Internationalization of Higher Education

Abstract

Internationalisation has become essential in higher education to prepare institutions for participation in the global environment. English as a medium of instruction (EMI) is considered as an internationalizing policy at universities. It is defined by Dearden (2014) as the “use of the English language to teach academic subjects in countries or jurisdictions where the first language (L1) of the majority of the population is not English” (p. 2). This chapter mainly aims at exploring Tunisian teachers' and students' attitudes towards the use of English as a language of instruction in tertiary education. The chapter starts by giving an overview of the language situation in Tunisia, placing an emphasis on English language in education policy. After that, the chapter discusses some important empirical findings based on the data collected from a questionnaire among 50 university teachers and students. The study may contribute to extend the research on EMI in higher education and its effect on students' performance in Tunisia.