The emotional landscape of English medium instruction (EMI) in higher education

Abstract

This editorial piece is the introduction to our special issue on the emotional landscape of English medium instruction (EMI) in higher education. In this piece, we argue for a greater focus on examining the emotional environment of EMI in higher education—the variety of emotions that get entangled in policies, discourses, and practices in local EMI contexts, and the emotional effects of EMI on various stakeholders, such as students, teachers, and administrators. We also center poststructural and critical approaches to examining emotions in EMI, which enable researchers to be responsive to the local contexts, and contribute to developing emotionally supportive and socially just EMI environments. The five empirical studies, two commentaries, and forum piece that constitute this special issue all develop these arguments further.