Examining Turkish University Students’ Sense of Achievement, Motivation, and Anxiety: A Comparison of the English- and French-Medium Education Systems

Abstract

Foreign language-medium instruction at tertiary level is receiving great attention in our decade. Thus, this study examines the significance of the following psychological factors for Turkish students enrolled in tertiary education: (i) sense of achievement, (ii) motivation, and (iii) anxiety. In particular, it focuses on the perceptions of Turkish students receiving tertiary education by an English-medium instruction (EMI) or a French-medium instruction (FMI). The study also focuses on the impact of context on students’ perceptions. To collect data, students enrolled in an EMI (N = 144) and FMI (N = 214) were administered a five-point Likert scale survey. Seventeen students were also interviewed for this study, and they represented one Turkish public university and two private universities. The study revealed that the students in both contexts had a higher sense of achievement, motivation, and low level of anxiety whilst receiving foreign language as the medium of instruction. Regarding the contextual difference, however, although the EMI and FMI students both perceived themselves successful, the former was found to be more motivated, whereas the latter was found to be more anxious. This paper discusses the implications of these findings as well as giving suggestions for further research. 

Keywords

• English-medium instruction
• French-medium instruction
• achievement
• motivation
• anxiety
• context

Kaynakça

1. Arkın, İ. E. (2013). English-medium instruction in tertiary level education: A case study in a Turkish university context (Doctoral dissertation). Eastern Mediterranean University. North Cyprus. Retrieved from http://i-rep.emu.edu.tr:8080/xmlui/handle/11129/634
2. Başıbek, N., Dolmacı, M., Cengiz, B. C., Bür, B., Dilek, Y., & Kara, B. (2014). Lecturers’ perceptions of English medium instruction at engineering departments of tertiary level education: A study on partial English medium instruction at some state universities in Turkey. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 116, 1819-1825. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.01.477.
3. Belhiah, H., & Elhami, M. (2015). English as a medium of instruction in the Gulf: When students and teachers speak. Language Policy, 14(1), 3-23.
4. Byun, K., Chu, H., Kim, M., Park, I., Kim, S., & Jung, J. (2010). English-medium teaching in Korean tertiary level education: policy debates and reality. Tertiary Level Education, 62(4), 431-449. doi:10.1007/s10734-010-9397-4
5. Cantoni, M. (2007). What role does the language of instruction play for a successful education? A case study of the impact of language choice in a Namibian school. Bulletin of Education and Research, 37(1), 1-10.
6. Cho, D. (2012). A level- and proficiency-based English language program of a science university in Korea. English Teaching, 67(4), 25-55. doi:10.15858/engtea.67.4.201212.25
7. Civan, A., & Coşkun, A. (2016). The Effect of the medium of instruction language on the academic success of university students. Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice, 16(6), 1981-2004. doi:10.12738/estp.2016.6.0052
8. Costa, F., & Coleman, J. A. (2013). A survey of English-medium instruction in Italian higher education. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 16(1), 3-19. doi:10.1080/13670050.2012.676621

