Designing EMI lecturer training programmes: what and how

This workshop will provide insights into designing and delivering English Medium Instruction (EMI) lecturer training. Although universities have been slow to organize EMI lecturer support, an increasing awareness of the challenges faced by EMI lecturers and their students now appears to be boosting the demand for EMI lecturer training and support initiatives. Consequently, EAP practitioners can increasingly expect requests to design and deliver such programmes. However, the efficient design and delivery of EMI lecturing training and support is a complex challenge. First, the EMI context is very varied and initiatives should be adapted to the local cultural, educational, linguistic and institutional contexts (Herington, 2020; Martinez & Fernandes, 2020; Tuomainen, 2018). Second, most literature highlights the need for language, pedagogical and intercultural components (e.g. Fortanet Gómez, 2020). Third, we need to be sensitive to lecturers’ attitudes towards EMI and EMI training (Tsui, 2018). Fourth, there are practical considerations such as the timely provision of support (Guarda & Helm, 2017), promoting participation, facilitating learning transfer to lectures, and optimizing the support in view of what are often heterogeneous participant groups in terms of English proficiency, (EMI) lecturing experience and discipline (Ball & Lindsay, 2013). Finally, the design of these programmes typically needs to happen with very limited institutional resources, few (if any) published materials and relatively little published research on lecture discourse and EMI lecturer training. The workshop will start with an overview of published training initiatives with their reported successes and challenges (Deroey, 2021). Next, participants will work in small groups, brainstorming ideas for an EMI support programme based on a brief we have recently received at the multilingual University of Luxembourg Language Centre. Finally, these proposals will be discussed in the whole group and key ideas summarized to consolidate the insights gained. Ball, P., & Lindsay, D. (2013). Language demands and support for English-medium instruction in tertiary education. Learning from a specific context In A. Doiz, D. Lasagabaster, & J. M. Sierra (Eds.), English-medium instruction at universities: Global challenges (pp. 44-61). Bristol: Multilingual Matters. -Deroey, K. L. B. (2021). Lecturer training for English Medium Instruction: what and how? In B. D. Bond, A. & M. Evans (Ed.), Innovation, exploration and transformation. Proceedings of the 2019 BALEAP Conference. Reading: Garnet. -Fortanet Gómez, I. (2020). The dimensions of EMI in the international classroom: training teachers for the future university. In M. Del Mar Sánchez-Pérez (Ed.), Teacher training for English-medium instruction in higher education (pp. 1-20). Hershey: IGI Global. -Guarda, M., & Helm, F. (2017). A survey of lecturers’ needs and feedback on EMI training. In K. Ackerley, M. Guarda, & F. Helm (Eds.), Sharing perspectives on English-medium instruction (pp. 167-194). Bern: Peter Lang. -Herington, R. (2020). Observation as a tool to facilitate the professional development of teaching faculty involved in English as a Medium of Instruction: trainer and trainee perspectives. In M. L. Carrió-Pasto (Ed.), Internationalising Learning in Higher Education (pp. 65-82). Hershey: IGI Global. -Martinez, R., & Fernandes, K. (2020). Development of a teacher training course for English medium instruction for higher education professors in Brazil. In M. Del Mar Sánchez-Pérez (Ed.), Teacher Training for English-Medium Instruction in Higher Education (pp. 125-152). Hershey: IGI Global. -Tuomainen, S. (2018). Supporting non-native university lecturers with English-medium instruction. Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education. 10(3), 230-242. -Tsui, C. (2018). Teacher efficacy: a case study of faculty beliefs in an English-medium instruction teacher training program. Taiwan Journal of TESOL, 15(1), 101-128