BAAL Symposium 2023

Information

Abstract

The rapid ascendance of English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) across the world has generated heated debates about linguistic injustice, educational disadvantage, epistemic homogenization and geopolitical inequality. To date, EMI research has been conducted mainly, though not exclusively, within the purview of Applied Linguistics, attracting scholars from a range of sub-fields and international perspectives, including CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning), ICLHE (Integrating Content and Language in Higher Education), ELF (English as a lingua franca), TESOL (Teaching of English to Speakers of Other Languages), EAP (English for Academic Purposes), to name but a few. While these fields have greatly enhanced understandings of EMI, the uptake and impact of this work outside of Applied Linguistics is less clear, and considerable disconnects remain between and within stakeholder groups, e.g., between academics and wider society; policy makers and practitioners; linguists and non-linguists; content teachers and language teachers, etc.

This symposium brings together researchers wishing to explore possibilities for opening up research on English as a Medium of Instruction to a wider range of disciplines, fields, approaches and stakeholders in order to advance understandings, bridge disconnects and enhance impact.

Symposium format

The symposium will be structured into three parts:

• The first (60 minutes) will exemplify, through our own UKRI-funded work, how understandings of the drivers of EMI might be enhanced by engaging with theoretical and methodological frameworks from political science and involving key decision makers in academic governance.  

• In the second part (60 minutes), we invite researchers to present their take on what ‘opening up’ EMI might mean, what new questions such ‘opening up’ might enable us to ask and address, and what value this might bring.

• The third part (30 minutes) will be devoted to a discussion between all presenters and the audience, focusing on the opportunities and challenges of collaborating across disciplinary boundaries and stakeholder groups. 

We invite submissions for the second part of the symposium. There will be room for 3 brief (3 x 10-minute) presentations, followed by questions, and up to 8 poster presentations.

Please submit your abstract via the BAAL 2023 conference website, stating clearly the title of this symposium and if your preference is for a presentation or a poster.

Important dates

Abstract submission opens: 30 January 2023

Deadline for abstract submission: 27 March 2023

Notification of acceptance: 28 April 2023

Conference: 23–25 August 2023

Symposium chairs and organisers

Anna Kristina Hultgren, The Open University, kristina.hultgren@open.ac.uk

Marion Nao, The Open University, marion.nao@open.ac.uk

Peter Wingrove, The Open University, peter.wingrove@open.ac.uk

Dogan Yuksel, The Open University, dogan.yuksel@open.ac.uk

Beatrice Zuaro, The Open University, beatrice.zuaro@open.ac.uk