The article considers the role of the English language in global tertiary education (ESP/EAP, Adjunct
ESP, EMI and ICLHE) and use a critical approach to analyze the current state of EMI integration into
the educational process and tensions that arise due to conceptual gap in its adaptation to existing
education policy. Applying a critical theory framework, the authors study the differences between
EMI and internationalization that both instructors and university management adopt to curriculum
design and pedagogy development. The research examines the ways internationalization and the
EMI strategy affect curriculum design in universities; the ways university management incorporates
global trends into curriculum design; the impediments that discourage the implementation of
these programs identified by both educators and students. The researchers examine the EMI
implementation under three dimensions: epistemology, teaching praxis, and ontological elements
of students’ development and use document analysis related to the administration, curriculum, and
course syllabi of EMI programs, followed by interviews with actors of the international classroom
to outline the most challenging issues tertiary teachers, students, and university management face
in EMI programs implementation. Moreover, the article examines evolving EMI perspectives as
a means to boost internationalization and to improve teaching quality via integrating the best
practices into the local context, including the expansion of teaching competence in both English
language and pedagogy, introduction of language prerequisites for applicants, a constant adaptation
of the curriculum to meet competence requirements.