Page 23 - ELG1903 Mar-Apr Issue 464

SPECIAL FEATURE

When English Medium is the message
When English Medium is the message

English as a Medium of Instruction is right at the top of the agenda for
Trevor Grimshaw. He tells Melanie Butler why.

When Trevor first told people that his More than 80 per cent of respondents discipline of EMI and that of ELT.
university would offer a Masters degree in answered ‘no’. Multiliteracies, translanguaging and
English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) By 2022, according to research by plurilingualism replace the native speaker
(in addition to their well-established MA University of Bath’s own Tristan Bunnell, models of much of 20th-century second
TESOL), eyebrows were raised. there will be 11,000 English-medium language acquisition. In the area of
“You want to launch another programme international schools world-wide, employing intercultural communication (IC), one
about English teaching?” came the reply. “But 500,000 English speaking teachers. Not of Trevor’s own research interests, the
you’ve already got one of those!” to mention the teachers needed for the 29 emphasis is on taking a critical view because,
How different is EMI from good, old million children currently in India’s English “in a world where the EMI learner is forced
language teaching? One way of describing medium schools. to interact, classical IC theory can be part
it, says Trevor, is as a cline. On one end, we Until now the only training available has of the problem because of its reliance on
have language-focused teaching, and at the been short courses, or single units of study in cultural stereotypes.”
other sits EMI. In the middle, we move from a post graduate course. Yet, as Trevor says, He also addresses the importance of
task-based learning though content-based there is a growing research base in EMI, with context in forming EMI policy, saying, “We
instruction, CLIL and bilingual teaching. a mass of academic publications on the subject put a lot of emphasis on this at University of
The paradigm is shifting and it’s shifting in recent years. Teachers and leaders need to Bath; it is one of the fundamental principles
towards EMI. engage with this research. of the MA TESOL.”
All over the world, as Trevor points “You cannot get this research element So here, at least, the new world of EMI links
out, there are millions of people who are from a short teacher training course,” Trevor to the familiar world of ELT.
moving along the EMI-cline, but they do commented. The launch of the Bath MA is
not necessarily know that they are doing designed to help fill the gap by balancing the
it because they call it by so many different growing body of research and the practical TREVOR GRIMSHAW
names. Even when we talk about bilingual needs of classroom teachers. is a Senior Lecturer in the
education, we normally expect that one of the Says Trevor, “The phrase – well, slogan Department of Education,
languages is English. – I like to use is: research led teaching and in the Centre for the Study
In a survey commissioned by the British teaching led research.” of Education in an Inter-
Council in 2014, Julie Dearden asked: ‘Are A quick look at the Bath programme national Context at the
there enough qualified EMI Teachers?’ highlights the difference between the University of Bath.

MA English as a Medium of Instruction

New for September 2019

Acquire specialised knowledge, skills and
expertise in the rapidly-expanding area of
English as a Medium of Instruction with this
new one year, full-time master’s degree at
the University of Bath.

• Gain specialist knowledge and skills for the
teaching of academic subjects in English
• Apply appropriate EMI practice and policy
to suit your context
• Develop effective teaching materials to suit
students’ learning needs
• Draw on research to inform daily practice
and decision making

Explore the course: go.bath.ac.uk/ma-english-medium

editorial@elgazette.com 23