Lecture Series
Revisiting English Medium Instruction in Higher Education in “an Era of Deglobalization”
Prof. TSUI, Amy B. M.
Chair Professor of the Department of English, National Taiwan Normal University
Emeritus Professor, Faculty of Education, University of Hong Kong
Date: 2025/02/27
Venue:National Taiwan Normal University
Abstract:
In a British Council global survey on English-medium instruction (EMI) of over 50 countries (2014), EMI was described as “a growing global phenomenon”. It has been suggested that EMI is an unstoppable train which has already left the station. However, in the past decade, the country with the highest number of English learners in the world, China, is “turning away from” and “losing interest in” English, noted The Economist (2/ 2022 and 12/2024). Learning English is no longer a priority for businessmen and students: The “English fever” (yingyue re), once rampant in China, has waned. A similar trend can be observed in Asian countries, such as South Korea, and to a lesser extent in Japan. In some European countries, such as Denmark and The Netherlands, measures have been taken to reduce the number of EMI programmes. This trend begs the following questions:
- Do we still need English as we move into “an era of deglobalization”?
- Will English still be the lingua franca in academia?
- Is the promotion of EMI in higher education as an essential part of the national bilingual policy in Taiwan misguided?
In this lecture, I will try to address these questions through examining data provided by various reports and research studies.
The challenge of implementing EMI cannot be over-emphasized, particularly in the context of Taiwan where English is seldom used for social and official purposes. Much has been written about implementation at policy level in the EMI research literature. In this lecture, I will focus on the issues and challenges of implementation at the chalk face, drawing on data from my collaborative research with university teachers on their own disciplinary teaching at two benchmark universities in Taiwan.
About the speaker
Professor Amy B. M. Tsui, a Yushan Fellow and Chair Professor in the Department of English at National Taiwan Normal University, as well as Professor Emeritus at the University of Hong Kong, is a renowned expert in applied linguistics. Her research spans discourse analysis, teachers’ professional development, and language policy, with a focus on multilingual education. A prolific scholar, she has shaped global understanding of language teaching and learning, earning international recognition.