An investigation into students attitudes towards the use of english as a medium of instruction emi at a vietnamese higher education institution

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES, HUE UNIVERSITY VO VAN KHUONG AN INVESTIGATION INTO STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE USE OF ENGLISH AS A MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION (EMI) AT A VIETNAMESE HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTION MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, Hue University of Foreign Languages HUE, 2020 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES, HUE UNIVERSITY VO VAN KHUONG AN INVESTIGATION INTO STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE USE OF ENGLISH AS A MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION (EMI) AT A VIETNAMESE HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTION MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CODE: 8140111 SUPERVISOR: NGUYEN VAN HUY, Ph.D HUE, 2020 BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ -VÕ VĂN KHƯƠNG ĐIỀU TRA THÁI ĐỘ CỦA SINH VIÊN TẠI MỘT TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC Ở VIỆT NAM VỀ VIỆC SỬ DỤNG TIẾNG ANH NHƯ MỘT NGÔN NGỮ GIẢNG DẠY LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP DẠY HỌC BỘ MÔN TIẾNG ANH MÃ SỐ: 8140111 NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC: TIẾN SĨ NGUYỄN VĂN HUY HUE, 2020 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby certify that this thesis is my original work The data and findings in the thesis are true, used with permission from associates, and have not been published elsewhere Hue, November 7th, 2020 Author Võ Văn Khương i ABSTRACT Recently, English as a Medium Instruction (EMI) has witnessed a growing trend together with the internationalization of higher education institutions English has also become popular in higher education in Viet Nam The overall picture of EMI at tertiary level in Vietnam has therefore become a growing phenomenon This study aims to investigate students’ attitudes towards EMI and some challenges they faced at a Vietnamese higher education institution Questionnaires and semistructured interviews were used to obtain data on how students viewed English medium instruction and what difficulties they encountered when taking EMI courses The results showed that the students had a favorable attitude toward using EMI to improve the content knowledge while simultaneously enhancing their English language proficiency It was also found out that the students encountered a variety of challenges in EMI concerning understanding lectures, engaging the class discussions, understanding textbooks and course materials, as well as their performance in tests and examinations As far as the study results are concerned, EMI could be troublesome for students mainly due to their low English language proficiency and partly because of lecturers’ linguistic ability while they delivered the content, particularly with regards to pronunciation Several pedagogical implications can be drawn and discussed about the enhancement of English learning experiences of students in EMI as well as ways to deal with some of the difficulties they encountered when talking EMI ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would especially like to thank my supervisor, Dr Nguyen Van Huy for the wholehearted support extended to me throughout the conduct of the research Without his guidance, support and suggestions during this long journey, this work would not have reached its final destination I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Dr Truong Bach Le for inspiring and suggesting an interesting research topic I wish to thank Assoc Prof Dr Tran Kiem Minh, Dean, Faculty of Mathematics, Assoc Prof Dr Truong Minh Duc, Dean, Faculty of Physics, Dr Le Quoc Thang, Dean, Faculty of Chemistry at the University of Education, Hue University for necessary help, valuable suggestions and critics I would like to express my gratitude to Mr Do Xuan Truong and the staff of the University of Economics, Hue University for providing necessary support My sincere thanks go to all students at the University of Education and University of Economics who participated in this study and gave their valuable time to respond to the questionnaire and interviews This work would not have been done without their involvement Finally, I cannot forget to thank my family and friends for their unconditional support and encouragement iii TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i ABSTRACT ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vii LIST OF TABLES viii LIST OF FIGURES ix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the study 1.2 Aims of the study 1.3 Significance of the study 1.4 Research questions 1.5 Scope of the study 1.6 Structure of the study CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Definition of EMI 2.2 The growing trend of EMI research in Vietnam 2.2.1 EMI in Vietnamese higher education 2.2.2 Benefits and disadvantages of EMI in Vietnamese higher education 11 2.3 Overview of Attitude 12 2.3.1 Definitions of Attitude 12 2.3.2 Components of Attitude 14 2.3.3 Expanded model of attitudinal analysis: attitude plus motivation, gender, seniority and specialization 15 2.4 Natural sciences and social sciences taught in EMI programs at higher education institutions 17 2.5 Chapter summary 19 iv CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 20 3.1 Research context 20 3.2 Research participants 20 3.2.1 Participants’ demographic information 20 3.2.2 Students’ self-evaluations of English ability 22 3.3 Survey respinse rate 22 3.4 Validity and reliability of the questionnaire 23 3.5 Research instruments 24 3.5.1 Questionnaire 25 3.5.2 Interview 27 3.6 Data analysis 28 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 29 4.1 Students’ attitudes towards EMI 29 4.1.1 Students’ motivations for enrolling in EMI courses 29 4.1.2 Students’ satisfaction with EMI courses 30 4.1.3 Students’ viewpoints on EMI lecturers 32 4.1.4 Students’ viewpoints of their ability to interact in English 34 4.1.5 Students’ viewpoints on resources for learning in English 35 4.1.6 Students’ behavioral intentions regarding the use of EMI 36 4.1.7 The variables of gender, year group and study major 43 4.2 Students’ difficulties in EMI courses 49 4.2.1 Difficulties in comprehending lectures 49 4.2.2 Difficulties in participating in classroom discussion 50 4.2.3 Difficulties in understanding textbooks and course materials written in English 51 4.2.4 Difficulties in tests and examinations 52 4.3 Chapter Summary 53 v CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION, IMPLICATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH 55 5.1 Conclusion 55 5.2 Limitations of the study 57 5.3 Pedagogical implications 57 5.4 Suggestions for further research 59 REFERENCES 61 APPENDICES 73 vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AEF Agriculture Economics and Finance AP Advanced Physics BA Business Administration C Chemistry CLIL Content and Language Integrated Learning EFL English as a foreign language EMI English as a medium of instruction ESP English for specific purposes HE Higher education HEIs Higher education institutions HUEco University of Economics, Hue University HUEdu University of Education, Hue University L1 First language M Mathematics MOET The Ministry of Education and Training of Viet Nam NFL 2020 National Foreign Language 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New York: Routledge Yen, H P., & Thong, T N (2019) Students’ perceptions towards the benefits and drawbacks of EMI classes Retrieved from http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/elt/article/view/0/39159 72 APPENDICES APPENDIX - QUESTIONNAIRE 73 74 75 76 77 78 APPENDIX INTERVIEW QUESTIONS What level of English you currently have? How you evaluate your level of English? What you think about your EMI teachers? Do you understand when EMI lecturers explain the lessons in English? Do you communicate effectively with your teachers and friends in English? EMI courses may hinder students from going deeper in the content of the lessons than in Vietnamese What you think about that? Do you have any difficulties in engaging in the class discussion in English? If yes, why? Do you find it hard to read textbooks in English? How you deal with these issues? Do you prefer using both English and Vietnamese in EMI courses or English only? What other challenges you have when taking EMI courses? Will you continue to take EMI courses next semester? Why? 79