Internationalization by English-Medium Instruction? Professors’ decoupling behaviors to EMI policy in Korean higher education

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to understand the complex phenomenon between the coercive implementation of EMI policy and professors’ strategic responses to it in Korean higher education. The concept of decoupling is applied to explain professors’ behavioral patterns. We collected data from interviews with 13 Korean professors at two private universities in South Korea. We found that their perception of EMI was largely negative and EMI even made some professors question their professional identities. Nevertheless, professors used a variety of strategies to continue to teach EMI courses and fulfill their roles as teachers. In this process, they attempted to separate their practice from institutional policy, in other words, decoupling, to maintain flexibility. The future development of EMI policy and implementation need to consider these decoupling behaviors as well as the educational purpose of EMI policy.