Insights into the implementation of English medium instruction at Vietnamese universities: Exploring the learning experiences of business students

This study critically examines the effectiveness of English medium instruction (EMI) at Vietnamese universities through students’ perspectives. Data is collected via 10 focus group interviews with undergraduate students enrolling in Business courses at four universities in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

ISSN 1859-1531 - THE UNIVERSITY OF DANANG, JOURNAL OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, NO 12(121).2017 53 INSIGHTS INTO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ENGLISH MEDIUM INSTRUCTION AT VIETNAMESE UNIVERSITIES: EXPLORING THE LEARNING EXPERIENCES OF BUSINESS STUDENTS Le Thi Thuy Nhung Banking University of Ho Chi Minh City; nhungltt@buh.edu.vn Abstract - This study critically examines the effectiveness of Englishmedium instruction (EMI) at Vietnamese universities through students’ perspectives Data is collected via 10 focus group interviews with undergraduate students enrolling in Business courses at four universities in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam The findings show that most of the students favor EMI However, they face difficulties in dealing with demands of their programs Students take the challenges for granted, having a strong belief in the social and economic returns of EMI Still, the extent to which students obtain prestigious, well-paid jobs as a result of their EMI experiences has yet to be demonstrated The move to EMI programs at universities in Vietnam and in Asian countries is gathering momentum The imperative now is to make them as effective as possible Key words - English Medium Instruction for non-language subjects; students; perceptions; challenges; globalization; internationalization; Vietnam Introduction The status of English as an international language exerts a considerable impact on educational policies and practices in educational systems all over the world (Nunan, 2003) Adopting English as a Medium Instruction (EMI) is one of the major educational trends in non-English speaking countries in the past decades This trend is prominent in higher education institutions not only in European but also in Asian countries where English is traditionally taught as a stand-alone foreign language subject In Vietnam, EMI has recently been introduced into university programs Despite the initial appeal of EMI, the effectiveness of EMI programs appears to vary because many Vietnamese universities are under-resourced and are not adequately prepared for EMI Anecdotal evidence shows that implementation of EMI in Vietnamese universities is problematic because of shortage of qualified teaching staff, study materials, and resources (Ha Anh, 2013; Pham, 2010) There is a lack of research into the current practices of EMI in Vietnamese universities to add weight to the anecdotal evidence The present study investigates the learning experiences of students undertaking EMI courses in the field of Business and Management studies at four universities in Ho Chi Minh It examines their attitudes towards EMI, their perceptions of the benefits of EMI; and their perceptions of the challenges facing them in doing EMI courses The study contributes to the limited research on EMI in Vietnamese universities It provides insights into current implementation of EMI in Vietnamese higher education contexts EMI policy and development of EMI in Vietnamese higher education The Vietnamese government in the past decades has encouraged higher education institutions to introduce EMI into university programs in a number of proposals Some of them are: Foreign Language Education 2008-2020’; Vietnam’s Educational Strategies 2009-2020; and Fundamental and Comprehensive Reform of Higher Education 2006-2020 These documents provide reasons for the introduction of EMI in Vietnamese higher education: to enhance graduates’ employability in the international workplace and thus enhance the quality of human resources; to enhance the quality of Vietnamese higher education through a process of internationalization; and to improve the English proficiency of Vietnamese lecturers through using English for teaching, research, and professional exchange In response to this EMI policy, many EMI courses and programs have been offered in both public and private universities in Vietnam since the early 2000s There are 35 Advanced Program initiatives supervised by Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) in 23 Vietnamese universities between 2008 and 2015 These Advanced Programs allow selected Vietnamese universities to import curricula from prestigious universities abroad The International Standard Programs (ISP) were introduced at the Vietnam National University which offered 16 training courses in English in 2008 (Vu & Burns, 2014) The High Quality Programs promulgated by MOET were launched in 2014 in several Vietnamese universities These programs share the following features: they model partly or entirely undergraduate degrees’ curricula from prestigious Western universities; they use English as the medium of instruction to deliver course content; and they are instructed by highly qualified staff The intention of these programs is to enhance the quality of university teaching and to improve students’ English proficiency, thereby enhancing graduates’ employability EMI policy also triggers the establishment of English medium universities In 2003, the International University, the first public English-medium university, was established in Ho Chi Minh City to offer all its programs in English In 2009, the Government launched the New Model University Project to build four ‘world-class’ universities with US$400 million in loans from the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank These universities were to be public, researchoriented, and foreign-managed institutions They would be modelled after prestigious universities in the United Kingdom and the United States and maintain high quality standards, academic excellence, and assessment and governance procedures that match international standards These four universities were to be English medium universities Two of them are currently in operation 54 Review of relevant