ABSTRACT
Internationalisation has become an important performance indicator in the Italian higher education sector. In order to attract increasing numbers of international students and teaching staff and thus increase their profile both at home and abroad, several HE institutions across the country have undertaken a variety of strategic initiatives over the last decades. The implementation of English-Medium Instruction degree programmes is one of these. Drawing on a variety of resources, from academic publications and websites to official documents and reports, this chapter will describe the rapid rise of EMI in Italy and discuss the mixed feelings it generated in the country’s public opinion. The chapter will then focus more specifically on the institution where the case study described in this book was conducted, namely the University of Padova, a public university where the number of programmes taught through English is constantly growing. The chapter will conclude by outlining the circumstances and initiatives that highlighted the need to widen the University of Padova’s understanding of EMI as seen through the eyes of its students and possibly suggest solutions as to how to maintain the quality of teaching and learning in the shift to EMI.
