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This contribution draws on the notion of English as a lingua franca, especially as discussed in James (2006) and Smit (2010), to conceptualise English-medium tertiary education in settings where English functions as additional language and where tertiary education has a history of being undertaken in other, usually national languages. After briefly sketching the recent research undertakings into English as a lingua franca (ELF) as well as the specificities of English-medium tertiary education in mainland Europe, the paper argues for a conceptual framework of ELF as classroom language that combines sociolinguistic, sociocultural and discursive components. In conclusion, the empirical relevance of the proposed framework is substantiated by applying it to a specific case study of tertiary classroom discourse.