Systematic review of English Medium Instruction

Ernesto Macaro (with Samantha Seiter, Jiangshan An, Jack Pun, Julie Dearden), Centre for Research and Development in English Medium Instruction, University of Oxford, gives a talk for the EMI Symposium. The exponential growth of English Medium Instruction (EMI) in Higher Education (HE) globally has driven a similar growth of empirical research on the subject. Of necessity this research to date has been exploratory, single institution-oriented and lacking a clear research agenda that a more established community of practice could have ensured. Moreover, HE research appears to be almost completely isolated, in its conceptualization, from EMI research in earlier phases of education despite the challenges that students might face as they transition from one phase to another. At EMI Oxford, we have carried out an extensive systematic review of EMI research worldwide. I will begin by presenting an overview of this research by brie y comparing the eld in the different phases of education. I will then focus on a synthesis of 83 studies undertaken in the HE sector before outlining what kind of research still needs to be undertaken in order to better inform EMI teachers, students and policy makers.