Beyond the classroom: The impact of EMI on a university's linguistic landscape

In this paper we explore the impact of English-Medium Instruction (EMI) outside the classroom walls by analysing the Linguistic Landscape (LL) of certain spaces in an Italian university. Our original interest in EMI arose out of involvement in a Language Centre project aimed at providing language and methodological support for lecturers teaching their courses in English (see for example Helm and Guarda1). As part of the project the Centre organised numerous seminars and round tables, where issues related to internationalisation, the role of English and language policy were discussed at length and in great depth. We thus came into direct contact both with scholars who were keen to promote EMI and those who were extremely concerned about the effects of the process of Englishization on the Italian language and culture (Motta2). At the same time, the Language Centre received first-hand knowledge of the continuing complaints of international students studying on English-taught programmes (ETPs)with regard to the lack of support in the English language outside the EMI classroom. A growing interest in EMI led us to explore a number of fields related to multilingualism, including that of Linguistic Landscaping (LL), which we thought could provide a fertile ground for the investigation of these contradictory sides to EMI.