Pondering on two different panel discussions at IATEFL Annual Conference -
Brighton 2018 and Brighton 2024
At this year's IATFEL annual conference in Brighton, I shall be one of three panelists in the 'Forum on EMI in EAP settings: Perceptions and Practices' (Wednesday 17th at 10:20-11:35, Meeting Room 1A - Brighton Centre). Along with Frances Amrani and Evi Xirofotou, we shall be exploring how EMI and EAP intersect and inform each other's fields and practices.
The last time I attended IATEFL in Brighton in 2018, I had been in the audience for a panel discussion focused on EMI, mostly because one of the authors of the paper that had inspired my PhD study was speaking - Prof. Carol Griffiths. It was such an exciting moment to talk to Carol and share the impact her research had had on me just months before embarking on what turned out to be a nearly 6 year PhD journey.
Now, returning to the same venue I have the results of that journey to share in a similar setting. I'm looking forward to making an impression with my contribution to the field of EMI as well as seeing if we - myself and fellow forum presenters - can contribute in some way to what is increasingly being seen as potential for collaborative support and development between EMI content teachers and EAP practitioners.
Between Carol's talk in Brighton 2018 and mine in 2024, the need for open discussion about collaboration across fields and disciplines is more pressing than ever. EMI is a topic that has become increasingly relevant in world of internationalized Higher Education. It is equally becoming more and more relevant for us in the business of teaching English for specific purposes - in particular EAP. But I think most experienced, research-informed ESP professionals have something to contribute where our content teaching colleagues are called upon to shift their teaching approaches and methods to meet the needs of multinational, multilingual student groups.
Ben and I are working on ideas for how we can support ESP professionals who are keen to leverage the potential in this upcoming area of collaborative opportunities. When you are next at an ELT / ESP / EAP / teaching in HE conference, listen out to how much attention is given to the subject. You'll too see we're on the cusp of exciting times.
For now, I offer the handout to go with my panel presentation here. Feel free to peruse the pages there and do reach out with any comments, ideas or questions. Or even better, if you're are at IATEFL this month, come along to the forum on 17th April at the Brighton Center, meeting room 1A at 10:20am.