A critical approach to the rise of EMI: Why, how and by whom are decisions made?

Book chapter, 2025

English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) is linked with power and dominance; however, what Critical EMI might look like requires further clarification and illustration. In this chapter we offer one such example of a critical approach to EMI by presenting emerging findings from our project, ELEMENTAL – English as the Language-of-Education Mechanisms in Europe: New Transdisciplinary Approaches in Linguistics. ELEMENTAL borrows tools and concepts from political science to re-theorise the rise of EMI in European higher education (HE) as linked to governance reforms that have sought to deregulate the market and grant higher education institutions (HEIs) greater autonomy. While this so-called steering at a distance mode of governance differs in form and extent across Europe, it typically relies on steering tools such as key performance indicators, competitive funding formulae, institutional profiling, strategic development plans and other means of incentivising HEIs to enhance their performance. Presenting evidence from Turkish HE, we argue that steering at a distance may have played a role in paving the way for EMI or, at the very least, created a climate in which it can emerge and thrive. We conclude by considering the potential of transdisciplinarity as a way forward for a Critical EMI.