Title: Enhancing EMI Proficiency through Self-empowerment and  

          Interdisciplinary Collaboration 

Abstract

In order to bridge the communication gap between Taiwanese college students and their international counterparts so as to enhance the quality of higher education in a global context, provision of English as a means of content instruction (EMI) has become increasingly widespread. As of 2015, thirty-seven major universities in Taiwan have actively offered EMI programs in an interdisciplinary format. However, despite multiple initiatives from the Ministry of Education (MOE) and leading universities across the country, the efforts have not proven successful, due primarily to teachers’ lack of confidence in teaching content courses in English. Abundant research data shows that the majority of faculty members in all major universities in Taiwan have earned their Ph.D. degrees in English-speaking countries. It is thus instrumental that university teachers be empowered with the required mental strength for the practice of EMI. This can be achieved by way of meticulous materials preparation for instruction with IT support and the adoption of effective interactive pedagogies. Mentors can also be provided for counseling regarding best practices in EMI. Aside from this approach, the ICL (Integrated Content and Language) approach can also be adopted to enable content lecturers to work closely in collaboration with language lecturers, as proposed by Sue Starfield (2015), Becky Bergman (2015), Christopher Hill (2014) and Chen-ching Li (2014), etc. Finally, an achievement-driven approach to students’ holistic communication skills, which incorporates oral presentations in formal settings and formal publication of written work should be included as part of EMI methodology. Examples will be provided to demonstrate how these approaches can be called upon to aid in the practice and promotion of EMI.