CLILised EMI in practice: Issues arising. Language Learning Journal 49(6). 686–698. https://doi.org/10.1080/09571736.2019.1660704.Search in Google Scholar

Morley, Louise, Nafsika Alexiadou, Stela Garaz, José González-Monteagudo & Marius Taba. 2018. Internationalisation and migrant academics: The hidden narratives of mobility. Higher Education 76. 537–554.10.1007/s10734-017-0224-zSearch in Google Scholar

Owens, Timothy J., Dawn T. Robinson & Lynn Smith-Lovin. 2010. Three faces of identity. Annual Review of Sociology 36. 477–499. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.34.040507.134725.Search in Google Scholar

Phillipson, Robert. 2003. English-only Europe? Challenging language policy. London: Routledge.10.4324/9780203696989Search in Google Scholar

Ritzer, George. 1996. The McDonaldization of society. London: Pine Forge Press.10.1177/026858096011003002Search in Google Scholar

Rose, Heath & Jim Mckinley. 2018. Japan’s English-medium instruction initiatives and the globalization of higher education. Higher Education 75. 111–129. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-017-0125-1.Search in Google Scholar

Seymour, Susan. 2006. Resistance. Anthropological Theory 6(3). 303–321. https://doi.org/10.1177/1463499606066890.Search in Google Scholar

Smyth, John. 2017. The toxic university: Zombie leadership, academic rock stars, and neoliberal ideology. London: Palgrave Macmillan.10.1057/978-1-137-54968-6Search in Google Scholar

Streeck, Wolfgang. 2016. How will capitalism end? London: Verso.Search in Google Scholar

Tulving, Endel. 1983. Elements of episodic memory. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Search in Google Scholar

Vertovec, Steven. 2009. Transnationalism. London: Routledge.10.4324/9780203927083Search in Google Scholar

Zhang, Zhiguo. 2018. English-medium instruction policies in China: Internationalisation of higher education. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 39(6). 542–555. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2017.1404070.Search in Google Scholar
Received: 2021-12-12
Accepted: 2022-01-16
Published Online: 2022-03-03
Published in Print: 2022-06-27

© 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Editorial
  3. Editorial
  4. Research Articles
  5. Do we need critical educational linguistics?
  6. Challenges in decolonizing linguistics: the politics of enregisterment and the divergent uptakes of translingualism
  7. Language proficiency: from description to prescription and back?
  8. The dark side of EMI?: a telling case for questioning assumptions about EMI in HE
  9. Researching and teaching (with) the continua of biliteracy
  10. Translanguaging and flows: towards an alternative conceptual model
  11. Bangla and the identity of the heritage language teacher
  12. Framing bilingualism within the context of a transnational border: place-based and place-conscious enactments for two kinds of bilingual youth in Laredo, Texas
  13. Implementation of multilingual mother tongue education in Cambodian public schools for indigenous ethnic minority students
https://doi.org/10.1515/eduling-2021-0007
Keywords for this article
English-medium instruction; Englishisation; individualism; internationalisation in HE; neoliberalism in HE; telling case

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Editorial
  3. Editorial
  4. Research Articles
  5. Do we need critical educational linguistics?
  6. Challenges in decolonizing linguistics: the politics of enregisterment and the divergent uptakes of translingualism
  7. Language proficiency: from description to prescription and back?
  8. The dark side of EMI?: a telling case for questioning assumptions about EMI in HE
  9. Researching and teaching (with) the continua of biliteracy
  10. Translanguaging and flows: towards an alternative conceptual model
  11. Bangla and the identity of the heritage language teacher
  12. Framing bilingualism within the context of a transnational border: place-based and place-conscious enactments for two kinds of bilingual youth in Laredo, Texas
  13. Implementation of multilingual mother tongue education in Cambodian public schools for indigenous ethnic minority students
Sign up now to receive a 20% welcome discount
Institutional Access
How does access work?
Have an idea on how to improve our website?
Please write us.
© 2025 De Gruyter Brill
Downloaded on 5.10.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/eduling-2021-0007/html
Scroll to top button