Further reading
Ball, P., Kelly, K., & Clegg, J. (2015). Putting CLIL into Practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Coyle, D., Hood, P., & Marsh, D. (2010). Content and language integrated learning. Cambridge: Cambrigde University Press.
Dearden, J. (2015). English as a medium of instruction – a growing global phenomenon. London: The British Council. Retrieved from www.britishcouncil.org on 15 August 2019.
Fortanet-Gómez, I. (2013). CLIL in Higher Education. Towards a Multilingual Language Policy. Bristol/Buffalo/Toronto: Multilingual Matters.
Gundermann, S. (2014). English-medium instruction: modelling the role of the native speaker in a lingua franca context. Doctoral dissertation, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg.
Lawrence, C., Inbar-Lourie, O., & Weinberg, K. (2017). A Handbook for English-Medium Instruction in Institutions of Higher Education in Israel. Retrieved from https://tempus-ecostar.iucc.ac.il/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/EMI-BOOK-ATAR.pdf on 15 August 2019.
Mehisto, P., Marsh, D., & Frigols, M. J. (2008). Uncovering CLIL. Content and language integrated learning in bilingual and multilingual education. Oxford: Macmillan.
Wächter, B. & Maiworm, F. (eds.). (2014). English-Taught Programmes in European Higher Education: The State of Play in 2014. Bonn: Lemmens. Retrieved from www.aca-secretariat.be/index.php?id=792 on 15 August 2019.
English-medium teaching: areas of expertise
2 Making it work: What is needed to succeed in English-medium teaching?
When you ask me what I think is the most important factor for succeeding in English-medium teaching, I can answer quickly: practice. I firmly believe we become better English-medium teachers by simply going into the classroom and doing it. I know extremely few people – and I am sure you do not know many either – who have learnt to ride a bike by looking at other people on bicycles, by talking, reading or writing articles about it, by creating theoretical models of cycling and presenting them at conferences or, even, by writing blogs about cycling or watching online video tutorials. The same is true for teaching in English: We learn it by doing it. And this does not change when we call the whole thing “embedded social practice”.
Now I can almost hear you object: ‘But I know this! Why do you state all these things that are completely obvious?!’ Well, that is probably because I agree with Erich Kästner, the well-known German writer, who once said that knowledge alone does not turn people into good teachers.1 I am convinced that you know most, if not all, of the things I have been saying on the previous pages; and this may not change much as you continue reading. However, especially in professional contexts, we sometimes make choices intuitively without being aware of whether they are useful, and why. Therefore, every now and then, we are well-advised to step back and reflect on
the choices we have made,
what we have learnt from these choices, and
whether the competences or skills we have acquired as a consequence of these choices are still the ones we need, or
how we could expand our knowledge and develop our skills in other, more efficient and effective ways.
Hence, I invite you to be open for some food for thought, and for becoming an even better teacher of your subject in English.
Lecturers who attend my workshops sometimes expect that they will turn into confident, fluent, near-native speakers of English in one day. Of course, that is not how it works. Mastering a language takes time, practice, and many opportunities to speak without being afraid of making mistakes. But it does not end there. I see way too many individual lecturers who are burdened with the responsibility of making English-medium teaching work. Yet, not individuals but whole institutions of higher education are responsible for ensuring that their teaching and adminstrative staff and their students are provided with structural, professional support for learning the language (cf. Hochschulrektorenkonferenz 2011). And there are more issues that deserve attention. The following four areas need to be dealt with, early and profoundly, if English-medium teaching in academia is to become more than a one-semester hype:
1 subject matter knowledge,
2 general English language skills,
3 didactics / educational skills, and
4 academic language.
The next sections look more closely at each of these areas.
References and further reading
Hochschulrektorenkonferenz (2011). Sprachenpolitik an deutschen Hochschulen. Empfehlung der 11. Mitgliederversammlung der HRK am 22. 11. 2011. Retrieved from www.hrk.de/uploads/media/Empfehlung_Sprachenpolitik_MV_22112011.pdf on 15 August 2019.
2.1 Subject matter knowledge
Your interest and expertise in your subject matter are probably the foremost reasons why at a certain point in your career (last week, or many years ago) you suddenly found yourself in front of a group of students, trying to share with them some of the things that interest and fascinate you.
I assume that you have spent most years of your professional career acquiring and expanding your subject matter knowledge. Depending on whether you are affiliated to a university or a university of applied sciences, and depending on your discipline (used here in the sense of “academic specialisation”, not your willingness to work hard), this will have happened to varying extents within and outside academic settings.
Certainly, you are aware of the fact that to teach your subject matter in English, you need to know what you are talking about. In our context, let us focus on the language element of this endeavour. In other words, I want to draw your attention to terminology, i.e., subject-specific terms and phrases: To teach your subject matter, you need to understand it, and you need to be able to use the correct words to share your knowledge, understanding, and expertise.
Depending on your specific field of research, you may feel comfortable about reading English texts – or not. Over time, you may have turned into a more (or less) experienced writer of research-related genres such as papers, articles, conference abstracts, grant proposals, a doctoral dissertation, habilitation thesis, etc. In sum, both your passive and active knowledge of English terminology may be considerable, whether you are aware of it or not.
In addition, by pursuing an academic career and having survived it to this day (more or less successfully and happily), you must have proven that you are able and willing to study. So here is the good news: As you are facing the challenge of sharing your content expertise in English, the first thing you need to do is simple: Learn the words. Study the terminology. Master your subject’s vocabulary.
No, this does not happen overnight – or within a one-day workshop. But there is no magic about it either. It just takes some time and focused effort because you already know how to do it. You just need to do it. Here are some ideas, or reminders, how you could approach this (with thanks to numerous colleagues and former workshop participants):
Read English textbooks, books, papers, journal articles, and professional blogs on your subject. The trick here is to “take off your content glasses” and to “put on your