English Medium Instruction in Higher Education: Global Trends, Challenges, and the Call for Multilingual Approaches

Abstract

This review article examines the widespread adoption of English Medium Instruction (EMI) in higher education, driven by globalization and the need to prepare students for the international job market. While EMI aims to enhance English proficiency and academic and employment prospects, it also presents challenges in terms of linguistic equity, pedagogical effectiveness, and the academic success of students. Through a synthesis of research, this review explores the implications and challenges of EMI and scrutinizes the assumption that EMI inherently improves English proficiency alongside content learning. The article also critiques the monolingual ideology of EMI policies and advocates for the recent call by researchers for a multilingual approach that includes translanguaging practices to better accommodate the linguistic diversity of student populations. In doing so, it highlights the need for a critical reassessment of EMI implementation based on the suggestion that by integrating students' wider linguistic resources, EMI can evolve from its monolingual origins to embrace a more effective and equitable multilingual framework.

Keywords

• english medium instruction
• language proficiency
• english-only policy
• multilingual education
• translanguaging