9. Courcy, M. D., & Burston, M. (2000). Learning mathematics through French in Australia. Language and Education, 14(2), 75-95. doi:10.1080/09500780008666780
10. Coyle, D. (2008). CLIL—a pedagogical approach from the European perspective. In N. V. Deusen-Sholl & N. H. Hornberger (Eds.), Encyclopedia of language and education. Second and foreign language education, 4, 97-112. New York: Springer Science + Business Media LLC. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-30424-3
11. Dearden, J. (2015). English as a medium of instruction–a growing global phenomenon. British Council. Retrieved from http://www. britishcouncil.org/education/ihe/knowledge- centre/english-language-higher-education/report-english-medium-instruction
12. Dearden, J., & Macaro, E. (2016). Tertiary level education teachers’ attitudes towards English medium instruction: A three-country comparison. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching 6(3), 455–86.
13. Doiz, A., Lasagabaster, D., & Sierra, J. M. (2011). Internationalisation, multilingualism and English-medium instruction. World Englishes, 30(3), 345-359.
14. Dörnyei, Z. (2007). Research methods in applied linguistics: Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed Methodologies. Oxford University Press.
15. Evans, S., & Morrison, B. (2011). Meeting the challenges of English-medium higher education: The first-year experience in Hong Kong. English for Specific Purposes, 30(3), 198-208. doi:10.1016/j.esp.2011.01.001
16. Hsieh, S.-H., & Kang, S.-C. (2007). Effectiveness of English-medium instruction of an engineering course and strategies used by the teacher. Retrieved from http://ctld.ntu.edu.tw/rp/95_01.pdf
17. Huang, D. (2015). Exploring and assessing effectiveness of English medium instruction courses: The students’ perspectives. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 173, 71-78.
18. Kagwesage, A. M. (2012). Tertiary level education students’ reflections on learning in times of academic language shift. International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 6(2). doi:10.20429/ijsotl.2012.060218
19. Khan, H. I. (2013). An investigation of two universities postgraduate students and their teachers’ perceptions of policy and practice of English medium of instruction (EMI) in Pakistani universities (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Auckland, New Zealand.
20. Kırkgöz, Y. (2005). Motivation and student perception of studying in an English-medium university. Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, 1(1), 101-122.
21. Kırkgöz, Y. (2009). Students’ and lecturers’ perceptions of the effectiveness of foreign language instruction in an English-medium university in Turkey. Teaching in Tertiary Level Education, 14(1), 81-93. doi:10.1080/13562510802602640
22. Kırkgöz, Y. (2013). Students’ approaches to learning in an English-medium higher education. The Journal of Language Teaching and Learning, 2, 30-39.
23. Kuchah, K. (2016). English-medium instruction in an English–French bilingual setting: issues of quality and equity in Cameroon. Comparative Education, 52(3), 311-327. doi: 10.1080/03050068.2016.1185257
24. Maalim, H. A. (2017). Students’ underachievement in English-medium subjects: The case of secondary school in Zanzibar. Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies, 35(1), 53-62. doi:10.2989/16073614.2017.1284008
25. Macaro, E., Akıncıoğlu, M., & Dearden, J. (2016). English medium instruction in universities: A Collaborative Experiment in Turkey. Studies in English Language Teaching, 4(1), 51. doi:10.22158/selt.v4n1p51
26. Macaro, E., & Akıncıoğlu, M. (2017). Turkish university students’ perceptions about English medium instruction: Exploring year, group, gender, and university type as variables. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 39(3), 1-15. doi:10.1080/01434632.2017.1367398
27. Miles, M. B., & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis: an expanded sourcebook. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
28. Nyika, A. (2015). Mother tongue as the medium of instruction at developing country universities in a global context. South African Journal of Science, 111(1/2), 1-5. doi:10.17159/sajs.2015/20140005
29. Soruç, A., Dinler, A., Griffiths, C. (2018) Listening comprehension strategies of EMI students in Turkey. In Kırkgöz Y., Dikilitaş K. (Eds.), Key issues in English for specific purposes in higher education. English Language Education, 11. Springer, Cham.
30. Soruç, A., & Griffiths, C. (2018). English as a medium of instruction: Students’ strategies. ELT Journal, 72(1), 38-48.
31. Tabaro, D. (2015). Rwandans' motivation to learn and use English as a medium of instruction. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 5(2), 78-85.
32. Tolon, K. (2014). Teacher experiences during the shift in medium of instruction in Rwanda: Voices from Kigali public schools. British Council, 1-71.
33. Turhan, B., & Kırkgöz, Y. (2018). Motivation of engineering students and lecturers toward English medium instruction in Turkey. Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, 14(1), 261-277.
34. Wu, W. S. (2006). Students’ attitudes toward EMI: Using Chung Hua University as an example. Journal of Education and Foreign Language and Literature, 4, 67-84.