Speaker
Description
As Vietnam advances its national agenda to integrate English as a second language across the education system, the adoption of English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) is emerging as a key strategy. While this offers new opportunities for global engagement, many subject teachers face challenges in delivering content through English, often lacking the pedagogical training and confidence to teach in bilingual environments. This presentation draws from global practice and international teacher development programs to demonstrate how English teachers can be empowered as cross-disciplinary collaborators in EMI contexts. Rather than limiting their role to language instruction, English teachers can co-plan lessons, scaffold academic language, and mentor colleagues across subject areas. Grounded in sustainable capacity-building principles, we introduce a practical EMI support model focused on peer coaching, reflective practice, and the formation of school-based Communities of Practice (CoPs). This model has been tested in diverse international settings, including low-resource environments, and is adaptable to the Vietnamese educational landscape. By integrating global insights with local needs, this session highlights how EMI implementation can be strengthened through school-wide collaboration, teacher agency, and continuous professional development. It positions English teachers not only as facilitators of language, but as agents of sustainable educational transformation. This presentation will benefit ELT professionals, teacher trainers, and academic leaders interested in scalable, practical models for building EMI capacity while promoting equity, confidence, and long-term impact.
Biography
Kamila Dolejsi is an international academic leader, teacher educator, and advocate for sustainable and inclusive English language education. She currently serves as Academic Director of EFL UK and the Oxford International Digital Institute at Oxford International Education Group, where she oversees academic strategy across digital and on-campus English language programs.
With over 18 years of experience in ELT, Kamila has worked extensively in Europe, Africa, and Asia as a teacher trainer, academic manager, and project lead. Her expertise spans English for Academic Purposes (EAP), EMI (English as a Medium of Instruction), teacher agency, and curriculum development for global learning contexts. She holds a degree in Linguistics and TEFL certification from Simon Fraser University and she is DELTA qualified from the University of Cambridge.
Kamila is passionate about bridging research with practice. She recently contributed to the PRELIM 3 project in Cameroon, co-developing training programs that empower English teachers in low-resource environments. She has also written and spoken publicly about the link between English proficiency and academic success, the gendered dimensions of leadership in education, and the future of digital pedagogy.
