As the call for proposals for next year’s IATEFL opens, I’d like to look back at and reflect on what IATEFL 2025 included in terms of global views on EMI, a topic which seems to be growing in interest at the event.
The International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language (IATEFL) conference 2025 took place in Edinburgh between the 8th and 11th of April this year.
As with every year I have attended, there were hundreds of interesting-looking talks on topics ranging from teaching young learners through to highly specialised English language courses. I was also very pleased with how my own talk, with co-presenter Lucas Manante, was received. However, as I take up a more permanent role at Oxford EMI, it was the talks relating to English Medium Instruction (EMI) and English for Academic Purposes (EAP) that really caught my attention.
Talks & workshops
In all, there were three sessions with ‘EMI’ in the title, but several others mentioned internationalisation, English Medium Education (EME) and other EMI-related topics. I made sure I had a good seat in each and every one.
One of the standouts for me this year was Pimsiri Taylor’s talk, Artificial intelligence, ESAP, and EMI in higher education, a subject I will also be talking about at the 45th APLIUT Congress in June. I’m really hoping she publishes more details on how EMI students at Thammasat university in Thailand make use of EMI to support their learning.
Similarly, I was really impressed by what Natassia Schutz and her team at UNamur, Belgium have been doing to enhance the visibility of their Ecole de langues vivantes. This has increased the professional standing of the department across the university community and made clear to academic staff the crucial role EAP teachers play in supporting successful EMI and international programmes.
While the Forum on empowering language learning: EMI perspectives had to be cancelled, a range of views and studies on EMI from around the globe was represented in talks:
- Saida Akbarova of Westminster International Academy in Tashkent, Uzbekistan presented some interesting student and teacher feedback on EAP courses.
- Dylan Williams of Queen Mary, University of London outlined his research into the role of translanguaging plays in EMI classes in South Korea and Wales.
- Rana Khan of the Canadian College, Kuwait argued for a change in top-down language policies in the Kuwaiti higher education context.
A final mention goes to Katalin Egri Ku-Mesu from the University of Leicester, whose talk included a call for action in terms of training EMI teachers. I’m glad to say this is a role that we at Oxford EMI take on with our training courses.
Catching up with colleagues
On a personal note, it was wonderful to catch up with colleagues and peers from around the world. I was particularly delighted to find some time in between all the wonderful talks and workshops at the conference to enjoy a coffee and a chat with Yoshi. It’s not often possible to meet course participants from Oxford EMI online trainer-led courses in person, so this was a real treat (as was the sunshine in Edinburgh)!
Looking forward
I’m already looking forward to seeing more EMI talks at IATEFL 2026 in Brighton and, all being well, plan to add to this discussion myself. Time to get going on that proposal!
Blog writer
Simon Dunton is a senior trainer and consultant on the Oxford EMI team. You can find out more about him on the Meet our team page.