English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI): A pivotal approach to enhance english language proficiency in the Philippines

Borres, Darel Yenn Arellano (2025) English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI): A pivotal approach to enhance english language proficiency in the Philippines. World Journal of Advanced Research and Reviews, 26 (1). pp. 551-554. ISSN 2581-9615

English as the medium of instruction (EMI) refers to the use of English language to teach academic subjects in countries where the first language of the majority in terms of population is not English (Dearden, 2014)). When EMI is implemented in the educational system, an English teaching policy is strictly required. Educators should use English in class discussions and students should practice its usage and relevance. In the Philippine context, EMI is still a suggestion. During the State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., he suggested the Department of Education to bring back the use of English as medium of instruction even in teaching Filipino subjects. Looking back to the successive years of Philippine English Proficiency (before 2016), the competence of Filipinos in using English was higher than today. In fact, our country is ranked as the third highest English proficiency Index before. Thus, the purpose of this literature review is to mirror the proficiency that once lost through giving emphasis to previous studies that are significant to English language teaching in order to achieve the claim that EMI is a pivotal approach to ease English language teaching. This is to encourage students to not be afraid in grammars but to embrace it.