Abstract:

The teaching of academic subjects in English at the University is a phenomenon that has spread notably in many non-English-speaking countries in recent decades. In this paper we describe the experience of implementing English medium instruction (EMI) to students of a Introduction to Business Administration course in the degrees of Business Administration / Economics / Finance and Accounting in a Spanish university. We compare the English medium instruction with the teaching of the same subject in Spanish, and we reflect on the challenges posed in the context of English medium instruction. In doing so, we rely on the issues identified by Airey (2011) when describing instructors’ problems when changing to teaching in English, which are related to little time and lack of preparation; less detail, flexibility and fluency in clases; and lack of confidence in one's own teaching performance. Our reflections stress the need to intensify preparation and take advantage of the training options offered by the institution; the need to take into account that it is also an additional effort for many students, who are facing a situation of these characteristics for the first time and the consideration that English medium instruction is a long journey that requires time to reach a good end.

Keywords:

English medium instruction, undergraduate studentes, teaching challenges.