New insights into the trend towards English as a medium of instruction in European higher education through transdisciplinary participation

Poikkitieteellinen yhteistyö ja sen tuomat uudet näkökohdat korkeakouluopetuksen englanninkielistymiseen Euroopassa

Authors

• Anna Kristina Hultgren The Open University https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2379-1290
• Marion Nao The Open University https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6300-4867
• Peter Wingrove The Open University https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2733-0213
• Dogan Yuksel The Open University https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9131-3907
• Beatrice Zuaro The Open University https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1464-6614

DOI: https://doi.org/10.30661/afinlavk.127850

Keywords:

transdisciplinary participation, English as a Medium of Instruction, academic governance

Abstract

The drive towards English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) in universities in non-English-dominant countries can generate heated debates, yet the drivers of EMI are still not fully understood. This position paper argues for transdisciplinary participation in order to shed new light on the drivers of EMI. Transdisciplinary participation is conceptualized as engaging with theories, methodologies and practices in other disciplines in order to approach a topical issue in a new way. We exemplify transdisciplinary participation as bringing together applied linguists and those involved in academic governance to re-theorize the rise of EMI as linked to steering at a distance governance reforms that have swept across the European higher education sector since the 1980s. Showcasing three cases from across Europe, we argue that steering at a distance may shed new light on the drivers of EMI. At a more general level, we highlight how disciplinary positioning shapes the creation of knowledge.