ABSTRACT
Nowadays as universities direct actions toward transnationalism, English seems to be gaining a privileged position as the medium of instruction in an increasing number of multilingual university settings. Although in English-medium education (EME) programs, language is usually not accounted for as an explicit learning objective, all disciplinary learning represents a form of language learning. This leads to the belief that language use should also be considered an explicit objective of assessment in EME programs. Against this backdrop, this chapter tries to explore where teachers stand regarding language assessment in their EME courses. More specifically, it will analyze (1) the role that language plays in teachers' assessment of their students' EME disciplinary learning and (2) the extent to which teachers consider language as an explicit subject of their EME assessment practices. To do so, the reported assessment practices of a transnational cohort of university teachers participating in a teacher education program are examined following thematic analysis. Preliminary findings show that most teachers' assessment activities in EME require the use of advanced language skills, although they do not seem to recognize language as an integral aspect of their assessment practices despite acknowledging the inseparable nature of disciplinary content and language. This calls for specific teacher education provision to facilitate teachers' language-sensitive assessment practices in EME.
