English as a medium of instruction in higher education across Europe provides marketing opportunities for non-native speaking countries and is becoming more widely accepted by governments and institutions, according to discussions in Spain last week.
A two-day event organised by the British Council and Madrid-based IE University brought together EU policy makers and university leaders to consider the role of English in institutions. While attitudes toward EMI are shifting, delegates concluded that further guidelines and principles are necessary to maintain quality standards.
English tuition is on the rise across Europe, with an increase of 30% in the number of degrees taught entirely in English in Spain alone, according to the Spain’s British Council director, Rod Pryde. He added that 52 of 89 Spanish HEIs now offer English-taught Bachelor’s programmes.
“Universities have to globalise their teaching, and that means focusing on English as a tool to bring together students and faculty from all over the world”
According to research by the Institute of International Education, fully or partially English-based programmes now account for almost a third of taught Masters courses in continental Europe. The number of English taught Masters programmes listed on the course listings website Mastersportal.eu rose by 38% to 6,407 between December 2011 and June 2013.
The Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, France and Spain were found to be the top host countries for English-taught Masters.
Santiago Iñiguez, President of IE University and Dean of IE Business School– which teaches almost all of its programmes in English – said English taught courses are a necessity in a globalised world.
“Universities are not anymore the sole producers of knowledge but hubs where this knowledge from all around the world is compiled and transmitted,” he said. “For them to be successful in this endeavor, they have to globalise their teaching, and that means focusing on English as a tool to bring together students and faculty from all over the world.”
John Knagg, the British Council’s Head of Research and Consultancy for English, advised caution, saying that EMI must be executed well if it is to succeed as a teaching method and a distinction must be made between learning English as a foreign language and using is as a means of communicating advanced knowledge.
Graham Wilkie, Policy Advisor on Multilingualism from the European Commission, added that the focus in Europe should be on multilingualism, understanding it as “mother tongue + 2, and not only English”.
