The Synergy between Eap (English for Academic Purposes) and Emi (English as a Medium of Instruction) in Engineering Education (Part II)

Globalization of higher education has led to increasing demand for English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) courses in many non-native English speaking countries of the world. Universities that aim to attain competitive advantages and to attract international enrollments have encouraged content teachers to adopt the use of EMI in class. Understandably, this growing phenomenon has caused anxiety of content teachers, who receive no training in English language teaching but are asked to teach academic subject knowledge in a language that is neither the teacher’s nor students’ first language. In Taiwan, the launch of EMI courses has been encouraged by MOE and in various degrees adopted by more and more universities. From the perspective of Taiwan’s language education community, this growing trend of language and content integration is positive for several reasons. Firstly, the development of EMI will mean that EAP training for college students will become more important in the university curricula and that EAP and EMI teachers are encouraged to work together to actively develop comprehensive language training that best prepare college students for a globally integrated world. Secondly, the growing trend of EMI courses will mean that EAP teachers are to design curricula with EMI classrooms in mind, and then they will have incentives to ensure that target skills are transferred. Thirdly, as the launch of EMI courses allows college students to use EAP skills in authentic situations, the trend will also likely inspire content teachers to examine and align course aims with students’ professional needs in advanced studies or in the workplace. Thus, the researcher proposed a three-year project addressing the following questions: 1. What are the general rules for EMI pedagogy? (e.g. teacher role, methods, language management, assessment, teaching evaluation, code-switching, a standard level of English proficiency) 2. How EAP can facilitate EMI teaching and learning? 3. How to evaluate EAP learning transfer? 4. How does an efficient EMI framework look like? (e.g. evaluation, language management, classroom interaction, etc.) This current proposal is gear toward the second and third years of the same research proposal. After reviewing related literature, investigating EMI implementations in Taiwan and conducting several EMI teacher trainings for the first year, in the current proposed two-year project, using engineering education as an example, the researcher will focus on EMI classroom practices about teacher roles, methods, language management, assessment, and other issues related to EMI teaching and learning. Furthermore, how learning can be transferred or evaluated and the establishment of an effective EMI framework will also be investigated. The anticipated results of the project should enable university management, the language teaching community, and EMI teachers a better understanding toward effective EMI program design, curriculum development and implementation. In turn, the better synergy of EAP and EMI will mean a more comprehensive English skill building for college students who will be more prepared for advance studies or the workplace.