NORMA CHANTAL SEOANE SABINO
Benemérita Universidad de Puebla
Chantal Seoane has been teaching English in higher education for the past 15 years. She specializes in language certification preparation courses, conversational English, and advanced courses for graduate students. For the past 5 years she has overseen the foreign language department at Vicerrectoría de Investigación y Estudios de Posgrado where she has implemented both specialized language course and training programs.
Ponencias
Implementation of EMI in graduate programs

Inglés Presencial Presentación Congreso Internacional de Lenguas

For decades, Mexican public higher education institutions (HEI) have implemented compulsory English courses for undergraduates, yet these types of programs are “failing to achieve worthwhile results” (Davies, 2020, p.7). Attention has been drawn (Davies, 2008 & Davies, 2009) to the lack of English proficiency levels derived from the English for General Purposes approach adopted by most public HEIs. This suggests that alternative approaches, which address the specific contextual demands, to ELT are needed (Davies, 2012). Considering this, this study analyses the perceptions of three groups of graduate program professors after a six-month-long training program seeking to implement English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) in a public higher education institution Participants included 20 graduate professor-researchers and thirty graduate program students. Research methodology falls in the category of survey design which is useful to obtain perceptions of a population “by studying a sample of that population” (Creswell, 2009, p. 145). Data were collected using one internet survey. Results indicate that, given planned and well-structured training, professors are not only willing but able to implement EMI classes in their programs, yet institutional support needs to be strengthened. Additionally, although most graduate students’ responses indicate that EMI classes are accepted, others might not be willing to take EMI courses on a permanent basis. Finally, language proficiency, curriculum development, and institutional support implications are discussed as part of language policy in public higher education.

Ponentes: YONATAN PUON CASTRO NORMA CHANTAL SEOANE SABINO