Understanding EMI teachers' language beliefs and use in content-area classrooms at Chinese universities

Abstract

The study investigates English as a medium of instruction (EMI) teachers’ language beliefs and use in their content-area classrooms in Chinese university settings. The findings of the study reveal that EMI teachers generally value the importance of English and EMI courses in their subject teaching and professional development. While the teachers regard EMI to be vital for students’ academic learning, they also perceive that communicating in the first language (Chinese) is useful and, hence, they code-switch between Chinese and English at critical points in classroom interaction. However, as far as language-content integration is concerned, they still face challenges due to a lack of pedagogical awareness and competence as well as limited external support (e.g., EMI pedagogy training). The study provides some implications regarding the professional development of EMI teachers in higher education.