Educational innovation actions refer to any training activity, seminars or workshops, and even limited local research projects to improve teaching practice in universities. These actions are always led by a member of the faculty for the benefit of other colleagues and can count on the occasional or regular participation of specialists in a specific field of Education (creativity, interaction, ICT, cooperative work, blended learning systems, etc.), which results in the improvement of the quality of the areas and courses involved.
Published in Chapter:
EMI at Tertiary Level in Spain: Perspectives From Lecturers at a Medium-Sized State University
Francisco Zayas Martínez (University of Cádiz, Spain) and José Luis Estrada Chichón (University of Cadiz, Spain)
Copyright: © 2020
|Pages: 25
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-2318-6.ch011
Abstract
This chapter examines the state-of-the-art of EMI lecturing at Cadiz University, Spain. The rationale of the research lies in the lecturers' main challenges for issues related to the use of EFL and EMI methodologies. Data were collected from a questionnaire to which EMI lecturers responded (N=22; 69%) and from a focus group carried out with a cross-sectional sample of participants (N=6). The conclusion sheds light on the following: For the first time, Spanish universities have started to design language policies aimed at using English for lecturing, although the initial implementation shows diverse effects, depending on whether EMI teaching takes place in one scientific area or another. This panorama suggests an adaptation of EMI training. Secondly, lecturers are committed to EMI training not only for language but also for methodological issues. They also demand greater recognition for teaching courses in EFL. Potential solutions and recommendations are proposed.