English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI)
Reading 4.1: Building Participation in EMI Courses
Building participation in EMI courses takes planning. Following are some activities that you can try in your courses.
They are intended as ways to help students work through any hesitation in speaking in class. See Barkley and
Major (2018) for more options for in-class activities.
1. Prompts with Pictures. The purpose is to help students become more comfortable speaking in class and using
visual support to elicit questions from students.
a. Show students an image, but do not explain it. Choose an image that is confusing to students. Make sure
the image is relevant.
b. Ask students to explain the image, or name the processes, and justify their answers as individuals or in
groups. Encourage them to use key terms that you can also write on the board.
c. Do not give the explanation until students have explored all options. Lead discussions that allow you to
ensure that students gain the understanding that they need.
See Figure 1 for an example. Show this image of the water cycle on the screen; notice that key steps in the cycle
have been removed and numbers have been put in their place. Ask students to identify the steps that are missing.
Consider listing the missing terms on the board. Do not move on before explaining the answers.
Figure 1. Example of a Prompt with Images for Discussion
"Water Cycle" by the United States Geological Survey is licensed under Public Domain.
© 2022 by Ohio University. English as a Medium of Instruction MOOC Reading 4.1 Building
Participation in EMI Courses for the Online Professional English Network (OPEN), sponsored by the
U.S. Department of State with funding provided by the U.S. government and administered by FHI 1
360. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License, except where
noted. To view a copy of this license, visit [Link]
2. Pass the Ball. The purpose is for everyone to have an opportunity to participate. Students will choose who will
provide the next answer.
a. Give a small ball to a student to answer your first question.
b. After the student answers the first question, discuss as needed.
c. The student with the ball then passes it to a student they choose.
d. Ask this student your second question.
e. Keep passing the ball and answering questions.
3. Laser Pointer Pointing. The purpose is to get students talking in class and to help them focus on the content.
a. Show an image that is relevant to the topic and complex enough for them to be curious.
b. Write key questions on the board about the image.
c. Volunteers should use the laser pointer and point to the image as they answer.
d. Invite other students to help answer the question.
See Figure 2 for an example. Ask students to use a laser pointer to describe the image shown. A question related to
Figure 2 could be “How does the water cycle function in your area?”.
Figure 2. Example of a Laser Pointer Pointing Image for Discussion
.
"Water Cycle" by the United States Geological Survey is licensed under Public Domain.
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4. Tournament. The purpose is to help students study collaboratively.
a. Take a study guide and divide it into separate parts.
b. Create a quiz for each part.
c. Divide the class into two groups and explain that this will be a competition. The team that gets the
most points wins.
d. Give all students Part 1 and let them study in their groups for a certain period.
e. Give the Part 1 Quiz to all students. They can answer together as groups or individually, but the
points are for the team.
f. Tally the points and announce the Part 1 winning team.
g. If desired, repeat this sequence for other parts. After each round, let the teams study the next topic
before quizzing again, as the points keep adding up.
h. The team with the most points wins.
5. Pros and Cons. The purpose of this activity is to help students review content. Here, “Pros” refer to advantages,
and “Cons” refer to disadvantages.
a. In groups of 3 or 4, assign half the groups to ‘Pros’ and half to ‘Cons’.
b. Choose a topic that poses some controversy.
c. Each group lists the pros and cons of the topic. The Pros group should be ready to explain the
advantages of the topic, and the Cons group should be ready to explain the disadvantages.
d. Have the groups compare their lists; that is, Pros students discuss with Cons students. They can make
revisions based on their conversations.
e. Write the Pros and Cons list on the board and lead a large group discussion.
Be sure to share your strategies and activities with an instructor or other EMI professional! This will help you all
learn from each other.
Reference1
Barkley, E. F., & Major, C. H. (2018). Interactive lecturing: A handbook for college faculty. Jossey-Bass.
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(This content is copyrighted and cannot be adapted in any way or distributed after the end of this course. It is not Public Domain or Creative
Commons-licensed, and therefore not for public use.)