Prof. HU Guangwei, Department of English and Communication

English-medium instruction in higher education: Problems encountered and lessons learned. The 2022 Bilingual Education, Innovative Teaching and Assessment Conference. Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Tainan, Taiwan (hybrid mode), 28 October 2022.

Abstract
The past few decades have seen escalating national and institutional efforts to internationalize higher education around the world. One current, widely adopted strategy is to provide English-medium instruction (EMI) in educational contexts where English is a foreign language. As a curricular strategy intended to internationalize tertiary institutions and improve the quality of higher education, EMI has enjoyed strong policy support in many Asian universities. However, such policy support is often not based on empirical research conducted in the Asian contexts and loses touch with the reality on the ground. In this presentation, I will start with an examination of the driving forces behind the rapid spread of EMI. I will then share the findings of several studies I have conducted on EMI in a number of Chinese universities to provide a Chinese perspective on the many thorny issues and challenges of EMI. In conclusion, I will discuss the implications of these studies for endeavors to implement EMI in Chinese and other EFL contexts.