engleski

English in an EMI doctoral programme in physics: From a no-brainer to an overkill

Following the trends that drive the knowledge society, efforts to enhance the competitiveness and international visibility of third-cycle education have also gained momentum. Modern doctoral programmes delivered through English are expected to enrich the European educational landscape and respond to the global labour market. One such example is an EMI Physics doctoral programme at Rijeka University. In physics, the use of English is situated in a specific disciplinary literacy shaped by a hierarchical knowledge structure, which influences attitudes towards its use in teaching practice and academic contexts (cf. Kuteeva and Airey 2014 ; Schmidt- Unterberger 2018). Through document analysis and semi-structured interviews with ten teachers from the Physics Department, this study examines the motivation behind implementing an EMI doctoral programme and the teachers' viewpoints on English in physics, its use in this programme, and the language competences required for EMI. The findings show that English, being the language of professional literature, scientific publication and international collaboration, is deemed inseparable from physics. This position is also evident in the programme documents, which stipulate that all programme-related activities will be conducted in English. Although all the participants have spent time at foreign institutions, where they used English daily, only two have taught in English. However, unlike other teachers at Rijeka University (cf. Drljača Margić and Tulić 2018 ; Drljača Margić and Vodopija- Krstanović 2017), physics teachers do not anticipate challenges with EMI and express no need for language support. Confident in their proficiency, many teachers would even be willing to give students feedback on the language. The interviews also revealed the teachers’ somewhat condescending attitude towards language issues – English is considered a “no-brainer”. However, in the absence of international students, the majority would use Croatian, a more natural alternative, as communication in English would be an “overkill” which inhibits student performance and diminishes spontaneous teacher-student interaction.

English-medium instruction ; doctoral programme ; physics ; university teachers

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