Branka Drljača Margić and Irena Vodopija-Krstanović: Uncovering English-Medium Instruction: Glocal Issues in Higher Education

Extract

This book investigates the growing phenomenon of English-Medium Instruction (EMI) in non-Anglophone countries. Branka Drljača Margić and Irena Vodopija-Krstanović highlight the ‘glocal’ nature of EMI, presenting it as the outcome of international and global forces whose implementation reflects the needs, policies, and constraints of local settings. To illustrate this point, the authors undertake a detailed analysis of EMI at the University of Rijeka, Croatia, discussing policies, exploring stakeholder attitudes, and observing practices.

The book is divided into nine chapters. Chapter 1 serves as an introduction to the volume, while Chapter 2 reviews the advantages and disadvantages of education in English. The central chapters of the book focus on the setting under scrutiny. Chapter 3 describes a project that the authors undertook at the University of Rijeka to enhance the quality of EMI teaching. The two most notable outcomes are a mixed-methods study of EMI insiders and outsiders' perceptions and experiences (presented in the volume in Chapters 5–8) and the creation of a lecturer training programme, which was so well received that the participants asked to turn it into ‘a continuing professional development requirement’ (p. 28). Drljača Margić and Vodopija-Krstanović's project managed to achieve the ambitious goal of ‘a planned, quality-based implementation of EMI’ (p. 27), adopting a bottom-up approach grounded in research data. However, the formula for success was also due to the complete support of the top-level management, an important component in certain contexts for EMI research to feed findings into meaningful activities.