English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) at higher education institutions (HEIs) is gradually becoming more and more important and has a unique range of issues clearly different from those of EAP and ESP. EMI in higher education can facilitate the growth of the Russian Higher Education export potential and help each and every HEI move up the university rankings due to the growing numbers of international students. There is clearly a need for more university courses taught in English andEMI in higher education has already been discussed extensively in a number of international scholarly journals promoting globalization and internationalization of higher education. Since 2014 Oxford University Department of Education (OUDE) launched a new research centre which has been conducting research into English as a Medium of Instruction and delivers and teachers professional development programmes for teachers and lecturers.
A small-scale research has been made to find out what kind of professional support is currently available for university faculty teaching and lecturing in English. The research has been limited to massive open online course (MOOC) platforms and international teaching qualifications providers. A brief outline of the research findings with an overview of the EMI-related MOOCs targeted at university faculty will be offered. A detailed comparative analysis of the following MOOCs will be presented: “English as a Medium of Instruction for Academics” developed by the University of Southampton on the “FutureLearn” platform and “English for Teaching Purposes” developed by the Open University of Barcelona on the “Coursera” platform. The comparative analysis will cover the following course variables: syllabus statement, assessment, methods and techniques, level of support, resources and learning outcomes.
This talk is aimed at the university faculty and everybody working in higher education who are already or will be working in academic international contexts in English with international cohorts of students in a global classroom.