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ICLHE versus EMI: an integrated content-and-language approach differs from content-only English medium instruction

Design · All designs
Evidence · 1 claim (1 for) · 1 study (1 causal), q2 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 1 claim rests on one study

Description

The article distinguishes ICLHE (Integrated Content and Language in Higher Education) from EMI as two models of English-medium teaching at university. In ICLHE, "language outcomes are on the agenda as well as content," whereas EMI is content-focused with no language support and is explicitly English. The study's Catalan economics classes are classified as EMI rather than ICLHE because there reportedly is no focus on form and no translation or dialogue in Catalan or Spanish. The authors use this distinction to interpret why linguistic gains were limited.

Design Implications

Context

Requirements

  • For ICLHE as described, language outcomes must be explicit programme goals alongside content learning

Constraints

  • The study's classes are EMI, not ICLHE: no focus on form, no translation or dialogue in Catalan or Spanish, and lecturers are not language specialists

Target Learners

  • undergraduate economics students in a Catalan university studying through English

Learning Goals

  • English as a third or additional language: grammar, listening, lexico-grammatical knowledge, and written complexity, accuracy, and fluency

Claims

Examples

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Key Sources

  • Ament, J. R., & Pérez Vidal, C. (2015). Linguistic outcomes of English medium instruction programmes in higher education: A study on economics undergraduates at a Catalan university. Higher Learning Research Communications, 5(1), 47-68. http://dx.doi.org/10.18870/hlrc.v5i1.239
Page metadata
Field Value
type design
id iclhe-versus-emi-distinction
title ICLHE versus EMI: an integrated content-and-language approach differs from content-only English medium instruction
description The article distinguishes ICLHE (Integrated Content and Language in Higher Education) from EMI as two models of English-medium teaching at university.
status review
generated by process:settle-candidates on 2026-11-02
trust unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content
sources 1 — ament-2015

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