literature The medium of instruction refers to the language used to deliver the content of non-language subjects other than the language studied as an object in itself English Medium Instruction (EMI) is widely adopted at the tertiary level in non-dominant English speaking countries to teach subjects in disciplinary areas such as Economics, Science, Engineering, Medicine and Information Technology EMI focusses less on pedagogical strategies and more on content, whereas other bilingual approaches focus on both content and language (Hamid, Jahan, & Islam, 2013) The language-learning goals in EMI class often are not made explicit In other words, EMI is a content-driven approach which uses a foreign language, and EMI courses are targeted at post-secondary students (Park, 2007) The growth of EMI in higher education in non-English speaking countries is driven by two major forces: globalization and internationalization (Tollefson & Tsui, 2004) EMI is being introduced into universities in Europe and East Asia because of national strategies for human capital development and internationalization of education There is a large volume of research into EMI Many studies on EMI in Europe and North America used surveys to identify attitudes of students and lecturers towards EMI EMI appears to generate favorable attitudes among students EMI prepares graduates for the international workplace and further education, enhances students’ English proficiency and increases their self-confidence Similar results were found in EMI studies in universities in East Asian countries where students’ preference for EMI was mainly driven by career and academic purposes (Byun et al., 2011; Manakul, 2007) Researchers also looked into the impact of EMI on students’ performance and learning outcomes EMI appears to increase students’ English language proficiency, especially their specialized vocabulary knowledge (Costa & Coleman, 2012) The effects of EMI on student comprehension of subject content have been examined Studies show mixed experience of EMI lectures for students While some students report they donot have problems in understanding EMI lectures, others experience problems understanding lectures delivered in English (Airey & Linder, 2006) Problems with EMI lectures include complicated specialized vocabulary and concepts, lecturers’ unclear pronunciation and unfamiliar accents, fast delivery rate, and students’ poor concentration during EMI lectures Apart from having difficulties understanding lectures, students report difficulty with academic reading, especially understanding new terminology and concepts in textbooks For writing, mastering relevant academic writing conventions are challenging for many students Spoken interaction is demanding for students in English-medium courses Interaction remains limited because of students’ lack of competence and confidence in speaking English There is evidence that EMI increases students’ workload (Tatzl, 2011; Vinke, Snippe, & Jochems, 1998) Time is spent on reading course materials, looking up vocabulary in preparation for lectures and revising for examinations Despite students’ positive attitudes towards Le Thi Thuy Nhung EMI, there remains dissatisfaction with EMI (Evans & Morrison, 2011) Many students call for improvement in the quality of teaching and better English proficiency among EMI lecturers The study With an aim to provide insights into the current practice of EMI in Vietnamese universities, the study seeks to answer the following questions: • What are students’ general perceptions of EMI? • What students perceive as the most challenging and satisfying aspects of EMI? • What are the implications of students’ reported experiences of EMI for the practice of EMI in Vietnamese universities? Ten focus group interviews are conducted with 46 students enrolling in Business courses at four universities in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam There are four to six students per group At the time of the interview, the students are in the third or fourth year of their Business programs so they have extensive experiences with EMI The interviews are recorded, transcribed verbatim, and translated from Vietnamese into English The data is analyzed through a process of patterncoding to identify themes (Miles & Huberman, 1994) corresponding to each research question The themes and subthemes are grouped to establish an overall picture of students’ experiences of English-medium instruction Findings and discussion 5.1 Students’ general perception of English Medium Instruction When asked about their perceptions of EMI, many students share the view that EMI is important for job seeking, job performance, and career advancement The students believe that EMI will provide them with a satisfactory English proficiency level to meet job requirements, given that most professional positions in the labor demand English competence One of the students express her opinion in this respect: Many job interviews nowadays are conducted in English I think students who EMI tend to better in interviews than those who don’t The students believe that they will gain a competitive edge over graduates from Vietnamese-medium programs Many expect to possess a high level of English proficiency and professional knowledge by the end of their study programs These ‘dual assets’ will enable them to compete successfully with other Vietnamese university graduates whose English proficiency tends to be lower EMI will enable them to compete against foreign job-seekers in the future labor market EMI is seen to open better job opportunities because graduates can not only work for local companies but also for ‘foreign’ enterprises where English is the working language Many students share the same view with the following student: … Vietnam has opened its employment market to foreign workers as part of the trade agreement with World Trade Organization It means, when we graduate, we have to ISSN 1859-1531 - THE UNIVERSITY OF DANANG, JOURNAL OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, NO 12(121).2017 compete not only with Vietnamese graduates but also with foreigners for jobs right here in our country Therefore, EMI would provide a head start for us to survive such competition Most students are generally in favor of English-medium