Dr Luciane Sturm

Internationalization in higher education: perspectives on English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI)

The Internationalization of Higher Education (InHE) in Brazil is an ongoing process in several institutions, however, quite lacking in research. This study is a wide project, which aims to investigate the InHE process at the University of Passo Fundo. The proposal involves undergraduate courses and Postgraduate Programs, seeking to analyze the different nuances of InHE, considering all aspects (teaching, research and extension) of the phenomenon, for a holistic understanding of how this phenomenon is happening, what are its causes, demands, challenges, consequences and results in the university scenario. It is a qualitative and interdisciplinary study, based on the interpretive approach with participant observation (ERICKSON, 1986), which will seek to collect or generate data considering two major dimensions: 1) the people – participants involved; 2) English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI). Different instruments will be used to systematize and interpret these data, in the light of the theories studied. For these dimensions, data will be generated from questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, recorded in audio and / or video, observations and field notes in a diary. Dimension 2) also involves the participants in the process, so the Design-Based Research (DBR) will be used, which provides strategic and planned interventions for testing teaching methodologies. This is the stage of the study that will seek to investigate how, why and for what InHE happens (or not) in the different academic learning spaces, whether they are: classroom or distance learning, the lecture, the conference, guidance and / or tutoring, the study group, the seminar, the event, the study trip and / or exchange. In this dimension, the role and functions of undergraduate and graduate courses, their teachers, students and staff, and their relationship with internationalization will also be investigated, when the Internationalization at home process will be focused, in particular the role of EMI in this phenomenon.