EMI FOR ENGINEERING-TECHNOLOGY STUDENTS IN VIETNAM: CHALLENGES AND SUGGESTIONS
Main Article Content
Abstract
The paper aims to shed light on EMI challenges from the perspective of engineering-technology students at various universities in Vietnam where EMI is in current and popular usage. A total of 307 questionnaires were delivered and returned, among which 288 were qualified, and 27 respondents were selected for in-depth interviews. Data from the questionnaires and interviews were analyzed along with information gathered from respondents’ journals. The findings indicate that Vietnamese engineering-technology students encountered different EMI-related challenges, typically subject matter content and vocabulary. They suggest several solutions, such as teachers using both Vietnamese and English rather than solely English in EMI classes. It is hoped that learners' perceptions of the difficulties they encountered and their proposed solutions to cope with such difficulties will help relevant stakeholders to make appropriate adjustments to the teaching methods and content accordingly, which is the key message that this study yields.
Article Details
Keywords
EMI, ESP, engineering, technology, Vietnam
References
Abdel-Jawad, H. R., & Abu Radwan, A. S. (2011). The status of English in institutions of higher education in Oman: Sultan Qaboos University as a model. Global English and Arabic: Issues of language, culture and identity, 31(2), 123-151.
Airey, J. (2012). I don’t teach language: The linguistic attitudes of physic lecturers in Sweden. AILA Review, 25(1), 64-79.
Airey, J., & Linder, C. (2007). Language and the experience of learning university physics in Sweden. European Journal of Physics, 27(3), 553-560.
Al-Bakri, S. (2014). Problematizing English medium instruction in Oman. International Journal of Bilingual and Multilingual Teachers of English, 2(1), 19-33.
Al-Mashikhi, E., Al-Mahrooqi, R., & Denman, C. J. (2014). Investigating college of science student attitudes towards using English as a medium of instruction. In The West East Institute (Ed.), The 2014 WEI International Academic Conference Proceedings (pp. 99-113). Retrieved February, 2015, from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283122177_INVESTIGATING_COLLEGE_OF_SCIENCE_STUDENT_ATTITUDES_TOWARDS_USING_ENGLISH_AS_A_MEDIUM_OF_INSTRUCTION
Anthony, L. (1997). English for specific purposes: What does it mean? Why is it different? On-CUE, 5, 9-10.
Barnard, R. (2015). EMI in Asian Universities. Modern English Teacher, 24(2), 9-11.
Basibek, N, Dolmaci, M., Cengiz, B. C., Bür, B., Dilek, Y., & Kara, B. (2014). Lecturers’ perceptions of English medium instruction at engineering departments of higher education: A study on partial English medium instruction at some state universities in Turkey. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 116, 1819-1825.
Belhiah, H., & Elhami, M. (2015). English as a medium of instruction in the Gulf: When students and teachers speak. Journal of Language Policy, 14(3), 3-23.
Byun, K., Chu, H., Kim, M., Park, I., Kim, S., & Jung, J. (2011). English-medium teaching in Korean higher education: Policy debates and reality. Higher Education, 62(4), 431-449.
Canagarajah, S. (2011). Code meshing in academic writing: Identifying teachable strategies of translanguaging. Modern Language Journal, 95(1), 401-417.
Chapple, J. (2015). Teaching in English is not necessarily the teaching of English. International Education Studies, 8(3), 1-13.
Cheng, T. Y. (2010). Readiness of college students in Taiwan to read to learn from texts in English. Asian EFL Journal, 41, 24-49.
Collins, A. B. (2010). English-medium higher education: Dilemma and problems. Eurasian Journal of Educational Research, 10(39), 97-110.
Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2018). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. SAGE.
Dang, T. K. A., Nguyen, T. M. H., & Le, T. T. T. (2013). The impacts of globalisation on EFL teacher education through English as a medium of instruction: An example from Vietnam. Current Issues in Language Planning, 14(1), 52-72.
Dearden, J. (2015). English as a medium of instruction – a growing global phenomenon. British Council. Retrieved November 2015, from https://www.britishcouncil.es/sites/default/files/british_council_english_as_a_medium_of_instruction.pdf
Do, M. H., & Le, T. D. L. (2017). Content lecturers’ challenges in EMI classroom. European Journal of English Language Teaching, 2(1), 1-17.
Dörnyei, Z. (2007). Research methods in applied linguistics: Quantitative, qualitative and mixed methodologies. Oxford University Press.
Ellili-Cherif, M., & Alkhateeb, H. (2015). College students’ attitude toward the medium of instruction: Arabic versus English dilemma. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 3(3), 207-213.
