Register for the third Arqus webinar on English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI)

The Arqus Alliance is pleased to announce the third webinar in its English-Medium Instruction (EMI) seminar series for the academic year 2025–26, which is run by Maynooth University. The topic of this year’s series is effective assessment in English-taught programmes and classes.

Titled “Developing strategies for assessment in English-medium instruction”, this webinar will be delivered by Katherine Ackerley and Fiona Dalziel from the University of Padua. It will take place online on Thursday, 12 February 2026, from 12:00 to 13:00 (CET). 

This webinar focuses on some of the challenges that lecturers may face in developing fair and effective modes of assessment in EMI. Drawing on data from a student survey and focus groups with students and lecturers, we will reflect on stakeholders’ differing perceptions of written and oral assessment of content knowledge. It has been seen that in the case of international students, there may be concerns relating not only to language and academic literacy competence, but also to their need to adapt to the local academic culture.

We will discuss lecturers’ assessment strategies in EMI and students’ affective responses, also addressing issues related to collaborative knowledge construction in exams and positive washback. We will then open the floor to participants for a discussion on how enhanced awareness of and familiarity with a wide range of assessment practices can foster student success in English-taught programmes.