ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the scope, background and nature of English Medium Instruction (EMI). It characterizes the features of different EMI approaches and identifies the connection between the medium of instruction and learning of academic content. In reviewing the spread of EMI, EMI is compared with other approaches that link content learning and English instruction, such as Content-Based Language Teaching (CBLT), Content-Based Instruction (CBI), Immersion Education (IE), and Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) The relationship between English for Special Purposes (ESP), English for Academic Purposes (EAP), and EMI is also discussed. This chapter also details the emergence and history of EMI, the justifications used to support it, and its development around the world as the academic lingua franca, particularly at the tertiary level. Some of the issues that arise when EMI is used are also introduced and form the basis of subsequent chapters in the book.
