EMI and Assumptions about Language Proficiency: PROFiLE and Language in the Disciplines

Other conference contribution, 2016

EMI comes with assumptions of increased language proficiency. But what is this incidental language proficiency increase really like if you are in an EMI-context in an EFL-country where English is not the everyday context? And does the incidental language learning obtained in English-speaking contexts even promote learning? Or is it the mobility we are mainly after as it were? At Chalmers university of technology, we have been involved in a three-year project to study incidental language proficiency improvement in EMI-programmes. I will try to report back on these programme students’ development and compare the EMI-approach to our integrated approach in order to discuss some of the challenges of both approaches.