The Influence of EMI on Teacher Identity in a Colombian University
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17533/udea.ikala.356438Keywords:
English medium instruction (EMI), teacher identity, identity conflict, identity renegotiation, Latin AmericaAbstract
English medium instruction (emi) is a growing initiative in Latin American higher education that requires instructors to adopt various roles. To understand this aspect better, this qualitative study explored how teaching emi classes affected the identity of a group of Colombian university instructors. Data gathered from semi-structured interviews and observations revealed that when teaching emi, instructors experienced a conflict among their professional, personal, and institutional identities, causing them to renegotiate their teaching self. The interplay of factors such as their perception as content experts, the need to provide language support, their pedagogical competence, their personal interest and proficiency in English, and their willingness to teach emi played a role in this conflict. These results highlight the need for instructors and institutions to face a possible identity reconfiguration to implement emi successfully. This article contributes to the theoretical and empirical understanding of teacher identity in emi in Latin America.
Downloads
References
Aguilar, M. (2018). Integrating intercultural competence in ESP and EMI: From theory to practice. ESP Today, 6(1), 25-43. https://doi.org/10.18485/esptoday.2018.6.1.2
Airey, J. (2020). The content lecturer and English-medium instruction (EMI): Epilogue to the special issue on EMI in higher education. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 23(3), 340-346. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2020.173229
Akkerman, S. F., & Meijer, P. C. (2011). A dialogical approach to conceptualizing teacher identity. Teaching and Teacher Education, 27(2), 308-319. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2010.08.013
Aliaga Salas, L., & Pérez Andrade, G. (2023). EMI in Latin America. In C. Griffiths (Ed.)., The practice of English as a medium of instruction (EMI) around the world. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-30613-6_9
Archila, P. A., Danies, G., Truscott de Mejía, A.-M., & Restrepo, S. (2022). Instructor practices and espoused beliefs about bilingual courses: The case of a Colombian university. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 25(7), 2682-2698. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2021.1947184
Archila, P. A., & Truscott de Mejía, A.-M. (2020). Bilingual university science courses: A questionnaire on professors’ practices and espoused beliefs. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 23(2), 132-152. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2017.1334756
ATLAS.ti Scientific Software Development GmbH [ATLAS.ti 22 Windows]. (2022). Retrieved from https://atlasti.com
Baker, W. (2009). The cultures of English as a lingua franca. TESOL Quarterly, 43(4), 567-592. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1545-7249.2009.tb00187.x
Baker, W., & Hüttner, J. (2019). We are not the language police: Comparing multilingual EMI programmes in Europe and Asia. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 29(1), 78-94. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijal.12246
Block, D. (2021). Emergent STEM lecturer identities: The shaping effects of EMI in action in an internationalised and Englishised HE context. Language Teaching, 54(3), 388-406. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444820000221
Chen, Y., & Peng, J. (2019). Continuing professional development of EMI teachers: A Chinese case study. Journal of Education for Teaching, 45(2), 219-222. https://doi.org/10.1080/02607476.2018.1548177
Cordingley, P., Crisp, B., Johns, P., Perry, T., Campbell, C., Bell, M., & Bradbury, M. (2019). Constructing teachers’ professional identities. Education International & UNESCO.
Corrales, K. A., Rey Paba, L, & Santiago Escamilla, N. (2016). Is EMI enough? Perception from university professors and students. Latin American Journal of Content and Language Integrated Learning, 9(2), 318-344. https://doi.org/10.5294/7094
Cots, J. M. (2013). Introducing English-medium instruction at the University of Lleida, Spain: Intervention, beliefs and practices. In A. Doiz, D. Lasagabaster, & J. M. Sierra (Eds.), English-medium instruction at universities (pp. 28–44). Multilingual Matters.
Dafouz, E. (2018). English-medium instruction and teacher education programmes in higher education: Ideological forces and imagined identities at work. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 21(5), 540-552. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2018.1487926
Dafouz, E. (2021). Crossing disciplinary boundaries: English-Medium Education (EME) meets English for specific purposes (ESP). Iberica, 41, 13-38.
Dafouz, E., & Gray, J. (2022). Rethinking the roles of ELT in English-medium education in multilingual university settings: An introduction. ELT Journal, 76(2), 163-171. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccab096
Dafouz, E., & Smit, U. (2020). ROAD-MAPPING English medium education in the internationalised university. Palgrave Macmillan.
Davey, R. (2013). The Professional identity of teacher educators: Career on the cusp? Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203584934
Day, C., Elliot, B., & Kington, A. (2005). Reform, standards and teacher identity: Challenges of sustaining commitment. Teaching and Teacher Education, 21(5), 563-577. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/J.TATE.2005.03.001
Dearden, J., & Macaro, E. (2016). Higher education teachers’ attitudes towards English medium instruction: A three-country comparison. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 6(3), 455-486. https://doi.org/10.14746/sllt.2016.6.3.5
Earls, C. W. (2016). Evolving agendas in European English-medium higher education: Interculturality, multilingualism and language policy. Palgrave Macmillan.