Evans, S., & Green, C. (2007). Why EAP is necessary: A survey of Hong Kong tertiary students. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 6(1), 3-17.
Evans, S., & Morrison, B. (2011). Meeting the challenges of English-medium higher education: The first-year experience in Hong Kong. English for Specific Purposes, 30(3), 198–208.
Fleming, J., Garcia, N., & Morning, C. (1995). The critical thinking skills of minority engineering students: An exploratory study. Journal of Negro Education, 64(4), 47-453.
Floris, F. D. (2014). Learning subject matter through English as the medium of instruction: Students’ and teachers’ perspectives. Asian Englishes, 16(1), 47-59.
García, O. (2009). Bilingual education in the 21st century: A global perspective. Blackwell.
García, O., & Sylvan, C. E. (2011). Pedagogies and practices in multilingual classrooms: Singularities in pluralities. The Modern Language Journal, 9(11), 385-400.
Graddol, D. (2000). The future of English? A guide to forecasting the popularity of the English language in the 21st century. British Council.
Graddol, D. (2006). English next: Why global English may mean the end of ‘English as a Foreign Language’. British Council.
Hoang, V. V. (2008). Factors affecting the quality of English education at Vietnam National University, Hanoi. VNU Journal of Foreign Studies, 24(1), 22-37. https://jfs.ulis.vnu.edu.vn/index.php/fs/article/view/3171
Hu, G. (2008). The misleading academic discourse on Chinese-English bilingual education in China. Review of Educational Research, 78(1), 195-231.
Ismail, A. (2011). Language planning in Oman: Evaluating linguistic and sociolinguistic fallacies. [Doctoral dissertation, Newcastle University]. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/153776682.pdf
Joe, Y., & Lee, H. (2013). Does English-medium instruction benefit students in EFL contexts? A case of medical students in Korea. Asia-Pacific Education Research Journal, 22(2), 201-207.
Kagwesage, A. M. (2012). English for Academic Purposes practices in Rwandan higher education: National University of Rwanda as a case study. Lambert Academic Publishing.
Kakepoto, I., Orma, N. A. M, Boon, Y., & Iqbal, S. Z. (2012). Perspectives on oral communication skills for engineers in engineering profession of Pakistan. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Literature, 1(5), 176-183.
Kano, N. (2013). Translanguaging as a process and a pedagogical tool for Japanese students in an English writing course in New York [Doctoral dissertation, Colombia University]. ProQuest.
Kim, K. S, & Sohn, Y. S. (2009). Expert system to evaluate English-medium instruction in Korean Universities. Experts Systems with Applications, 36, 11626-11632.
Kvale, S. (2007). Doing interviews. SAGE.
Kym, I., & Kym, M. H. (2014). Students’ perceptions of EMI in higher education in Korea. The Journal of Asia TEFL, 11(2), 35-61.
Lam, Q. D., & Le, T. H. Y. How are pre-service teachers prepared for EMI at a Vietnamese university? [Unpublished manuscript]. VNU University of Languages and International Studies.
Langman, J. (2014). Translanguaging, identity, and learning: Science teachers as engaged language planners. Language Policy, 13(1), 183-200.
Larson-Freeman, D. (2000). Techniques and principles in language teaching. Oxford University Press.
Lau, F. W. W., & Yuen, K. H. A. (2011). The impact of the medium of instruction: The case of teaching and learning of computer programming. Educational Information Technology, 16, 183-201.
Le, D. M. (2012). English as a medium of instruction in Asian Universities: The case of Vietnam. Language Education in Asia, 3(2), 263-267.
Linn, M. C. (2000). Designing the knowledge integration environment. International Journal of Science Education, 22(8), 781–796.
Madileng, M. M. (2007). English as a medium of instruction: The relation between motivation and English second language proficiency [Master's thesis, University of South Africa]. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/2332
Nguyen, T. H., Ian, W., & Pham, H. H. (2017). EMI programs in a Vietnamese university: Language, pedagogy and policy issues. In B. Fenton-Smith, P. Humphreys & I. Walkinshaw (Eds.), English medium instruction in higher education in Asia-Pacific (pp. 37-52). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51976-0_3
Nunan, D. (2003). The impact of English as a global language on educational policies and practices in the Asian-Pacific region. TESOL Quarterly, 37(4), 589-613.
Phillipson, R. (1992). Linguistic imperialism. Oxford University Press.
Polkinghorne, D. E. (1995). Narrative configuration in qualitative analysis. Qualitative Studies in Education, 8(2), 5-23.
