Emplementing English Medium of Instruction in a Specialized University Setting: Benefits and Pitfalls

Prof. Jolita Horbacauskiene, Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania;

Abstract: Students’ academic skills, learning styles, level of content knowledge, academic practices, and varying ethical standards are considered to be the main problemic issues faced in multilingual and multicultural classrooms in delivering discipline content in EMI. The change in learning and teaching language may deeply affect not only students but also lecturers (Dearden, 2015). The current study seeks to analyze the approach of university students and lecturers to learning and teaching disciplinary content in English as a medium of instruction. The study is conducted in one of the largest technological universities in the Baltic states, hosting a rapidly increasing number of international students and international academic staff. The participants represented students of faculties of the technological and social sciences and teachers delivering classes in EMI. The results suggest that students highlight the fluency in knowledge transference and communication during the classes in EMI as the most important factor while teachers focus  more on the challenges than the benefits this practice brings.

Key words: English medium of instruction; specialized university; students and teachers‘ approach towards EMI.