Towards a repertoire assemblage model of communicative competence in EMI in digitalisation

Other conference contribution, 2023

Research in EMI (English-medium instruction) has long been centered on English language-related competence. However, the rapid growth of digital learning in higher education calls for a new understanding of language and communication in EMI, especially the role of a wider range of communicative resources beyond language. In this talk, I explore a model of communicative competence for language education in EMI higher education from a repertoire perspective, which promotes a post-structuralist understanding of competence as a multi-faceted, dynamic, and distributed construct. Drawing on linguistic ethnographic data (observations, recorded student interactions, and interviews) collected from master’s level EMI programmes in Sweden, I will illustrate how the conceptualisation of communicative competence as assemblages of semiotic, community, and spatial repertoires can help language educators better understand (and facilitate) the way EMI students communicate and develop their language in the digital era.