English has become an important language of science and scholarship due to the globalization and internationalization of higher education. As a result, there has been a rapid increase in English-mediated instruction (EMI) courses across English as a foreign language (EFL) countries. In an expansion of EMI courses, different reactions have arisen among professors between Korean and Nordic higher education contexts. Utilizing both literature search on EMI as well as insights from the researcher’s involvement in EMI projects, this article presents a comparative analysis of EMI between Korean and Nordic universities with the hope that it will contribute to more effective implementation of EMI within EFL universities such as the ones in Korea. The analysis demonstrates that although there are similar concerns about the expansion and implementation of EMI, the two contexts have fundamental differences, including the motivation for the introduction of EMI, linguistic environments, and philosophy of teaching and learning. These factors are intertwined and influence the implementation of EMI in each context. Therefore, in order to implement EMI more successfully in Korean universities, understanding the differences underlying the two contexts is required.

This study examined the linguistic and methodological issues that arose as two Korean professors taught their subject matter in English to Korean college students and how each professor used the comments and suggestions provided by a teacher trainer. The participants included two Korean female professors who taught their major course in English. The data came from the analysis of the two professors’video-recorded lessons, the teacher trainer’s notes of follow-up discussions with each professor, and students’ response to the surveys. The results showed that the two Korean EFL professors exhibited more methodological than linguistic issues as they delivered their subject matter in English. Additionally, the way they used the trainer’s comments on their instruction revealed differences. One professor closely followed them, thereby changing her future instruction, whereas the other did not pay close attention to them; consequently, her subsequent lessons showed little transformation from her first lesson. This study suggests that it is important to establish a systematic support system for Korean EFL content professors who deliver their lesson in English.