Redefining faculty preparedness in English-medium instruction

Abstract Responding to calls for greater attention to the structure, substance, and scope of English-medium instruction (EMI) faculty professional preparation programs and their impact on teacher instructional practices, this paper explores the design, implementation, and impact of a professional development initiative at a technical university in Taiwan. Based on needs analysis findings and grounded in Vygotskian sociocultural theory, the program was designed and implemented to support faculty development through engendering new forms of teacher reasoning and instructional action. Exemplifying this process of change, an in-depth case study of a faculty-participant’s learning shows how they developed new ways of reasoning about their instructional decisions and teaching their disciplinary content. Analysis of instructional coaching sessions, faculty-produced teaching artifacts, and classroom observations demonstrates how the faculty-participant translated individualized, concept-based instructional support into innovations in their course design and in-class engagement with students. The results foreground the value of conceptualizing EMI faculty development as an individualized, longitudinal process in which responsive instructional support is a catalyst for reasoned, pedagogically sound innovations. More generally, this study offers an alternative definition of EMI professional support that moves beyond preparedness and locates development -the process of creating qualitative change in teacher practices and reasoning-at its core.