Abstract

As English Medium Instruction (EMI) expands across non-Anglophone higher education systems, debates about language use in the classroom have intensified. One of the most contested practices is code-switching—the alternation between English and students’ first languages during instruction. Often framed as a pedagogical weakness or policy violation, code-switching is discouraged in many EMI settings. However, a growing body of literature challenges this deficit perspective, suggesting that strategic code-switching can function as a scaffold for content comprehension and as a tool for inclusive teaching. This narrative review synthesizes key studies from diverse EMI contexts to examine the evolving role of code-switching in multilingual universities. It argues that rethinking code-switching as a dynamic, pedagogically informed practice is essential to making EMI more equitable and effective.