Effects of English-medium instruction on Spanish students’ proficiency and lexical diversity in English

Abstract

Within higher education, it is often believed that the adoption of English-medium instruction (EMI) will provide domestic students with the language skills that will enable them to be more competitive in their future professional pursuits. However, research into language learning and EMI at the university level is very scarce. This study examined essays by 195 undergraduate students (99 1st-year and 96 3rd-year learners) at a major university in Spain in order to investigate the effect of three years of instruction through the medium of English on their level of proficiency, essay quality and lexical diversity (as measured by the Oxford Placement test, the CEFR writing scale and three measures of lexical diversity). The results showed a significant improvement in the learners’ second language (L2) proficiency and a significant but subtle increase in essay quality ratings but no significant increase in lexical diversity scores. In the same vein as the findings of some of the other studies we discuss, the present findings seem to suggest the need to rethink and re-evaluate the implementation of EMI in contexts like the one examined in this study.

Impact of EMI on Omani Engineering Students’ Academic Performance

“…On the other hand, this shows that although most of the engineering teachers who were interviewed believed that their job was to teach subject contents, some of them still helped their students with their language problems. This finding corroborates that of both Xie and Curle (2020) and Vidal and Jarvis (2018).…”

Word frequency, Range and Lexical diversity: Picking out Changes in Lexical Proficiency among University Learners in an EFL Context

“…The authors reported a strong correlation between MTLD and MTLD-W which shows that the two indices measure the same construct. Similar to Treffers-Daller (2013), Vidal and Jarvis (2018) reported that both MTLD and MTLD-W were affected by text length unlike MATTR whose values remained consistent. Concerning the development of the target groups' lexical diversity, the study showed that there was no significant difference between 1 st and 3 rd year students whether the scores of MTLD, MTLD-W or MATTR are used, which indicates that students did not increase their productive lexical diversity scores after three years of instruction.…”

“…In a recent study, Vidal and Jarvis (2018) introduced a new measure which is expected to overcome the calculation problems of MTLD, as highlighted by Treffers-Daller (2013) and McCarthy and Jarvis (2010). The new measure, MTLD-W (or MTLD Wrap Around) combines the MTLD measurement procedure and the moving-window approach of MATTR.…”

A study on the relationship between language aptitude, vocabulary size, working memory, and L2 writing accuracy

“…They include major language skills listening, reading, and writing. The test has a consistent predictive validity (Vidal & Jarvis, 2020). A panel of experts in the field of testing at the university monitors the test's reliability, validity, and practicality annually.…”