From profiling to pioneering

The first decade-and-a-half of the new millennium was a time of dramatic change for European universities. In response to the high level of competition on the international higher education market following the introduction of the Bologna process and the surging popularity of international rankings, universities are now looking for ways to differentiate themselves and their programmes. New English-taught programmes are increasingly seen as an opportunity to launch innovative curricula. This paper presents the results of a two-stage analysis of policy documents and expert interviews, revealing the drivers behind the decision to introduce English-medium education in the context of the ongoing internationalisation of higher education. The present study identified a shift in internationalisation efforts at WU Vienna University of Economics and Business, one of Europe’s largest business universities. While in the past decade the drivers behind the implementation of English-medium programmes were primarily connected to the university’s profile and reputation, the latest data show they are now characterised by the university’s aim to be perceived as an innovator and a pioneer.

Everyday logic about English in applied linguistic research

This contribution analyses the argumentative premises underlying applied linguistic research conducted in the area of English-medium instruction. Applied linguistics not only studies language as it is used in the real world but is widely understood as an approach through which real-world problems in matters of language can be solved. It comes as no surprise, therefore, that applied linguistics is commonly used as a diagnostic perspective in English-medium instruction (EMI) research where it aims to provide insight into issues in need of fixing or improvement. Such studies are not conducted in an argumentative vacuum: they are embedded in a background process of policymaking, debate and discussion by stakeholders and policymakers who are involved in the introduction of English as an international language in higher education. This paper aims to highlight the argumentative backdrop against which applied linguistic research into EMI is construed and legitimised. Analysing conference abstracts in the field of EMI, the paper seeks to draw attention to everyday logic and beliefs applied linguists engage in when submitting paper proposals for conferences. It calls for a critical applied linguistic research agenda which foregrounds the potential ideological effects everyday conceptualisations of language have on EMI research and, ultimately, on EMI policymaking.

English-medium education revisited

Connected to the growing internationalisation of higher education in the world, the English language is increasingly being used as medium of teaching and learning, thereby contributing to the roles of English for transnational mobility, career development, access to new information and research, and the facilitation of global communication. While the label English-medium instruction (EMI) has been widely used in the last two decades to capture this phenomenon, we consider it an unfortunate choice in that it falls short in conceptualising the complexity of English in twenty-first-century higher education. First, EMI solely focuses on English, ignoring the increasing multilingual realities of higher education institutions (HEIs) worldwide; secondly, EMI does not explicitly include reference to higher education, even though learning and teaching at the tertiary level is in crucial ways different to lower levels of education. Thirdly, EMI talks about “instruction” and thus views education as a non-relational process where teachers teach and learners learn. From this unilateral perspective, the co-construction of knowledge as a key feature of higher education remains unacknowledged. Against this backdrop, our paper sets out to argue for the conceptual need for an alternative label, known as English-medium education in multilingual university settings (or EMEMUS). This label, we argue, portrays more accurately and specifically the growing multilingual reality of current internationalised HEIs, the complex and highly situated roles that English plays in relation to other national and local languages, and the importance of interpreting education as a social-constructivist process. Moreover, EMEMUS will enable HEIs to re-examine comprehensively the range of activities that respond locally to global phenomena, from policy issues (e.g. regulations, implementation and management) to university practices (e.g. teaching, research, administration and teacher professional development) in an inclusive and multifaceted manner. Ultimately, this comprehensive conceptualisation aims to redefine English and internationalisation in a much more nuanced light.

Aligning glocal agendas for international education

In recent years, there has been growing interest amongst universities around the world on reflecting upon the contribution of higher education to a global society and exploring ways to broaden the curriculum to enable students to make a meaningful contribution to the world (de Wit et al. 2015). This paper will suggest that Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are at the centre of centripetal forces behind global and local agendas, as well as at the centre of centrifugal forces behind English-Medium Education (EME) that have provided friction favourable to enhancing the quality of education and initiate curricular reform at Karolinska Institutet (KI). At the global level, quality education has been defined by the United Nations through the universally adopted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), to be one that purposefully includes inclusion, global citizenship, appreciation of cultural diversity and culture’s contribution to sustainable development (UNESCO 2017). Nationally, the Swedish Ministry of Education’s internationalisation inquiry (Bladh et al. 2018) specifically links internationalisation to quality and to the integration of international understanding and intercultural competence in the curriculum. Locally, this has created conditions favourable for HEIs to align new strategic plans with this understanding of quality, bringing internationalisation to the forefront of their education programmes. At the same time, the introduction of EME in HE has acted as a catalyst for transforming pedagogy to support the acquisition of twenty-first-century skills (Coyle 2013; Dafouz and Smit 2020; Valcke and Wilkinson 2017). The question of language in HE, in combination with the necessary adaptation to global agendas, has thus led university teachers to consider the pedagogical, linguistic and cultural implications of their practices as they have never done before. Focusing on KI as a case in point, this paper attempts to address what the convergence of policies, from the global to the local, with classroom practices means for developing quality EME at university.

EMI, international visibility and competitiveness

One of the main goals of Spanish higher education is the consolidation of an internationalised university system through international visibility, attractiveness, competitiveness and collaboration. As the literature reports, English plays a relevant role in internationalisation strategies, so this paper examines the relationship between internationalisation and English in institutional documents. Corpus linguistics and critical discourse analysis were used to identify language-related strategies and interpret the language beliefs underlying the promotion of English in the Spanish university context. Results showed that the main language-related strategy was English-medium instruction (EMI) because it promotes the international visibility of universities and helps local students improve their foreign language competence. Measures to support bilingual education were found regarding language training and accreditation. Furthermore, the discourses of globalisation, excellence and employability support the position of English as the international language. Therefore, the introduction of English as another working language in the universities’ linguistic repertoire is widely accepted, although institutional support and constant language training measures are considered essential for the success of internationalisation goals.

English-medium education in internationalised universities: sketching a way forward

The increasing use of English as a medium of education (EME) in higher education has attracted an impressive amount of applied linguistic research, reflecting the pivotal role language plays in teaching and learning processes. This, however, stands in sharp contrast to the equally prolific body of research into the internationalisation of higher education (IoHE) in which the complex linguistic reality of EME - and its potential role in the internationalised classroom - is given little attention. Reviewing the current research and policy agenda, the authors find that the current policy climate offers similar opportunities for conceptual expansion of IoHE and EME, which calls for greater integration of the two fields of study. The authors argue for an interdisciplinary approach, recognising, and more holistically exploiting, the potential of language at the intersection of dynamic and multilayered policies and practices in twenty-first century internationalised higher education.

Two types of reflections about English as a medium of instruction

The worldwide introduction of English as a medium of instruction (EMI) programmes has stimulated numerous reflections within and outside academia. These reflections find their expression in both scholarly studies into EMI and public debates about its impact. In this article we argue that one can distinguish two types of reflections about EMI. The first type focuses on improving EMI. The second type focuses on the legitimation of EMI, that is whether EMI programmes are justified in view of their assumptions and consequences. We investigate the genesis and the differences between two separate discourses that express the different types of reflections. We unfold a history that shows that roughly three phases can be distinguished in the development of EMI: the incubation of EMI, its consolidation and its politicisation. We argue that the heuristic value of the two types of reflection is that they are conducive to comprehending this development of EMI and look at it with critical eyes. In addition, we suggest that politicised issues like the impact of Englishization on the cultural identity, language hierarchies, top-down implementations of language policies and the inequalities regarding the access to EMI programmes might be fruitfully addressed in terms of linguistic justice and democracy. By distinguishing two types of reflection, blind spots in EMI research can be revealed.