English medium instruction in Japan: changes and challenges faced by faculty and students

The use of English Medium Instruction (EMI) to teach and learn at university level is rapidly expanding across the globe. Pushed by governments’ internationalisation policies, this trend is more pervasive in emerging EMI contexts in Asia, particularly in Japan. Changes in higher education policy over the last 10 years have encouraged this swift growth (Japanese Ministry of Education, 2015). Policy changes have shifted from a focus on attracting international students to nurturing Japanese students into ‘global citizens’, and to practice ‘internationalisation at home’. Recognising that EMI implementation poses challenges to key stakeholders (i.e. lecturers and students) in Japan due to their often-limited EMI teaching and learning experience in comparison to more mature contexts, such as Northern and Western Europe. This chapter focuses on perceived motivations and aims for introducing EMI in this higher education context. University lecturer and student perceptions will be explored in terms of the advantages, disadvantages, and challenges faced when implementing EMI in Japan, as well as experience of changes in classroom practice. Semi-structured interviews will be conducted with five lecturers and five students to explore each of these aspects. Interview accounts will be explored and unpacked focusing on the pedagogical concerns that lecturers and students have, and experience of EMI. Implications for pedagogy are provided throughout this chapter.