Simon Dunton reflects on his key EMI takeaways from the IATEFL 2026 conference.

This year, Brighton hosted the International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language (IATEFL) conference. This brought together teachers, trainers and educators from around the world to share ideas on all things related to Teaching English as a Foreign Language, including EMI.

In this post, I will share some of the highlights of the four-day event, which took  place between the 21st and 24th of April.

Critical perspectives on EMI

In a repeat of the format at IATEFL 2025, the majority of EMI-related talks formed part of a forum, this year entitled the Critical perspectives in EMI education. Interestingly, the common theme across all three talks was the use of language(s).

Dylan Glyn Williams of Queen Mary University of London kicked off the forum with a focus on EMI in South Korea. He highlighted how English and Korean is used by teachers and students, recognising the role translanguaging and transknowledging practices in EMI contexts play in supporting student comprehension and engagement.

Jennifer MacDonald followed this by exploring how EMI content teachers could and should be ‘language policy brokers’ by setting out and/or negotiating how language is used at different times during an EMI class. In this way, lectures are encouraged to think about which student voices are amplified, and which are silenced, by current language policies.

Saida Akbarova of Westminster International University in Tashkent, Uzbekistan rounded off the talks by encouraging EMI lecturers to consider shifting to ‘functional multilingualism,’ which emulates the working environment students in Uzbekistan are likely to find themselves in the professional world.

It was reassuring to see these themes – which are explored on Oxford EMI training courses – retaining their relevance in such varied international settings.

Integrated EMI training

In my own talk, I argued that content and EAP teachers require integrated, specialised teacher development opportunities to better support their shared students in EMI and TNE contexts.

As well as outlining some of the challenges these teachers face, I explored some of the key knowledge and skills they require to meet these, and highlighted the importance of collaboration between these sets of teaching professionals. 

I concluded by showing some examples of how Oxford EMI training programmes have helped lecturers and teachers around the world to:

• Break down departmental silos
• Recognise their roles in meeting needs of shared students
• Explore practical, interactive classroom techniques
• Develop collaborative planning and delivery practices
• Positively impact student experiences and outcomes

Many thanks to all those who attended, and for the lively discussion afterwards with colleagues and peers from international teaching and training contexts including the UK, Cuba, Colombia, Viet Nam, and Taiwan.

Other key takeaways

Though these talks were not focussed on EMI, each had key messages that could easily be applied to EMI teaching and training contexts.

• Patricia Angoy’s opening plenary highlighted instances of English dominating international academia, reminding us all that education should support multilingualism, where English forms one of many linguistic tools professionals use. 
• Sandy Millin highlighted that professional training programmes are often ways in which experienced teachers learn ‘new ways to use old tools’ – a message we very much agree with at Oxford EMI.
• Mark Smith demonstrated clear, effective ways in which students can explore how to use AI in a way that ensures it supports, rather than replaces, student learning and cognitive engagement – an idea explored in the Oxford EMI workshop.
• Ben Beaumont – a trainer and consultant at Oxford EMI – expanded Mark Smith’s ideas by exploring cognitive surrender and cognitive offloading in relation to the use of AI.
• Maria Diavati reminded her audience that EMI has been around for well over two thousand years, and there’s much to be learned from the past – a theme the Oxford EMI blog will be picking up on very soon.

Glorious weather

I can’t complete a round-up of IATEFL 2026 without a shoutout the Brighton weather. We couldn’t have asked for more wonderful, blue skies and warm temperatures for this time of year!

IATEFL 2027

As always, it was a pleasure to catch up with old friends and colleagues, and to make new connections with peers working in EMI and TNE contexts from around the world. I can’t help but look forward to the next IATEFL to reconnect with colleagues in person and attend wonderful talks from peers around the world – see you next year at IATEFL Birmingham 2027!

Of course, please do get in touch with myself or the team between now and then!

Blog writer

Simon Dunton is a senior trainer and consultant at Oxford EMI. You can find out more about him on the Meet our team page.