ABSTRACT
The goal of this chapter is to analyse the integration of content and language in EMI classes. We intend to shed light on the content teachers’ position in relation to the foreign language by investigating whether they tackle language matters and, if they do, how this is carried out. In order to do so, we analysed 12 video recordings extracted from three EMI courses from the History Department at the University of the Basque Country in Spain. We used the concept called “language related episodes” (LREs) to determine how prevalent language attention is in these classes. Then the LREs were described in relation to three parameters: the identity of the initiator (e.g. the teacher or the student), the language focus of the LRE (e.g. grammar, vocabulary or pronunciation), and their interactional characteristics (whether it occurred before or after a student’s question regarding some aspect of language). Once the analysis of the data was completed, we addressed the issue of who takes on the language expertise role: The teacher? The students? Both? This classification will enable us to have a better understanding of how EMI teachers and their students approach language issues and to draw some pedagogical implications.
