Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-d8cs5 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-31T05:22:49.714Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

2 - Conceptualisations of English in an Italian EMI Context

from Part I - Ideologies and Educational Policies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  aN Invalid Date NaN

By
Francesca Helm
Edited by
Seyyed-Abdolhamid Mirhosseini  and
Peter I. De Costa
Seyyed-Abdolhamid Mirhosseini
Affiliation:
University of Hong Kong
Peter I. De Costa
Affiliation:
Michigan State University
Get access

Summary

This chapter reports on ethnographic research carried out in an EMI course in an Italian higher education institution. The chapter starts with a brief overview of the recent, contested growth of EMI in Italy and a critical analysis of national policy documents to unveil the ideological underpinnings of EMI in this sociocultural context. This is followed by the presentation and discussion of findings of ethnographic research carried out over three years in a course designed to promote critical language awareness in an EMI context. The study looks at how students’ ideologies of language interact with those identified at the macro and meso levels, first of all by exploring the language portraits and biographies of a class of students at the beginning of their English-Taught Programme. This is followed by a more in-depth analysis of the portraits and biographies of three students who were interviewed one year later. This provides a longitudinal dimension to the research and insights into the changing nature of language ideologies and also linguistic repertoires.

Keywords

English Medium Instructionlanguage portraitlinguistic repertoirelanguage ideologiesinternationalisation
Type
Chapter
Information
Critical English Medium Instruction in Higher Education , pp. 19 - 36
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Almalaurea (2022). XXIV Indagine. Profilo dei Laureati 2021, Rapporto 2022. https://tinyurl.com/yn8zkxdzGoogle Scholar
Anzaldúa, G. (1987). How to tame a wild tongue. In Anzaldúa, G. (ed.), Borderlands la frontera: The new mestiza (pp. 53–64). Aunt Lute Books.Google Scholar
Basso, C., Longoni, D., & Paccagnella, A. (2022). Unipd nel mondo: Ieri, oggi, domani. In La Rocca, C. & Zornetta, G. (eds), Stranieri: Itinerari di vita studentesca tra 13 e 18 secolo (pp. 7–17). Donzelli Editore & Padova University Press.Google Scholar
Block, D. (2022). The dark side of EMI? A telling case for questioning assumptions about EMI in HE. Educational Linguistics, 1(1), 82–107. https://doi.org/10.1515/eduling-2021-0007CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Busch, B. (2012). The linguistic repertoire revisited. Applied Linguistics, 33(5), 503–523. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/ams056CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Busch, B. (2018). The language portrait in multilingualism research: Theoretical and methodological considerations. Working Papers in Urban Language & Literacies, Paper 236. https://tinyurl.com/4nmyez2hGoogle Scholar
Busch, B. (2021). The body image: Taking an evaluative stance towards semiotic resources. International Journal of Multilingualism, 18(2), 190–205. https://doi.org/10.1080/14790718.2021.1898618CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Canagarajah, S., & De Costa, P. I. (2016). Introduction: Scales analysis, and its uses and prospects in educational linguistics. Linguistics and Education, 34, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.linged.2015.09.001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cipolletta, S., Mercurio, A., & Pezzetta, R. (2021). Perceived social support and well-being of international students at an Italian university. Journal of International Students, 12(3), 613–632. https://doi.org/10.32674/jis.v12i3.3954CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coffey, S. (2015). Reframing teachers’ language knowledge through metaphor analysis of language portraits. Modern Language Journal, 99(3), 500–514. https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12235CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Costa, F. (2021). EMI stakeholders and research in the Italian context. Moving towards ICLHE? In Mastellotto, L. & Zanin, R. (eds), EMI and beyond: Internationalising higher education curricula in Italy (pp. 1–16). Bolzano University Press.Google Scholar
Crystal, D. (1997). English as a global language (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Dalziel, F., & Guarda, M. (2021). Student translanguaging practices in the EMI classroom: A study of Italian higher education. In Paulsrud, B., Tian, Z., & Toth, J. (eds), English Medium Instruction and translanguaging (pp. 124–140). Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781788927338-013Google Scholar
De Costa, P. I., Green-Eneix, C. A., & Li, W. (2022). Problematizing EMI language policy in a transnational world: China’s entry into the global higher education market. English Today, 38(2), 80–87. https://doi.org/10.1017/S026607842000005XCrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Martino, D., & Maraschio, N. (eds) (2012). Fuori l’italiano dall’università? Inglese, internazionalizzazione, politica linguistica. GLF editori Laterza.Google Scholar
Deng, M., & De Costa, P. (2020). We are fundamentally different: Investigating the language ideologies and language practices of an international STEM scholar. I-LanD Journal: Identity, Language and Diversity, 1, 37–66. https://doi.org/10.26379/IL2020001_003Google Scholar
de Sousa Santos, B. (2007). Beyond abyssal thinking: From global lines to ecologies of knowledges. Review (Fernand Braudel Center), 30(1), 45–89.Google Scholar
