VietTESOL International Convention 2026

The rapid expansion of English-medium instruction (EMI) in Vietnamese higher education has reshaped lecturers’ professional roles and classroom practices. While previous EMI studies have mainly focused on teacher identity and pedagogical challenges, limited attention has been paid to how lecturers dynamically self-position themselves in multilingual EMI classrooms. This qualitative study aims to explore the self-positioning of Vietnamese lecturers teaching specialised subjects through English in higher education institutions. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analysed thematically through the lens of Positioning Theory. The findings reveal three major forms of lecturers’ self-positioning in EMI contexts, i.e., positioning as educators within global and local educational contexts, positioning as disciplinary experts rather than language teachers, and positioning as multilingual mediators through translanguaging practices. Additionally, the study highlights the dynamic and context-dependent nature of lecturers’ self-positioning, and simultaneously demonstrates how sociocultural, institutional, and disciplinary contexts shape lecturers’ pedagogical choices and language practices in EMI classrooms. The results are deemed to contribute to EMI research by reconceptualising lecturers’ professional roles as dynamic forms of self-positioning rather than fixed professional identities.