Embodied lecturing in engineering in English-Medium Instruction (EMI): exploring the interaction between gestures, (Dis)Fluencies, and pragmatic challenges

This study examines the communicative challenges faced by an Italian first language (L1) lecturer delivering engineering courses through English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) in an international master’s program in Italy. Using a case study approach, it investigates how variations in speech rate, disfluencies, and verbal and non-verbal strategies affect teaching and learning. Data were collected from a video-recorded lecture, student feedback, and the lecturer’s reflections, with a focus on student perspectives. Findings reveal significant variations in speech rate, with faster rates during straightforward explanations and slower rates for complex content. Disfluencies were analyzed to differentiate between communication breakdowns and deliberate pauses used to engage students or allow them to process material. Gestures were examined as tools for facilitating understanding or compensating for challenges in lexical retrieval and technical explanations. While the study reinforces that both students and lecturers cooperate effectively to achieve communicative goals in English as a Lingua Franca in Academic (ELFA) contexts, it also emphasizes the need to further empower EMI lecturers by providing research-based evidence to improve specific areas of communication. Despite the lecturer’s technical expertise, rapid speech, lexical retrieval issues, and occasional misalignments between gestures and speech hindered student comprehension, particularly in STEM vocabulary. Methodologically, this research expands EMI studies by integrating Second Language Acquisition (SLA), Conversation Analysis (CA), and multimodal approaches. It emphasizes gestures as integral communicative tools rather than mere speech accessories, revealing challenges that may not be expressed verbally. The findings highlight the embodied nature of teaching and the critical role of gestures in either enhancing or hindering comprehension. This study calls for EMI-specific training programs to enhance communicative strategies, meeting the needs of international and domestic students in technical disciplines like engineering.