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English-medium instruction (EMI) is increasingly common in educational contexts today, especially in higher education institutions (HEIs). The focus of EMI is primarily on the disciplinary content in courses rather than on the English language as a subject. HEIs choose to offer EMI for reasons such as internationalization and marketing, as well as providing students with exposure to the English language, although explicit language goals are not often articulated. In this chapter, EMI in relation to language ideologies, policy, student and teacher perspectives, and multilingualism is presented. Using the twin lenses of “parallelingualism” and “translanguaging,” the possible challenges to linguistic hierarchies and ideologies underlying EMI in Swedish HEIs are considered. The conclusion is that giving implementational and ideological space to languages that are currently not visible - including multiple local languages - may be a move beyond the binaries implied by a call for parallelingualism in the Nordic EMI context. © 2024 selection and editorial matter, Elizabeth Peterson and Kristy Beers Fägersten.

English-medium instruction (EMI) is increasingly common in educational contexts today, especially in higher education institutions (HEIs). The focus of EMI is primarily on the disciplinary content in courses rather than on the English language as a subject. HEIs choose to offer EMI for reasons such as internationalization and marketing, as well as providing students with exposure to the English language, although explicit language goals are not often articulated. In this chapter, EMI in relation to language ideologies, policy, student and teacher perspectives, and multilingualism is presented. Using the twin lenses of “parallelingualism” and “translanguaging,” the possible challenges to linguistic hierarchies and ideologies underlying EMI in Swedish HEIs are considered. The conclusion is that giving implementational and ideological space to languages that are currently not visible - including multiple local languages - may be a move beyond the binaries implied by a call for parallelingualism in the Nordic EMI context. © 2024 selection and editorial matter, Elizabeth Peterson and Kristy Beers Fägersten.

This article examines how students' cultural identities are discursively constructed in the Finnish and Swedish national curricula for the compulsory school. The aim is to illuminate the manifold discourses on cultural identity which prevail within Nordic educational policy. The study employs a critical multicultural education and postcolonial perspective with a particular focus on essentialist and non-essentialist views of identity in the curricular discourses. Through discourse analysis, key terms such as 'cultural identity' and 'multicultural identity' as well as different aspects of cultural identities such as language, gender and religion are investigated. The results show diverging discourses, with distinct differences in their explicitness and implicitness in the two countries. A clear effort to see all students as having multi-layered and multicultural identities is evident in the Finnish curricular discourse whereas a more essentializing discourse emerges in the Swedish curriculum. We conclude with a discussion on the importance of addressing policy discourses on students' cultural identities in order to ensure non-essentialist and socially just teaching and educational practice.

This article examines how students' cultural identities are discursively constructed in the Finnish and Swedish national curricula for the compulsory school. The aim is to illuminate the manifold discourses on cultural identity which prevail within Nordic educational policy. The study employs a critical multicultural education and postcolonial perspective with a particular focus on essentialist and non-essentialist views of identity in the curricular discourses. Through discourse analysis, key terms such as 'cultural identity' and 'multicultural identity' as well as different aspects of cultural identities such as language, gender and religion are investigated. The results show diverging discourses, with distinct differences in their explicitness and implicitness in the two countries. A clear effort to see all students as having multi-layered and multicultural identities is evident in the Finnish curricular discourse whereas a more essentializing discourse emerges in the Swedish curriculum. We conclude with a discussion on the importance of addressing policy discourses on students' cultural identities in order to ensure non-essentialist and socially just teaching and educational practice.

This article examines how students' cultural identities are discursively constructed in the Finnish and Swedish national curricula for the compulsory school. The aim is to illuminate the manifold discourses on cultural identity which prevail within Nordic educational policy. The study employs a critical multicultural education and postcolonial perspective with a particular focus on essentialist and non-essentialist views of identity in the curricular discourses. Through discourse analysis, key terms such as 'cultural identity' and 'multicultural identity' as well as different aspects of cultural identities such as language, gender and religion are investigated. The results show diverging discourses, with distinct differences in their explicitness and implicitness in the two countries. A clear effort to see all students as having multi-layered and multicultural identities is evident in the Finnish curricular discourse whereas a more essentializing discourse emerges in the Swedish curriculum. We conclude with a discussion on the importance of addressing policy discourses on students' cultural identities in order to ensure non-essentialist and socially just teaching and educational practice.

This article examines how students' cultural identities are discursively constructed in the Finnish and Swedish national curricula for the compulsory school. The aim is to illuminate the manifold discourses on cultural identity which prevail within Nordic educational policy. The study employs a critical multicultural education and postcolonial perspective with a particular focus on essentialist and non-essentialist views of identity in the curricular discourses. Through discourse analysis, key terms such as 'cultural identity' and 'multicultural identity' as well as different aspects of cultural identities such as language, gender and religion are investigated. The results show diverging discourses, with distinct differences in their explicitness and implicitness in the two countries. A clear effort to see all students as having multi-layered and multicultural identities is evident in the Finnish curricular discourse whereas a more essentializing discourse emerges in the Swedish curriculum. We conclude with a discussion on the importance of addressing policy discourses on students' cultural identities in order to ensure non-essentialist and socially just teaching and educational practice.