Investigating professional development of content and language teachers in English Medium Instruction (EMI) contexts in China

Zhou, Jingwen (2026) Investigating professional development of content and language teachers in English Medium Instruction (EMI) contexts in China. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

With the global advancement of the internationalisation of higher education, English Medium Instruction (EMI) has gained momentum in non-Anglophone contexts such as China, where EMI programmes are surging to align with goals such as attracting government funding, enhancing university rankings, and improving students’ English proficiency and career prospects. However, a range of challenges faced by stakeholders (students and teachers) may jeopardise the realisation of these goals. While student-related issues have been widely recognised, challenges faced by teachers remain insufficiently explored. Specifically, content teachers often struggle linguistic and pedagogical challenges when teaching from L1 to English, while English for Academic Purposes (EAP) teachers face transitioning challenges from general English (EGP) to EAP.

Teacher professional development (PD) is therefore recommended to address these challenges. However, institutional support remains limited in practice, which may undermine the ultimate goal of EMI in ensuring students’ academic success (McKinley & Rose, 2022). Furthermore, collaboration between content and EAP teachers is suggested as a promising PD format (Lasagabaster, 2022; Ploettner, 2019), enabling content and EAP teachers to synergise disciplinary and linguistic expertise to better support student learning. However, collaboration remains largely at the pilot stage (Lasagabaster, 2018), with limited relevant research on its effectiveness, leaving multiple unaddressed issues in practice.

This study investigates the current state of PD opportunities and collaboration between content and EAP teachers across different types of EMI provisions (EMI university, EMI college and EMI programme) in China. Using a multi-method qualitative approach, data were collected through document analysis of PDrelated documents and interviews with content teachers (n = 20), EAP teachers (n = 20), and PD leads (n = 5). The study offers both objective and subjective insights into how PD and collaboration are perceived, structured, and experienced.

Key findings reveal institutional and individual factors influencing teachers’ PD and collaboration respectively, highlight significant variation across EMI provision types, and stress the need for structured mechanisms and leadership support to facilitate effective PD and also teacher collaboration. The study also underscores the critical role of EAP teachers in supporting students' academic English and calls for more equitable PD investment across teaching cohorts. It concludes by advocating for policy and institutional reforms to support more sustainable and collaborative PD practices. Ultimately, this study emphasises that the long-term success of EMI hinges on recognising teachers’ endeavours made for bettering EMI teaching quality and calls for a more holistic support system which ensures the empowerment of teachers and academic achievements of students.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Subjects: L Education > LB Theory and practice of education
• Colleges/Schools: College of Social Sciences > School of Education
• Supervisor's Name: Galloway, Dr. Nicola and Haghi, Dr. Ide
• Date of Award: 2026
• Depositing User: Theses Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:2026-85752
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 10 Feb 2026 15:06
• Last Modified: 10 Feb 2026 15:10
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/85752