Does English Medium Instruction (EMI) Make a Difference on Student Motivation?

Abstract

English Medium Instruction (EMI) has been a growingly popular practice in public and private universities around Turkey. Following the trend of internationalization overeagerly, Turkish universities have started undergraduate and graduate programs run partially or fully in English, yet they have given not enough thought to what it requires to teach and learn an academic subject in an additional language. Decision makers at the tertiary level have often regarded English language proficiency as the only indicator of success in these programmes and mistakenly believed that the required English proficiency level could be attained within a year through the “Preparatory Year English Language Programme (PYP)” offered by the language school of the university. However, it has been seen that in many cases, these one-year-long intensive English programmes have failed to meet the needs of the students preparing to study their prospective academic fields in English, and low student motivation has been observed as a major hindrance. The aim of this study is to find out if choosing an EMI programme has a positive effect on student motivation and English language proficiency and to discover if there is a positive correlation between student motivation and academic achievement. For that purpose, during the spring semester of the academic year 2016-2017, 40 PYP students  enrolled in an EMI programme run fully (100%) in English, 40 PYP students enrolled in an EMI programme run partially (30%) in English and 40 PYP students enrolled in a programme run completely in Turkish were given Gardner’s Attitude/Motivation Test Battery Questionnaire. Then students’ end-of-the-year test scores were collected to identify if there is a correlation between student achievement and motivation in these three groups of students. Based on the findings, pedagogical implications for PYPs will be discussed. 

Keywords

• Attitude,Motivation,English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI)

References

1. Al-Tamimi, A. & Shuib, M. (2009). Motivation and Attitudes towards Learning English: A Study of Petroleum Engineering Undergraduates at Hadhramout University of Science and Technology. Journal of Language Studies, 9(2), 29-55.
2. Al-Zubeiry, H. Y. A. (2012). The Socio Psychological Orientations of Saudi Learners of English as a Foreign Language. Umm Al-Qura University Journal of Languages and Literature, 8, 13-52.
3. Brown, D. (2000). Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. NY: Longman.
4. Coyle, D. & Hood, P. & Marsh, D. (2010). CLIL: Content and Language Integrated Learning. UK: Cambridge University Press.
5. Çetinkaya, G. (2017). The Relationship among Language Learning Strategies, Motivation and Academic Achievement of Unıversity Preparatory School Students. Unpublished MA Thesis, Abant İzzet Baysal University, Bolu.
6. Dearden, J. (2014). English as a Medium of Instruction- a Growing Global Phenomenon. [Available Online at https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/english-a-medium-instruction-%E2%80%93-a-growing-global-phenomenon, Retrieved on November 11, 2015.]
7. Doiz, A. & Lagabaster, D. & Sierra, J. M. (2014). CLIL and Motivation: The Effect of Individual and Contextual Variables. The Language Learning Journal, 42(2), 209-224.
8. Dörnyei, Z. (2005). The Psychology of Language Learner. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

9. Ellis, R. (1997). Second Language Acquisition. Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.
10. Fazlı, S. & Seyyedrezaei, S. H. (2016). The Effect of Task Based Language Teaching on Elementary EFL Learners' Motivation. Journal of Language Sciences & Linguistics, 4(2), 103-108.
11. Fernandez- Fontecha, A. & Canga Alanso, A. (2014). A Preliminary Study on Motivation and Gender in CLIL and Non-CLIL Types of Instruction. International Journal of English Studies, 14(1), 21-36.
12. Gardner, R. C. & Lambert, W. (1972). Attitudes and Motivation in Second Language Learning. Rowley, Massachusets: Newbury House.
13. Gardner, R. C. (1985). The Attitude/Motivation Test Battery: Technical Report (1985). [Available Online at http://publish.uwo.ca/~gardner/docs/AMTBmanual.pdf, Retrieved on September 28, 2017.]
14. Gardner, R. C. & Tremblay, P. F. & Masgoret, A. M. (1997). Towards a Full Model of Second Language Learning: An Emprical Investigation. The Modern Language Journal, 81(3), 344-362.
15. Gardner, R. C. (2004). Attitude and Motivation Test Battery: International AMTB Research Project. [Available Online at http://www.nkhy.net/jingpinke/buchongyuedu/Motivation%20measurement-AMTB.pdf, Retrieved on September 28, 2017.]
16. Gardner, R. (2006). The Socio-Educational Model of Second Language Acquisition: A Research Paradigm. EUROSLA Yearbook, 6, 237-260.
17. Harmer, J. (2001). The Practice of English Language Teaching. Essex: Longman.
18. Jain, Y. & Sidhu, G. K. (2013). Relationship between Anxiety, Attitude and Motivation of Tertiary Students in Learning English as a Second Language. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 90(2013), 114- 123.
19. Johnson, K. & Johnson, H. (Eds.) (1999). Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Applied Linguistics. Great Britain: Blackwell Publishing.
20. Lagabaster, D. (2011). English Achievement and Student Motivation in CLIL and EFL Classes. International CLIL Research Journal, 1(2), 5-17. Lalonde, R. N. & Gardner, R. C. (1985). On the Predictive Validity of the Attitude/Motivation Test Battery. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 6, 403-412.
21. Murray, D. E. & Christison, M. (2011). What English Language Teachers Need to Know Volume 1: Understanding Learning. NY: Routledge.
22. Priyantin, T. (2014). Students' Attitudes towards Cooperative Learning in Enhancing Their Motivation to Speak. Paper Presented at The 61st TEFLIN International Conference, Sebelas Maret University, Solo, 7-9, 846-849.
23. Tahaineh, Y. & Daana, H. (2013). Jordanian Undergraduates' Motivations and Attitudes towards Learning English in EFL Context. International Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 4(2), 159-180.
24. Uçar, S. (2009). The Preferences of Turkish Unıversity EFL Students for Instructıonal Activities in Relation to Their Motivaiıon. Unpublished MA Thesis, Bilkent University, Ankara.