Escalona Sibaja, M. E. (2020). Professional development for EMI faculty in Mexico: The case of bilingual, international, and sustainable universities. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429329418
Fang, F., & Hu, G. (2022). English medium instruction, identity construction and negotiation of Teochew-speaking learners of English. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2022.2051711
Galman, S. (2009). Doth the lady protest too much? Pre-service teachers and the experience of dissonance as a catalyst for development. Teaching and Teacher Education, 25(3), 468-481. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2008.08.002
Galloway, N., Kriukow, J., & Numajiri, T. (2017). Internationalisation, higher education and the growing demand for English: An investigation into the English medium of instruction (EMI) movement in China and Japan. The British Council. https://englishagenda.britishcouncil.org/sites/default/files/attachments/h035_eltra_internationalisation_he_and_the_growing_demand_for_english_a4_final_web.pdf
Garza, T., Huerta, M., Lara-Alecio, R., Irby, B. J., & Tong, F. (2017). Pedagogical differences during a science and language intervention for English language learners. The Journal of Educational Research, 111(4), 487-496. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220671.2017.1302913
Gimenez, T., & Marson, M. (2022). Teacher education in English medium instruction settings: A partial view from Brazil. Ilha Desterro, 75(1), 156-172. https://doi.org/10.5007/2175-8026.2022.e82399
Guo, L., He., Y., & Wang, S. (2022). An evaluation of English-medium instruction in higher education: Influencing factors and effects. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2022.2107654
Hahl, K., Järvinen, H. M., & Juuti, K. (2016). Accommodating to English-medium instruction in teacher education in Finland. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 26(3), 291-310. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijal.12093
Hamid, M. O., Jahan, I. &, Islam, M. M. (2013). Medium of instruction policies and language practices, ideologies and institutional divides: Voices of teachers and students in a private university in Bangladesh. Current Issues in Language Planning, 14(1), 144-163. https://doi.org/10.1080/14664208.2013.771417
Hanna, F., Oostdam, R., Severiens, S. E., & Zijlstra, B. J. H. (2019). Domains of teacher identity: A review of quantitative measurement instruments. Educational Research Review, 27, 15-27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2019.01.003
Hellekjaer, G. O. (2010). Assessing lecture comprehension in Norwegian English-medium higher education. In C. Dalton-Puffer, T. Nikula, & U. Smit (Eds.), Language use and language learning in CLIL classrooms (pp. 233-258). John Benjamins.
Helm, F., & Guarda, M. (2015). Improvisation is not allowed in a second language: A survey of Italian lecturers’ concerns about teaching their subjects through English. Language Learning in Higher Education, 5(2), 353-373. https://doi.org/10.1515/cercles-2015-0017
Henriksen, B., Holmen, A., & Kling, J. (2019). English medium instruction in multilingual and multicultural universities: Academics’ voices from the Northern European context. Routledge.
Huang, Y. P. (2019). English-medium instruction in law and the humanities in higher education: The role of teacher identity. Higher Education Research & Development, 38(6), 1183-1196. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2019.1621269
Inbar-Lourie, O., & Donitsa-Schmidt, S. (2020). EMI Lecturers in international universities: Is a native/non-native English-speaking background relevant? International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 23(3), 301-313. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2019.1652558
Jupp, J. C., & Lensmire, T. J. (2016). Second-wave white teacher identity studies: Toward complexity and reflexivity in the racial conscientization of white teachers. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 29(8), 985-988. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2016.1189621
Karim, A., Kabilan, M., Sultana, S., & Ahmed, Z. (2022). English medium instruction in higher education: An attempt to understanding teacher identity in Malaysia and China. MEXTESOL Journal, 46(1), 1-16. Retrieved from http://www.mextesol.net/journal/index.php?page=journal&id_article=46245
Karousiou, C., Hajisoteriou, C., & Angelides, P. (2019). Teachers’ professional identity in super-diverse school settings: Teachers as agents of intercultural education. Teachers and Teaching, 25(2), 240-258. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2018.1544121
Kim, J., & Tatar, B. (2017). Nonnative English-speaking professors’ experiences of English-medium instruction and their perceived roles of the local language. Journal of Language, Identity & Education, 16(3), 157-171. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348458.2017.1295811
Kling, J. (2013). Teacher identity in English medium instruction: Teacher cognitions from a Danish tertiary education context. [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. University of Copenhagen. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281533463_Teacher_Identity_in_English-Medium_Instruction_Teacher_Cognitions_from_a_Danish_Tertiary_Education_Context
Kling, J., Dimova, S., & Molino, A. (2022). EMI teacher cognition. exploring lecturers’ experiences across Europe. In M. Christison, J. Crandall, & D. Christian (Eds.), Research on integrating language and content in diverse contexts (pp. 147-163.) Routledge.
Kuteeva, M., & Airey, J. (2014). Disciplinary differences in the use of English in higher education: Reflections on recent language policy developments. Higher Education, 67(5), 533-549. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-013-9660-6
Lara-Alecio, R., Irby, J. B., & Tong, F. (2013). The four-dimensional bilingual pedagogical theory. In J.B. Irby, G. Brown, R. Lara-Alecio, & S. Jackson (Eds.), The Handbook of educational theories (pp. 1129-1139). Information Age Publishing.
