Selecting the right course for teaching in English
What makes a course a good candidate for being taught through English? What are the criteria you need to consider: linguistic, pedagogical, cultural, structural?
The Board of Education recommends the following:
“All study programmes are to offer at least one compulsory course delivered in English carrying 7.5 credit points or more* by 2017. All students are thus to take at least one course that is delivered in English during their academic studies at Karolinska Institutet.”
*This requirement may be adapted to the nature of each study programme, e.g. longer courses can offer a module studied and examined in English.
Dimensions
In choosing the right course for English-Medium Instruction you should consider 4 dimensions:
- Linguistic: Does the teacher have a sufficient command of the English language?
- Pedagogical: Does the teacher have sufficient teaching experience and knowledge about EMI? Is the teacher familiar with the methodology that best suits EMI?
- Cultural: Can the teacher present the course material from different cultural viewpoints? Does the teacher know how to leverage the cultural diversity of the classroom?
- Structural: Are there any timetable constraints?
Recommendations for support and follow-up
All study programs have been asked to use this tool to report and follow-up on the courses that will be given in English.
Below please find a document detailing recommendations and support for implementing a course in English, based on this framework. Please see the pdf document below (also available in Swedish).
Selection Criteria
Here is a short presentation of what you need to take into account in order to select the best context for your students to have a good learning experience.