EMI Lecturer Certification (EMILC): New horizons for quality assurance and capacity building
Partecipanti al progetto
- Molino Alessandra (Responsabile)
- Claudio Bendazzoli (UniTo)
- Costa Marcella
- Edgar Bernad Mechó (UJI)
- Helen Sværke (UCPH)
- Inmaculada Fortanet Gómez (UJI)
- María Noelia Ruiz Madrid (UJI)
- Slobodanka Dimova (UCPH)
- Tracey Simpson (UPPA)
Descrizione del progetto
With the consolidation of EMI, quality assurance mechanisms in support of teaching and learning are progressively put into place. It is precisely in this context that the Directorial Decree No. 2711 of 22-11-2021 was issued, requiring universities to verify the language skills possessed by lecturers teaching in a foreign language. The University of Turin (UniTo) has therefore initiated a series of interventions divided into two phases, the first dedicated to the assessment of the language competences for EMI teaching and the second to teacher training. The project EMI Lecturer Certification (EMI-LC): New horizons for quality assurance and capacity building aims to contribute to these two lines of action, collaborating with international partners to identify best practices that can be applied beyond local contexts. The project partners are the University of Copenhagen (UCPH, Denmark), Universitat Jaume I (UJI, Spain) and Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour (UPPA, France). The project contributes to Action "D.2 - International Courses of Study" of Goal "D - To be protagonists of an international dimension" of the 2021-2023 TO-PEOPLE program: A program to enhance the people of UniTO. By providing not only support to UniTo faculty, but also organizing international blended workshops (also within the UNITA consortium), the project contributes to increasing UniTo's presence on international scenarios by positioning it as a promoter of EMI teaching quality in Europe. 1. To validate the online administration of an existing test for the certification of the language competences of lecturers: the Test of Oral English Proficiency for Academic Staff (TOEPAS). Developed in 2009 at the University of Copenhgen, TOEPAS was conceived for the assessment of face-to-face interaction in a physical classroom. In order to ensure greater flexibility in test administration – following the Covid19 pandemic but also the need to reduce time and costs for both test takers and institutions – the project will verify to what extent sitting the TOEPAS remotely yields valid results. This goal will also allow the partners to evaluate the introduction of TOEPAS as a standard procedure at their institution. 2. To investigate face-to-face teaching in English describing recurrent discourse practices through classroom observation. The findings will be used for a comparison with the results from TOEPAS (objective 1), thus determining to what extent the test taken online can predict the usage of language in face-to-face teaching. The analysis of classroom interaction will also provide data on best practices to inform the design of a blended EMI workshop (objective 3). 3. To develop a blended EMI teacher training workshop to be delivered at partner institutions (UniTo/UCPH/UJI/UPPA). The workshop will consist of online meetings and on-campus classes. The online sessions will be addressed to EMI lecturers across partner universities, who will thus have the opportunity of exchanging experiences with foreign colleagues. The on campus classes, on the other hand, will offer participants more targeted support to face the challenges of their local setting. Video su YouTube, canale di UNITA Universitas Montium: Progetto EMILC selezionato come esempio di 'best practice' (12' 07''): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJ34BAuskIQ UniToNews: "Empowering English-Medium Instruction through research-informed teacher training" https://www.unitonews.it/index.php/it/news_detail/empowering-english-medium-instruction-through-research-informed-teacher-training Molino, A., Bendazzoli, C. and Simpson, T. (2023). “Presentation of the EMILC project”. Empowering English-Medium Instruction through Research-informed Teacher Training, Torino, 12 December 2023. Dimova, S. (2023). “Validating the online administration of TOEPAS”. Empowering English-Medium Instruction through Research-informed Teacher Training, Torino, 12 December 2023. Ruiz Madrid, M.N., Bernad Mechó, E. (2023). “EMI blended workshop: Experience and participant feedback”. Empowering English-Medium Instruction through Research-informed Teacher Training, Torino, 12 December 2023. Molino, A. and Spencer, A. (2023). “EMI lecturer support at the University of Turin”. Empowering English-Medium Instruction through Research-informed Teacher Training, Torino, 11 December 2023. Bendazzoli, C (2023). “El proyecto EMILC: English Medium Instruction Lecturer Certification: Nuevos horizontes para la garantía de calidad y la capacitación en EMI”. Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 30 October 2023. Dimova, S. (2023). “Speaking test sustainability through online administration”. 19th EALTA Conference: Sustainable Language Assessment Improving Educational Opportunities at the Individual, Local, and Global Level, 13-18 June 2023, Helsinki, Finland. Molino, A. (2023). “Insegnare in inglese: Esperienze, strategie e sfide formative". EMI and intercomprehension online workshop. UNITA Teaching and Learning Center Network, 20 June 2023, University of Turin. Molino, A. (2022). “Open Badge EMI – TOEPAS: Una proposta di formazione e certificazione linguistica per la docenza in inglese”. Internazionalizzazione e ricerca al CLA-UNITO [Roundtable], 19 December 2022, University of Turin. Molino, A. (2022). “Language assessment procedures for EMI lecturers: Pilot experiences at the University of Turin”. IDEAs. Innovation in Didactics for the European Alliances. UNITA Summer School. 6-8 July 2022, University of Turin. Thanks to a synergy between the local EMILC project team and the University Language Centre, new teacher training opportunities have been launched in favour of EMI teaching: Progetto Formazione EMI per i docenti Unito UniTONews: "EMI@CLAUniTO, il nuovo percorso di formazione per docenti che insegnano nei corsi di laurea in lingua inglese", https://www.unitonews.it/index.php/it/news_detail/emiclaunito-il-nuovo-percorso-di-formazione-docenti-che-insegnano-nei-corsi-di-laurea-lingua-inglese
English-medium instruction (EMI), i.e. the practice of teaching university courses in English, is spreading rapidly in Europe as it contributes to the internationalisation process, attracting foreign students and increasing the prestige of academic institutions. At the same time, EMI grants local students a multicultural experience at their home university and prepares the m for the global job market.
