Students’ attitudes and perceptions towards three EMI courses in mainland China

Abstract

HEIs (Higher education institutions) in mainland China are making enormous efforts to implement internationalization. As a result, EMI (English-medium instruction) courses are growing rapidly in number and popularity while relevant research is still insufficient in comparison to European countries. Besides, although much existing research has explored students' beliefs and attitudes towards EMI, little is known on whether their beliefs and attitudes may change over time or after the completion of a course, and on whether students' experiences in different EMI courses may differ. This paper specifically reports on students' perspectives towards different EMI disciplinary courses: International Trade, Film Production and Project Management. Pre-post semester student questionnaires are analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. Results show that students were generally positive towards EMI courses but their attitudes changed to worse at the end of the semester. Students in the International Trade course had more positive attitudes than students in the Film Production and Project Management groups. Findings are discussed in relation to classroom teaching practices in the three groups, which were observed three times over the semester. Finally, teaching implications and language policy-related decisions are also considered.

Students’ English-medium instruction motivation in three English-medium instruction courses in China

“…Data from the questionnaire section two on perceptions, expectations, and attitudes will not be reported in this paper ( cf. Zhang and Pladevall-Ballester, 2022 ). This study will only explore two sections from the questionnaires: the first section, including relevant items such as age, gender, major, grade, experience of studying abroad, etc., and the third section, focused on students’ EMI motivation and anxiety, including 18 five-point Likert scale items (q20-37).…”

Perceptions and Coping Strategies in English Writing Among Chinese Study-Abroad Graduate Students

“…K. Pun & Thomas, 2020), and EMI students' attitudes, perceptions, and development (Li, 2018;Soruc x et al, 2022;W. Xie & Curle, 2020;Zhang & Pladevall-Ballester, 2022). Lasagabaster (2018) considered that team teaching is an effective pedagogy to help practitioners cope with the new teaching context in EMI institutions.…”

“…K. Pun & Thomas, 2020), and EMI students’ attitudes, perceptions, and development (Li, 2018; Soruç et al, 2022; W. Xie & Curle, 2020; Zhang & Pladevall-Ballester, 2022).…”

Assessing Intercultural Competence Using Situational Judgement Tests: Reports from an EMI Course in Japan

“…Typically, in these courses, domestic and international students learn together using English as the mode of instruction. Previous research has acknowledged both positive (e.g., developing skills for worldwide employability) and negative (e.g., language proficiency and ideologies) aspects of these courses in various contexts (e.g., Shibata, 2021;Zhang & Pladevall-Ballester, 2022).…”