Lin, C. Y. (2023). English language education policy and EMI in higher education in Taiwan. In C. Hill, C. Y. Lin, & H. Y. Lai (Eds.), Supporting and learning from academics (pp. 113-123). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-9040-3_11
Lopes, A., & Pereira, F. (2012). Everyday life and everyday learning: The ways in which pre-service teacher education curriculum can encourage personal dimensions of teacher identity. European Journal of Teacher Education, 35(1), 17-38. https://doi.org/10.1080/02619768.2011.633995
Macaro, E., Curle, S., Pun, J., An, J., & Dearden, J. (2018). A systematic review of English medium instruction in higher education. Language Teaching, 51(1), 36-76. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444817000350
Merriam, S. (2009). Qualitative research. A guide to design and implementation. Jossey-Bass.
Moncada-Comas, B., & Block, D. (2021). CLIL-ised EMI in practice: Issues arising. The Language Learning Journal, 49(6), 686-698. https://doi.org/10.1080/09571736.2019.1660704
Nieto Moreno de Diezmas, E., & Fernández Barrera, A. (2021). Main challenges of EMI at the UCLM: Teachers’ perceptions on language proficiency, training and incentives. Alicante Journal of English Studies, 34, 39-61. https://doi.org/10.14198/raei.2021.34.02
Nowell, L. S., Norris, J. M., White, D. E., & Moules, N. J. (2017). Thematic analysis: Striving to meet the trustworthiness criteria. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 16(1), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406917733847
Pappa, S., & Moate, J. (2021). Teacher educators’ professional identity in English-medium instruction at a Finnish university. Center for Educational Policy Studies Journal, 11(3), 9-33. https://doi.org/10.26529/cepsj.1053
Park, S., Kim, S. Y., Lee, H. & Gyong Kim, E. (2022). Professional development for English-medium instruction professors at Korean universities. System, 109, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2022.102862
Pecorari, D., & Malmström. H. (2018). At the crossroads of TESOL and English medium instruction. TESOL Quarterly, 52(3), 497-515. https://www.jstor.org/stable/44987078
Pennington, M. C., & Richards, J. C. (2016). Teacher identity in language teaching: Integrating personal, contextual, and professional factors. RELC Journal, 47(1), 5-23. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0033688216631219
Perrin, S., & Wang, Y. (2022). The impact of “western teaching practices” on Chinese language teachers working in EMI Institutions in China: Perspectives, application and evaluation. In D. Lock, A. Caputo, D. Hack-Polay, & P. Igwe (Eds). Borderlands. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-05339-9_5
Qin, P. (2021). Exploring bilingual ideology and identity of EMI medical teachers and students in China’s mainland. Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education, 13(5S), 70-86. https://doi.org/10.32674/jcihe.v13i5S.4137
Richards, J. C. (2021). Teacher, learner and student-teacher identity in TESOL. RELC Journal, 54(1). 252-266. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033688221991308
Richards, J., & Pun, J. (2022). Teaching and learning in English medium instruction. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003191445
Rodrigues, F., & Mogarro, M. (2019). Student teachers’ professional identity: A review of research contributions. Educational Research Review, 28, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2019.100286
Song, J. (2016). Emotions and language teacher identity: Conflicts, vulnerability, and transformation. TESOL Quarterly, 50(3), 631-654. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.312
Tejada-Sánchez, I., & Molina-Naar, M. (2020). English medium instruction and the internationalization of higher education in Latin America: A case study from a Colombian university. Latin American Journal of Content & Language Integrated Learning, 13(2), 339-367. https://doi.org/10.5294/laclil.2020.13.2.8
Trent, J. (2017). Being a professor and doing EMI properly isn’t easy. An identity-theoretic investigation of content teachers’ attitudes towards EMI at a university in Hong Kong. In B. Fenton-Smith, P. Humphreys, & I. Walkinshaw (Eds.), English medium instruction in higher education in Asia-Pacific (pp. 221-239). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51976-0_12
Vähäsantanen, K. (2015). Professional agency in the stream of change: Understanding educational change and teachers’ professional identities. Teaching and Teacher Education, 47, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2014.11.006
Volchenkova, K. N., Nenakhova, A. A., & Egorova, E. Y. (2022). “It doesn’t scare me now!” Changes in teacher identity after EMI training. Bulletin of the South Ural State University. Ser. Education. Educational Sciences, 14(2), 108-122. https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=48591906
Wilkinson, R. (2018). Content and language integration at universities? Collaborative reflections. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 21(5), 607-615. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2018.1491948
Yuan, R. (2021). Taking up EMI in higher education: The complexities of teacher emotions. Journal of Language, Identity & Education, 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348458.2021.1955362
Zembylas, M., & Chubbuck, S. (2018). Conceptualizing “teacher identity:” A political approach. In P. A. Schutz, J. Hong, & D. C. Francis (Eds.), Research on teacher identity: Mapping challenges and innovations (pp. 183-193). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93836-3_16
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Categories
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Íkala, Revista de Lenguaje y Cultura
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