Diniz De Figueiredo, E. H., & Martinez, J. (2021). The locus of enunciation as a way to confront epistemological racism and decolonize scholarly knowledge. Applied Linguistics, 42(2), 355–359. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amz061CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Galetta, D.-U. (2021). Academic freedom and the use of native languages (the Italian ‘English-only’ saga and its downsides). In Seckelmann, M., Violini, L., Fraenkel-Haeberle, C., & Ragone, G. (eds), Academic freedom under pressure? (pp. 103–115). Springer International. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-77524-7_8CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guarda, M. (2022). Student perspectives on English-Medium Instruction: Insights from an Italian university. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003094098Google Scholar
hooks, bell (1994). Teaching to transgress: Education as the practice of freedom. Routledge.Google Scholar
Jackson, J. (2018). Intervening in the intercultural learning of L2 study abroad students: From research to practice. Language Teaching, 51(3), 365–382. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444816000392CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jordão, C. M., & Martinez, J. Z. (2021). Wines, bottles, crises: A decolonial perspective on Brazilian higher education. Revista Brasileira de Linguística Aplicada, 21, 577–604. https://doi.org/10.1590/1984-6398202117938CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kusters, A., & De Meulder, M. (2019). Language portraits: investigating embodied multilingual and multimodal repertoires. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung/Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 20(3). https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-20.3.3239Google Scholar
Kuteeva, M. (2020). Revisiting the ‘E’ in EMI: Students’ perceptions of standard English, lingua franca and translingual practices. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 23(3), 287–300. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2019.1637395CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MAECI-MIUR (2017). Strategia per la promozione all’estero della formazione superiore italiana 2017/2020. Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale & Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca. www.esteri.it/mae/resource/doc/2017/04/strategia_fsi.pdfGoogle Scholar
Maldonado-Torres, N. (2007). On the coloniality of being. Cultural Studies, 21(2–3), 240–270. https://doi.org/10.1080/09502380601162548CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mills, D. (2022). Decolonial perspectives on global higher education: Disassembling data infrastructures, reassembling the field. Oxford Review of Education, 48(4), 474–491. https://doi.org/10.1080/03054985.2022.2072285CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mirhosseini, S.-A. (2008). English and a world of diversities: Confrontation, appropriation, awareness. Applied Linguistics, 29(2), 312–317. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amn013CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mirhosseini, S.-A. (2018). Issues of ideology in English language education worldwide: An overview. Pedagogy, Culture & Society, 26 (1), 19–33. https://doi.org/10.1080/14681366.2017.1318415CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Murphy, A. C., & Zuaro, B. (2021). Internationalization vs Englishization in Italian higher education. Reframing the issue. In Wilkinson, R. & Gabriëls, R. (eds), The englishization of higher education in Europe (pp. 163–188). Amsterdam University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv21ptzknGoogle Scholar
Newbold, D. (2020). Shifting perspectives on native speaker teachers (and new roles for collaboratori linguistici?). Lingue e Linguaggi, 38, 321–336. https://doi.org/10.1285/I22390359V38P321Google Scholar
Ngũgı̃ wa Thiong’o. (1986). Decolonising the mind: The politics of language in African literature. J. Currey.Google Scholar
Pennycook, A. (2007). The myth of English as an international language. In Pennycook, A. & Makoni, S. (eds), Disinventing and reconstituting languages (pp. 90–115). Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Pennycook, A. (2008). English as a language always in translation. European Journal of English Studies, 12(1), 33–47. https://doi.org/10.1080/13825570801900521CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Piller, I. (2016). Linguistic diversity and social justice: An introduction to applied sociolinguistics. Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Piller, I., & Cho, J. (2013). Neoliberalism as language policy. Language in Society, 42(1), 23–44. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404512000887CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Preece, S. (2022). Developing the multilingual agenda in EMI higher educational institutions. ELT Journal, 76(2), 183–193. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccab087CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reynolds, A. (2019). Constructing lecturers’ language identities through EMI training. Recherche et pratiques pédagogiques en langues de spécialité. Cahiers de l’Apliut, 38(2). https://doi.org/10.4000/apliut.7210Google Scholar
Rugge, F. (2018). L’internazionalizzazione della formazione superiore in Italia. Le università. Fondazione CRUI. www2.crui.it/crui/CRUI_rapporto_interdigitale.pdfGoogle Scholar
Schmicheck, J. V., & Da Silva, A. B. (2021). Drawing the s(elf): Exploring individual repertories through autobiographical illustrations within the English as a Lingua Franca perspective. Revista X, 16(2), 409. https://doi.org/10.5380/rvx.v16i2.77286CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Souza, L. M. T. M. de. (2019). Glocal languages, coloniality and globalization from below. In Guilherme, M. & Menezes de Souza, L. M. T. (eds), Glocal Languages and Critical Intercultural Awareness (ch. 1). Routledge.Google Scholar
Souza, L. M. T. M. de, & Duboc, A. P. M. (2021). De-universalizing the decolonial: Between parentheses and falling skies. Gragoatá, 26(56), 876–911. https://doi.org/10.22409/gragoata.v26i56.51599CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Surtees, V. (2019). Challenging deficit constructions of the international student category in Canadian higher education. TESL Canada Journal, 36(1), 48–70. https://doi.org/10.18806/tesl.v36i1.1302CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×