English Medium Instruction (EMI) has been defined as 'the use of the English language to teach academic subjects (other than English itself) in countries or jurisdictions where the first language (L1) of the majority of the population is not English' (Macaro, 2018, p. 19). This definition has proved to be controversial but has underpinned the work…

Teachers in English-medium classrooms can support students' translingual composing by inviting students to write using all their language resources. However, students in these contexts often express hesitancy about their ability to spell in languages beyond English. This article describes support strategies teachers can use to scaffold students'…

The concept of Dominant Language Constellations (DLC) is complementary to the notion of language repertoire. It denotes the set of a person's most expedient languages, functioning as an entire unit and enabling an individual to meet all their needs in a multilingual environment. While a language repertoire refers to the totality of linguistic…

This paper revisits the main thoughts of the Filipino historian and social critic Renato Constantino on the role of education in the formation of a neocolonial and postcolonial consciousness. It suggests that Constantino's critical stance towards education embodies a type of philosophizing about education that centers on the problematization of…

The Introduction to this Special Issue on ELT and English-medium education in multilingual university settings provides a picture of the dynamic backdrop to the issues addressed by our contributing writers. We begin with a reflection on the nature of ELT and then move to a discussion of the specific nature of English-medium education in higher…

This chapter describes and analyses visual linguistic autobiographies of Spanish and French student teachers at Hamburg University, making use of the Dominant Language Constellation (DLC) perspective. In order to determine, compare and explain the constellations depicted by the two groups, the author makes use of dynamic systems' theory and…

Although it has grown at an exponential rate globally, English medium instruction's (EMI) conceptually problematic nature steered more confusion than clarity and consensus in the contexts of higher education (HE). In the field literature, the dominant paradigm pertains to descriptive statements rather than definitions and research seemed to reach…

In this position paper, we draw from previous research and theoretical developments in the field to propose a set of affordances of engineering with English learners (ELs). Students learning both the language of instruction (e.g., English) and academic subject matter (e.g., engineering, mathematics, science) face the challenge of making sense of…

To address the evidence gap in making effective language of instruction (LOI) decisions, we propose a systematic review of the role of LOI choices in education programs and policies on literacy outcomes in multilingual educational contexts in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Grounded in a multidisciplinary theory of change (ToC)…

University classrooms are increasingly populated by students with diverse nationalities and native languages (L1). The growing number of students in English-led classrooms who speak English as a second or lower language (L2) may face added difficulties in understanding the specific task objectives or directions, as explained by native-…

Language education policy in Arizona has been on a rollercoaster over the last five years. Between 2019 and 2024, the state shifted from strict English-only enforcement to loosening restrictions and encouraging dual language approaches, then back to strict English-only enforcement. In this forum piece, we use approaches from critical discourse…

"Accent work" is a term used to describe the preparatory work that professional actors undergo to attain a speech accent for a role. However, this article presents international teaching assistants (ITAs) as another set of workers who engage in their own type of accent work. Since the accents of ITAs are constructed as…

To investigate how the process of peripheralisation usurps internationalisation experiences within the global higher education centres, this article draws on two separate case studies, one conducted in Finland and the other in the UK. In both contexts, Anglophone hegemony plays an important role, but in different manners. In the Finnish case,…

With the expanding role of English medium instruction (EMI) worldwide there has been an increasing use of English to teach content subjects at tertiary level. In implementing EMI a common assumption has been that the primary issue affecting successful EMI is the English proficiency level of the EMI instructor. This paper reviews this assumption by…

With the rise of multilingualism and the use of a local variety of English in Hong Kong, the current article proposes a framework for EMI teacher training for university teachers ("WEMTT-Framework") to expose them not only to a theory of World Englishes but also a practicum of teaching in multilingual settings. Even though Hong Kong has…