Training teachers for English Medium Instruction: lessons from research on second language listening comprehension

Abstract

CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) and EMI (English Medium Instruction) practices have outpaced theory and teacher training. There is a need to provide answers to some of the key issues such as the language requirements. This paper aims to show that knowledge from English for Specific Purposes and English for Academic Purposes, fields which have provided effective teaching practices and materials, could now be used in CLIL/EMI. The paper focuses on two of these. First, the issues related to second language academic listening comprehension and, secondly, the findings from research on it and their implications for student / lecturer training and materials design. These implications and suggestions are summarized. The paper concludes providing some language learning resources originally targeted to students but which could become tools for (self) training of those teachers who need to update their language skills for CLIL.

English medium instruction at tertiary level in turkey: a study of academics’ needs and perceptions

“…The findings of this study confirm those made by earlier researchers (Martin Del-Pozo, 2017;Mancho-Barés & Arnó-Macià, 2017;O'Dowd, 2018) who dealt with the training and certification of lecturers who wished to teach in an EMI programme. The findings of the current survey showed a real need for training to be provided by the university.…”

Capturing the situated, dynamic nature of EMI-lecture listening comprehension in real time

“…Candlin & Hadfield (2013), Rost (2002), andVandergrift (2007) argue that all L2 skills are initially founded on developing L2 listening skills. Moreover, while criticized for promoting outdated, passive, and shallow learning (Crawford Camiciottoli & Querol-Julián, 2016), lectures remain a defining feature of tertiary level education (Crawford Camiciottoli & Querol-Julián, 2016;Martín del Pozo, 2017). In addition to being a practical and (cost-)effective means of conveying information between experts and large numbers of students (Bligh, 2000;Parini, 2004), lectures provide information in an accessible manner (Penson, 2012) and give expert opinions (Lee, 2009) which promote learners' critical thinking.…”