Teacher Education for English as a Medium of Instruction in a Public University: Reflections and Challenges

Abstract

Given the intense process of internationalization in universities, the need for the academic community to improve their English language proficiency to participate in mobility programs is notable, since they provide opportunities for the knowledge exchange and encourage productivity and scientific partnerships. In this scenario, with globalization and internationalization, universities recognize the importance of English as a Lingua Franca, as it gives access to international insertion. The university, in this context, also plays the primary role of implementing and maintaining pedagogical actions to provide support for such actions. With initiatives to implement this target language, internationalization at home activities have been increasing exponentially. For instance, an internationalized curriculum is a means by which all university students can benefit from the internationalization process, as it involves a set of activities carried out at the institution itself providing assistance to both local and foreign students to be prepared to work in multicultural and international contexts. In order to achieve this, we need to prepare educators to teach their subject courses using English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI). In the study, we aim at presenting different EMI courses, both online and face-to-face, that have been offered since 2019 in a public university in Sao Paulo. Course objectives included introducing the theory and practice of teaching different disciplinary content using EMI and the target audience included undergraduate and graduate professors. We intend to present background information about each course and then, reflect on successful practices and challenges yet to be overcome within our context.