Language Perceptions and Practices in Multilingual Universities

Abstract

English-medium instruction (EMI) is the use of English as an instructional language in locations where English is not the locally dominant language. EMI is used all over the world, in settings that range from preschool all the way up to graduate-level university education (Macaro et al., 2018). At each level of the educational system, the motivations for using EMI vary, as do the possible detriments of its use. Language Perceptions and Practices in Multilingual Universities, edited by Maria Kuteeva, Kathrin Kaufhold, and Niina Hynninen, explores a number of challenges that have arisen in recent years as a result of the adoption of EMI, specifically in European universities. But before delving into the difficulties of EMI that are explored in this book, one might first ask why a university would choose to use English as an instructional language in the first place.