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At the end of the first decade of this new millennium, it is time to reflect on English Language Teaching (ELT) research and practice, due to the fact that English has become the global lingua franca and inevitably the communicative use of this global language has been promoted. Throughout its history, English Language Teaching (henceforth, ELT) and its research has been influenced by the way language, in general, has been understood, thought to be learned and needed to be used in given time periods. In other words, the ideas defining language (linguistic paradigms), the leading theories attempting to determine how it is acquired and the particular social demand for its implementation have determined the type of research carried out to find out how English can be taught best in the particular temporal and social context.In this introduction of the special issue on ELT we reflect on the progress of English teaching research mainly in higher education. We start with a brief review of the field by examining the three most influential factors, i.e., the linguistic, psychological and sociological realms or paradigms that have determined its research and practice to the present day. Secondly, we examine the significant developments in the state of the English language, recent European educational and language legislation, as well as the technological advances that have also played a predominant role in characterizing ELT methodology today. As is evidenced by the articles found in this volume of "Research on Teaching in English: Secondary and Higher Education", many studies have focused on the pedagogical procedures used in Spanish tertiary education, influenced by the creation of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) and the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), to facilitate the use of language for the academic and future professional lives of English language learners.

The increase of English-medium instruction (EMI) in higher education has encouraged institutions to provide their academic staff with professional development courses. In this paper, we present the case study of Prof-teaching, a comprehensive EMI teacher training program at a Spanish university with a digital, linguistic and pedagogical approach. The main objective is to determine if the program meets the needs of the institution's current and prospective EMI lecturers. For this purpose, the university context, the key factors that promoted the program, and the objectives and components of its three modules are described. Then, a survey is conducted to gather demographic data and information about Prof-teaching participants' experience, motivation, needs and challenges in relation to EMI. Among the most interesting results was that experienced EMI lecturers claimed that pedagogical training was more important than developing linguistic competence, whereas inexperienced teachers were more concerned with their level of English. In general, the findings of the survey and final course evaluation questionnaires provide evidence of the benefits of the Prof-teaching EMI professional development program. The paper highlights the importance of collaborative efforts among university units to implement EMI teacher training initiatives, as well as conducting periodic needs analysis and quality evaluations. In addition, it is recommended that programs provide lecturers with support technology and that they include mentoring schemes with previously trained EMI content lecturers who already have experience in teaching their subjects in English.

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The increase of English-medium instruction (EMI) in higher education has encouraged institutions to provide their academic staff with professional development courses. In this paper, we present the case study of Prof-teaching, a comprehensive EMI teacher training program at a Spanish university with a digital, linguistic and pedagogical approach. The main objective is to determine if the program meets the needs of the institution's current and prospective EMI lecturers. For this purpose, the university context, the key factors that promoted the program, and the objectives and components of its three modules are described. Then, a survey is conducted to gather demographic data and information about Prof-teaching participants' experience, motivation, needs and challenges in relation to EMI. Among the most interesting results was that experienced EMI lecturers claimed that pedagogical training was more important than developing linguistic competence, whereas inexperienced teachers were more concerned with their level of English. In general, the findings of the survey and final course evaluation questionnaires provide evidence of the benefits of the Prof-teaching EMI professional development program. The paper highlights the importance of collaborative efforts among university units to implement EMI teacher training initiatives, as well as conducting periodic needs analysis and quality evaluations. In addition, it is recommended that programs provide lecturers with support technology and that they include mentoring schemes with previously trained EMI content lecturers who already have experience in teaching their subjects in English.