An Analysis of English Support Courses and Institutional Structural Arrangements of English Language Teaching Staff in English Medium Instruction: Evidence from Three State Universities in Sri Lanka

English support courses at universities are crucial to the academic development of undergraduates in English Medium Instruction (EMI). Similarly, the roles/ institutional structural arrangements of English Language Teaching (ELT) staff who serve in EMI for undergraduates’ academic development. Despite the expansion of EMI in Sri Lankan state universities, there is limited empirical un-derstanding of how English support courses are structured and how the roles of ELT staff are institutionally configured across faculties. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the nature of English support courses and the institutional structural arrangements of ELT staff within EMI, drawing on data from nine faculties at three state universities in Sri Lanka. This study employed qualitative research design, drew on purposively sampled lecturer interviews (n = 40) and official, published materials, and analyzed them using qualitative content analysis. The findings indicate that, of the nine faculties, English support for EMI programs is delivered through centralized Departments of English Language Teaching in six of them. Of the nine, three faculties offer faculty-/department-specific English support courses and have faculty-based structural arrangements of ELT staff for EMI. Also, this study reveals an emerging role for ELT staff as academic development practitioners in EMI, in addition to their expected role as ELT lecturers/instructors, which may require greater collaboration. Consequently, the study demonstrates that the effectiveness of English support courses in EMI is not inherent to the courses themselves but is shaped by how ELT roles are institutionally configured within faculties.