instruction EMI is associated with an advantage in employment and pursuit of higher education Students’ favorable attitudes towards EMI are also found in previous studies conducted internationally In Vietnam, English is recognized as an important tool for “job seeking, job promotion and overseas studies” (Do, 2006, p.8) Since most professional positions require English proficiency, people are increasingly aware of the role that English plays in their future career and individual success In this study, most students assume that undertaking EMI will increase their English proficiency and thus contribute to their academic and career advancement EMI will bring students better career prospect and greater economic returns Students also assume that EMI is a guarantee of a highquality education However, to date in Vietnam there is little research data or report to show that EMI students move into high paying, prestigious careers 5.2 Challenges of English-medium instruction The focus group discussions reveal the following challenges: comprehending textbooks; understanding EMI lectures; expressing ideas in English; and dealing with written assignments 5.2.1 Comprehending English textbooks The students report that the textbooks used for Business studies are mainly American and British publications They acknowledge several benefits of using imported textbooks such as frequent updates of knowledge, originality and accuracy of content in comparison with its translation versions in Vietnamese However, the imported English textbooks without any modification and simplification pose several challenges such as heavy load of reading, difficult terminology, concepts and unfamiliar content knowledge Several students share the following ideas: …I find it difficult to understand courses books on Micro or Macroeconomics written by Mankiw (Greg Mankiw is an American macroeconomist – information added by the researcher) The books are about the US economy from the perspective of an American economist Things are different Similarly, some students claim that since they study American Accounting instead of Vietnamese Accounting, therefore, they are worried if they will work for a Vietnamese company and not have much knowledge about how the Vietnamese accounting system works In addition, some students are concerned that they will perform poorly in Vietnamese companies because they study overseas-based content at university Use of imported English textbooks written for Englishnative students is problematic for EMI students A heavy reading load, foreign structure and presentation of information, and unfamiliar academic writing styles in English course books present problems for many students In addition, a majority of students not have sufficient exposure to academic reading before university An 55 examination of EFL textbooks at upper-secondary schools in Vietnam show that the reading passages are quite short This indicates that Vietnamese students and their overseas counterparts in EFL contexts have limited experience and insufficient proficiency of reading before university (Hellekjær, 2005) Students enter university with poor reading skills They rely heavily on dictionaries and struggle with the reading requirements 5.2.2 Understanding EMI lectures In general, the students indicate that their understanding of the content of EMI lectures is hindered because of problems understanding Business terminology, lecturers’ English, and ineffective lecturing skills Some students find it difficult to understand accents of lecturers, especially those who have lived overseas for an extended period of time Students complain about lecturers’ fast delivery rate and unclear pronunciation They are critical of lecturers’ pronunciation, especially English spoken by senior lecturers The students describe some lectures as ‘very brief’ and ‘dry’ because of some lecturers’ unwillingness to elaborate or clarify the content Some lecturers are reluctant to provide examples or anecdotes to enhance understanding As a result, some lectures are boring because the lecturers cannot use English sufficiently well The students claim that they miss out some main points of the lectures because the lecturers not use any English language signposts to indicate important content One of the students is frustrated: … He speaks with the same tone from the start till the end I can’t take notes at all because I don’t know which point is the main point In general, students indicate that listening to EMI lectures is more demanding cognitively because they have to pay close attention In the first few courses of EMI, many students not understand the content of the lectures completely because of the complexity of the Business specialization Students’ problems with understanding lectures may be attributed in part to lecturers’ lack of command of English and experience with EMI teaching Most lecturers in the current study hold at least a Master’s degree mainly from English-speaking countries Most of them are young They may not have had an opportunity to take part in an English language training courses designed for teaching EMI because such courses are new in Vietnam It seems that these lecturers are assumed by program administrators to have sufficient English proficiency Nevertheless, given students’ frequent complaints about lecturers’ oral English proficiency, the assumption that most EMI lecturers are well qualified linguistically is questionable In addition, many students lack the English proficiency to EMI courses 5.2.3 Expressing ideas in English The students experience difficulties expressing their ideas in English because they lack specialized vocabulary, and a deep understanding of the content The inability to elaborate or explain in English stops them getting involved in classroom discussions .When we have a discussion in Vietnamese, we had lots of things to say to each other However, when a group 56 member reported to the class what we discussed, he often fails to translate the content from Vietnamese into English Most students say that they only speak English when exchange students are present In other circumstances, they speak entirely in Vietnamese A few students want to speak English but ‘no one wants to’ and some others are ‘afraid that group members will not understand’ what they say in English Students expect that EMI will create an environment for them to practise oral English In fact, there is limited English interaction outside the EMI class because of students’ lack of desire to speak English on campus Previous research shows that EMI students not take opportunities to speak English outside class They resort to local languages for ease of communication (Bolton & Kuteeva, 2012) 5.2.4 Dealing with written assignments Dealing with written assignments in English is difficult for the majority of students in the study Three areas of writing are problematic: academic writing conventions; choosing appropriate academic writing style; and using accurate terminology The students are not prepared to write assignments in their EMI courses Most students in the study come straight to university from high schools where they have very limited experience of writing in English English writing at high schools is much more ‘simpler’ and different from English writing at university Meanwhile, the English courses offered at their universities provide only ‘general knowledge of academic writing’ such as writing paragraphs and essays They not cover academic writing conventions in their EMI courses such as writing literature reviews, business reports and essays, and referencing their work As a result, most students have to consult lecturers and sources on the Internet to help them deal with writing assignments Problems with academic writing has been reported as a major issue for students in EMI courses in Scandinavian countries (Hellekjaer, 2010) and in non-dominant English speaking contexts elsewhere (Campbell & Li, 2008) and Vietnam is not an exception 5.3 Students’ satisfaction with EMI There is a relatively high level of satisfaction with EMI courses Sources of satisfaction are improvement in English language proficiency, increase confidence in learning, opportunities for cultural exchange with international students, and highly qualified academic staff The students from the English-medium university appreciate the presence of teaching assistants (TAs) in their courses because the TAs are very supportive and helpful to assist students in dealing with course exercises The students consider the EMI curriculum as ‘more advanced’ than the Vietnamese curriculum The EMI curriculum includes an international dimension by providing new courses such as International Marketing and fieldtrips which are not available to mainstream students In addition, EMI lecturers are described as highly trained, understanding, supportive, and friendly Young lecturers particularly are considered as ‘highly proficient in English and technologically sound’ because they use their knowledge of information technology more actively and effectively For example, some junior lecturers design Le Thi Thuy Nhung interactive webpages to post lecture slides, study materials, and discussion boards with their students Students know they can understand course content better when delivered in Vietnamese However, EMI courses are ‘more challenging but more interesting and worthwhile’ The perceived benefits of EMI seem to outweigh its challenges Conclusion The students in the study see the potential benefits of EMI for their future careers and show positive attitudes towards EMI Still, EMI pose numerous challenges to these students They seem to be inadequately prepared for EMI academically and linguistically The students face English language-related problems during their study These problems are alleviated as students progress through the program The majority of students indicate that they adapt to the EMI environment over time by developing coping learning strategies to deal with the demands of EMI courses The use of English as a medium of instruction in higher education in non-dominant English speaking countries continues to increase As Byun et al (2011) indicate, the issue is not whether or not to adopt EMI but how to implement EMI successfully The threshold level of English proficiency for EMI students should be increased English language training courses should be geared towards disciplinary and academic needs to help students cope with the requirements of EMI courses Imported textbooks should be modified or simplified to suit Vietnamese students Vietnamese universities should more to encourage students to speak English on campus and outside EMI classes More English language support and training courses designed to enhance EMI lecturers’ performance are recommended University administrators should take lecturers’ oral English proficiency into consideration when selecting academic staff If these preliminary conditions are established, the implementation of EMI in Vietnamese universities will yield more promising outcomes Universities with insufficient resources can consider setting up bilingual programs in two languages, Vietnamese and English, before offering English medium-only programs REFERENCES [1] Airey, J., & Linder, C (2006) Language and the experience of learning university Physics in Sweden European Journal of Physics, 27(3), 553-560 [2] Bolton, K., & 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(pp 283-294) Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum [18] Vinke, A A., Snippe, J., & Jochems, W (1998) English medium content courses in non-English higher education: A study of lecturer experiences and teaching behaviours Teaching in Higher Education, 3(3), 383-394 [19] Vu, T T N., & Burns, A (2014) English as a medium of instruction: Challenges for Vietnamese tertiary lecturers The journal of Asia TEFL, 11(3), 1-31 (The Board of Editors received the paper on 14/11/2017, its review was completed on 07/12/2017) ... What are students? ?? general perceptions of EMI? • What students perceive as the most challenging and satisfying aspects of EMI? • What are the implications of students? ?? reported experiences of. .. are four to six students per group At the time of the interview, the students are in the third or fourth year of their Business programs so they have extensive experiences with EMI The interviews... Review of relevant literature The medium of instruction refers to the language used to deliver the content of non-language subjects other than the language studied as an object in itself English Medium