The dilemma of English as a medium of instruction policy in science college programs

Abstract

Achieving science undergraduate programs learning outcomes relies on the students’ proficiency in the language of instruction, a challenge that many policymakers ignore. This study is to understand the influence of English as a medium of instruction (EMI) policy in four undergraduate science programs, namely, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Mathematics, in Saudi Arabia. The data were collected from the following groups of participants: 1461 science alumni records, 769 current undergraduate science students’ surveys, and 111 science university instructors’ surveys. The results of alumni records indicated that grades of the intensive English program in the first year predict the alumni cumulative grade point average (GPA) once they finish their four-year program. The results demonstrated that the higher is the alumni’s English proficiency, the better is their cumulative GPA. The results of the current science students’ questionnaire showed their preferred language of instruction could be predicted by their attitudes and society’s attitudes. Most of these students preferred to learn sciences in their native language (Arabic), which contradicted the policy of the current program. The instructors’ questionnaire results showed that instructors held divergent perspectives on the usage of EMI and students’ native language in the undergraduate science programs. To conclude, educationists and programs policymakers need to locate more attention and interventions toward the language of instruction. It is also recommended that universities provide science students with more English courses. Science students should also have English for science purposes courses to familiarize them with the science terms and prepare them to read science materials.

Voices of Non-English Students and Teachers in English as a Medium of Instruction

“…The results showed that both teachers and students agreed on the importance of EMI and the use of English in the Biology study programme; for communication during the teaching-learning and for understanding English-specific terms. The findings aligned with the previous relevant studies (Alhamami & Almelhi, 2021;Simbolon, 2021). The results also confirm other studies showing that EMI implementation is determined by the policy of HE institutions (Dafouz & Smit, 2021;Sahan, 2020).…”

“…In contrast with other findings, academic language-related challenges are significantly predicted by proficiency in the English language (Soruç et al, 2021), English knowledge, and English academic skills (Rose et al, 2020) and showed a better grade point average (GPA) (Alhamami & Almelhi, 2021). However, in this study, the teachers did not purely use EMI in delivering the content to the students as a way to face the challenges.…”

“…Further on, the findings showed respondents' perception of EMI use and confirmed the reasons for choosing EMI, such as producing graduates with global literacy skills, promoting competitiveness, and facilitating international communication (Richards & Pun, 2021). However, in contrast with the study, related and relevant literature shows EMI creates a dilemma in the context of education policy and implementation (Alhamami & Almelhi, 2021;Tipprachaban, 2022).…”

“…In Indonesia, EMI emerged in schools by teaching non-English courses with the use of English as classroom instruction (Simbolon, 2021). In addition, in this globalisation and internationalisation era, communicating in English is crucial for scientists because most of the references are in English (Alhamami & Almelhi, 2021). EMI is starting to be applied in one private university in Bali, particularly in the Biology study programme, to support the importance of English for scientists.…”

Instructional Communication and Medium of Instruction: Content Instructors’ Perspectives

“…Espinas and Fuchs (2022) found that certain MIs meaningfully improve performance in several mathematical domains, providing strong evidence of a linguistic pathway in mathematical development. In the context of undergraduate science programs, Alhamami and Almelhi (2021b) found a strong positive correlation between students’ English proficiency in the first year and their achievement of program learning outcomes as indicated by their cumulative GPA; the researchers concluded that educationalists and program policymakers should direct more attention and interventions toward the MI. In a Spanish context, Block (2022) stressed that the EMI policy is problematic and presents more challenges to students and instructors; Block called for a contrarian and critical view of EMI or “the dark side of EMI.”…”