CLIL-IZING EMI GRAPHIC DESIGN CLASSES: COLLABORATIVE PEDAGOGICAL EFFORTS OF VIETNAMESE TERTIARY LECTURERS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18173/2354-1075.2026-%25xKeywords:
EMI; CLIL; teacher collaboration; graphic design education; Vietnamese higher educationAbstract
English-medium instruction (EMI) has grown quickly in higher education, yet it remains mainly content-focused and offers little support for the discipline-specific communication that practice-based fields require. EMI and content and language integrated learning (CLIL) are conceptually distinct, but how the two intersect in actual disciplinary practice is still under-theorized. This study frames “CLIL-ization” as a gradual, collaborative process by which lecturers work language-aware practices into an existing EMI structure. Working within an exploratory descriptive qualitative design, we gathered data through a single online focus group with five Vietnamese EMI graphic design lecturers at a transnational university. The findings show that EMI serves visually supported, procedural instruction reasonably well but falls short for critique, justification, and conceptual explanation - the communicative practices at the heart of graphic design. In response, lecturers built in CLIL-oriented scaffolding, modeled disciplinary discourse, and coordinated a shared vocabulary across their courses. This shift emerged through informal collaboration rather than institutional policy, suggesting an EMI-CLIL continuum along which lecturer collaboration drives pedagogical movement.
Downloads
References
Airey, J. (2020). The content lecturer and English-medium instruction (EMI): Epilogue to the special issue on EMI in higher education. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 23(3), 340–346. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2020.1732290
Akıncıoğlu, M. (2024). Rethinking of EMI in higher education: a critical view on its scope, definition and quality. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 37(2), 139–154. https://doi.org/10.1080/07908318.2023.2251519
Au, S. X., Phuong, Y. H., & Nguyen, L. T. H. (2025). EMI lecturers' beliefs on teacher collaboration between content and language lecturers. Educational Process: International Journal, 18, e2025467. https://doi.org/10.22521/edupij.2025.18.467
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
Carrió-Pastor, M. L. (2021). CLIL vs EMI: Different approaches or the same dog with a different collar? In M. L. Carrió-Pastor & B. Bellés-Fortuño (Eds.), Teaching language and content in multicultural and multilingual classrooms (pp. 13–30). Palgrave Macmillan.
Coyle, D., Hood, P., & Marsh, D. (2010). CLIL: Content and language integrated learning. Cambridge University Press.
Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2018). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (4th ed.). Sage.
Dalton-Puffer, C. (2011). Content-and-language integrated learning: From practice to principles? Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 31, 182–204. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0267190511000092
Hunter, D., McCallum, J., & Howes, D. (2019). Defining exploratory-descriptive qualitative (EDQ) research and considering its application to healthcare. Journal of Nursing and Health Care, 4(1), 1–9. https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/180272/
Kirkpatrick, A. (2014). The language(s) of HE: EMI and/or ELF and/or multilingualism? The Asian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 1(1), 4–15. https://caes.hku.hk/ajal/index.php/ajal/article/view/23
Lap, T. Q., Vy, P. N. T., Hanh, N. T. M., Tuan, L. C., & Hung, N. T. (2025). Toward the content language integrated learning (CLIL) shift: What are EFL teachers' understandings, practices, and needs? SAGE Open, 15(3), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440251363336
Lasagabaster, D. (2022). English-medium instruction in higher education (Elements in language teaching). Cambridge University Press.
Lin, Y. L. (Eric). (2025). Multimodal interaction in EMI classrooms: how does ESP-EMI teacher collaboration make a difference? Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/17501229.2025.2574475
Lu, Y.-H. (2022). A case study of EMI teachers’ professional development: The impact of interdisciplinary teacher collaboration. RELC Journal, 53(3), 642–656. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033688220950888
Malmström, H., & Zhou, S. (2025). Language-subject teacher collaboration in English-medium higher education: Current practices and future possibilities. RELC Journal. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/00336882241313234
Nieto Moreno de Diezmas, E., García Fernández, B., & Ruiz-Gallardo, J.-R. (2024). The impact on motivation of CLIL-izing EMI in science education: A longitudinal case study in pre-service teacher training. Journal of Technology and Science Education, 14(2), 569–587. https://doi.org/10.3926/jotse.2247
Park, J.-K. (2019). English-medium instruction in the Korean higher education context: From an English as a lingua franca perspective. In K. Murata (Ed.), English-Medium Instruction from an English as a Lingua Franca Perspective: Exploring the Higher Education Context (pp. 64–77). Routledge.
Smit, U. (2019). Classroom discourse in EMI: On the dynamics of multilingual practices. In K. Murata (Ed.), English-Medium Instruction from an English as a Lingua Franca Perspective: Exploring the Higher Education Context (pp. 99–123). Routledge.
Stewart, D. W., & Shamdasani, P. (2017). Online focus groups. Journal of Advertising, 46(1), 48–60. https://doi.org/10.1080/00913367.2016.1252288
Tri, D. H., & Moskovsky, C. (2019). English-medium instruction in Vietnamese higher education: A ROAD-MAPPING perspective. Issues in Educational Research, 29(4), 1330–1347. http://www.iier.org.au/iier29/tri.pdf
Vu, N. T., & Nguyen, T. (2022). A qualitative study of CLIL employment with a focus on civic engagement in Vietnamese higher education. TESOL Journal, 13(2), e614. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesj.614
Wächter, B., & Maiworm, F. (Eds.). (2014). English-taught programmes in European higher education: The state of play. Lemmens Medien. https://www.lemmens.de/dateien/medien/buecher-ebooks/aca/2014_english_taught.pdf
Wallace, A., Spiliotopoulos, V., & Ilieva, R. (2020). CLIL collaborations in higher education: A critical perspective. English Teaching & Learning, 44(1), 127–148. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42321-020-00052-4
Willemsen, R. F., Aardoom, J. J., Chavannes, N. H., & Versluis, A. (2023). Online synchronous focus group interviews: Practical considerations. Qualitative Research, 23(6), 1810–1820. https://doi.org/10.1177/14687941221110161
Xu, J., & Zhang, S. (2022). Development of EMI teacher language awareness: Does team teaching help? Language and Education, 36(4), 362–377. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500782.2021.2025244
Yuan, R. (2023). Taking up EMI in higher education: The complexities of teacher emotions. Journal of Language, Identity & Education, 22(6), 673–681. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348458.2021.1955362
