Challenges of Using EMI in Teaching and Learning of University Scientific Disciplines: Student Voice

• Main Author: Abdulwahid Qasem Al Zumor
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ishik University 2019-03-01
• Series: International Journal of Social Sciences & Educational Studies
• Subjects: English Medium Instruction; Arabic Medium Instruction; Lecture Comprehension; Language Education Policy; Higher Education; Language Barrier
• Online Access: http://ijsses.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Challenges-of-Using-EMI-in-Teaching-and-Learning.pdf

The main objective of the study is to identify students’ perceptions regarding lecture comprehension, communication, pedagogy, assessment, and affect in an English Medium Instruction (EMI) setting. The participants in this study are 264 Saudi students studying Computer Science, Engineering, and Medicine at King Khalid University. A questionnaire with a four-point Likert scale was used to survey the participants’ views on the challenges they encounter as a result of the use of EMI for teaching and learning scientific disciplines. The collected data were analysed quantitatively with SPSS and qualitatively by using the content analysis method. The major findings of the study indicate that using English language to teach scientific disciplines has a seriously negative impact on the scientific content comprehension and assessment of a majority of the students in the present study. The study recommends ensuring quality English education in the foundation year and examining the option of “additive bilingual education”.