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Article In: Journal of English-Medium Instruction: Online-First Articles

Clarifying CLIL-ised EMI

A working construct for language-Aware disciplinary teaching in higher education

ORCiD logo with link | North China Electric Power University | Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
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Abstract
Emerging from English-medium instruction (EMI) and Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), CLIL-ised EMI has gained visibility in multilingual higher education. Because the label is relatively new and often invoked without an explicit account of its commitments, scope, or evaluative logic, this article offers a constructive clarification through a critical synthesis of relevant literature. I first propose a working definition of CLIL-ised EMI as an intra-EMI configuration in which disciplinary aims and discipline-first assessment remain primary, while task-bound mediation makes the discourse resources of disciplinary performance visible and learnable, with language development positioned as a subsidiary outcome rather than a separately weighted goal. I then develop clarifications around recurring points of confusion: its relationship to neighbouring content–language approaches, language support in mixed-ability cohorts, effective mediation within EMI, the feasible scale of programme and curriculum change, assessment choices that balance content and language, and teacher identity and professional development for language-aware disciplinary teaching. I conclude by arguing that CLIL-ised EMI shifts what counts as evidence in EMI and opens a research agenda aligned with bi/multilingual disciplinary literacies.
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • What CLIL-ised EMI is: A working construct
  • Central clarifications of CLIL-ised EMI
    • Positioning CLIL-ised EMI within the EMI-CLIL-ICLHE landscape
    • From remediation to task-bound performance support
    • What counts as CLIL-isation within EMI
    • Selective redesign as the default pathway
    • Language-blind should not mean criteria-blind
    • Language-aware disciplinary teaching requires capacity, not reprofessionalisation
  • From clarification to consequence
  • References
References (51)
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