Certificate in EMI Skills

About the course

Important information

Certificate in EMI Skills will be retiring on 31 October 2023. We are no longer accepting new courses and entries.

However, we will continue to provide support for the course until 31 July 2023.*

*Support for China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan will be available until 31 October 2023.

The Certificate in EMI Skills course helps higher education professionals to:

communicate more effectively in English with students and colleagues
use a range of language in different situations, from lectures and tutorials to conferences and online discussions
increase familiarity with a range of skills for delivering instruction in English.

Blended learning
Modules
Assessment

The Certificate in EMI Skills is a 40-hour online learning course.

Each of the eight online modules has approximately 5 hours of online study materials and 3 hours of optional materials which can be delivered face-to-face, online or as a combination of the two. The optional seminars extend and provide practice for participants’ online learning.

The Certificate in EMI Skills has eight modules:

Module	Content
1 Language for lectures	Different lecture styles Introducing a lecture Signposting and cohesion in lectures Concluding a lecture.
2 Language for seminars	Structuring seminars Giving step-by-step guidance Using questions to guide students Answering students’ questions.
3 Language for small groups and practical sessions	Explaining procedures Setting up groups Monitoring groups and practical sessions Ending a group discussion or practical session.
4 Language for tutorials and supervision	Setting goals and expectations Advising students on strengths and weaknesses Problems and solutions Focusing on the individual student.
5 Language for online communication	Online communication skills Writing emails Managing group communication Responding to online communication.
6 Language for evaluation and feedback	Giving constructive feedback Giving targeted feedback Distinguishing between necessity and suggestion Organisation of feedback.
7 Language for developing and extending professional roles	Preparing for academic interviews Writing a conference proposal Engaging in peer mentoring Networking in social situations.
8 Language for fulfilling professional responsibilities	Different students’ characteristics and needs Institutional conventions Institutional differences Relationships within university settings.

Each module has a number of lessons, which all have the following structure:

an introduction to the topic
interactive learning activities
interactive practice activities
progress test and assignments.

Participants are assessed in the following ways:

Assessment component	Description
Four written assignments within each module	Participants apply the language and skills they have learned to their own context and reflect on their experience.
An end-of-module progress test	Participants complete a multiple-choice test to check their learning.

Participants will gain a certificate of completion:

either on completion of the whole course
or on completion of individual modules, where participants are registered only for those modules.

EMI Skills case study

Cambridge English provided lecturers from Mexico’s Tecnológico de Monterrey, one of Latin America’s largest higher education institutions, with a tailored EMI training course to improve their knowledge of instructional level English. The course used a blended, online learning approach which provided lecturers with a more flexible and convenient alternative to a classroom-based course.

Read the Improving EMI Skills for University Lecturers case study