Pritchard, R. M. O., & Nasr, A. (2004). Improving reading performance among Egyptian engineering students: Principles and practice. English for Specific Purposes, 23(1), 425-445.
Punch, K. F., & Oancea, A. (2014). Introduction to research methods in education. SAGE.
PwC. (2021). Vietnam digital readiness report: PwC Vietnam’s survey on technology, jobs, and skills. https://www.pwc.com/vn/en/publications/2021/pwc-vietnam-digital-readiness-report-en.pdf
Resnick, L. (1987). Education and learning to think. National Academy.
Ritchie, J., Lewis, J., McNaughton Nicholls, C., & Ormston, R. (2014). Qualitative research practice: A guide for social science studies and researchers. SAGE.
Sert, N. (2008). The language of instruction dilemma in the Turkish context. System, 36(2), 156-171.
Shaheen, N. (2012). International students at UK universities: Critical thinking related challenges to academic writing [Doctoral dissertation, University of Huddersfield]. http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/id/eprint/16429/
Shen, M. Y. (2013). Toward an understanding of Technical University EFL learners’ academic reading difficulties, strategies, and needs. Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Learning, 10(1), 70-79.
Sivaraman, I., Al Balushi, A., & Rao, D. H. (2014). Understanding Omani students’ (University) English language problems. International Journal of Sciences: Basic and Applied Research (IJSBAR), 3(1), 28-35.
Strevens, P. (1988). ESP after twenty years: A re-appraisal. In M. Tickoo (Ed.), ESP: State of the art (pp. 1-13). SEAMEO Regional Centre.
Swales, J. (1990). Genre analysis: English in academic and research settings. Cambridge University Press.
Tamtam, A., Gallagher, F., Sumsun, N., & Olabi, A. G. (2010). EMI engineering education in Arab World and twenty first century challenges. In E. P. Byrne (Ed.), Proceedings of the 3rd International Symposium for Engineering Education ISEE2010: Educating engineers for a changing world - leading transformation from an unsustainable global society. University Colleges Cork.
The Prime Minister of Vietnam (2017). Quyết định số 2080/QĐ-TTg ngày 22/12/2017 của Thủ tướng Chính phủ về việc dạy-học ngoại ngữ trong hệ thống giáo dục quốc dân giai đoạn 2017-2025 (Decision 2080/QĐ-TTg dated 22 December 2017 of the Prime Minister on foreign language teaching-learning in the national educational system for the period 2017-2025).
Troudi, S., & Jendli, A. (2011). Emirati students’ experiences of English as a medium of instruction. In A. Al-Issa & L. S. Dahan (Eds.), Global English and Arabic: Issues of language, culture and identity (pp. 23-47). Peter Lang.
van Wyk, A. (2014). English-medium education in a multilingual setting: A case in South Africa. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 52(2), 205–220.
Vinke, A. A. (1995). English as the medium of instruction in Dutch engineering education [Doctoral dissertation, Delft University].
Vu, T. T. N. (2017). The Vietnamese agenda of adopting English as a medium of instruction. VNU Journal of Foreign Studies, 33(3), 53-65. https://doi.org/10.25073/2525-2445/vnufs.4155
Wellington, J. J. (2015). Educational research: Contemporary issues and practical approaches. Bloomsbury.
William, K. (2010). In what ways, if any, does the role of the ESP teacher differ from that of a teacher of GE? And to what extent is it necessary for the teacher of ESP to have knowledge of the student’s subject or professional discipline? Retrieved November 2020, from http://Studymode.com/essays.html
Airey, J. (2012). I don’t teach language: The linguistic attitudes of physic lecturers in Sweden. AILA Review, 25(1), 64-79.
Airey, J., & Linder, C. (2007). Language and the experience of learning university physics in Sweden. European Journal of Physics, 27(3), 553-560.
Al-Bakri, S. (2014). Problematizing English medium instruction in Oman. International Journal of Bilingual and Multilingual Teachers of English, 2(1), 19-33.
Al-Mashikhi, E., Al-Mahrooqi, R., & Denman, C. J. (2014). Investigating college of science student attitudes towards using English as a medium of instruction. In The West East Institute (Ed.), The 2014 WEI International Academic Conference Proceedings (pp. 99-113). Retrieved February, 2015, from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283122177_INVESTIGATING_COLLEGE_OF_SCIENCE_STUDENT_ATTITUDES_TOWARDS_USING_ENGLISH_AS_A_MEDIUM_OF_INSTRUCTION
Anthony, L. (1997). English for specific purposes: What does it mean? Why is it different? On-CUE, 5, 9-10.
Barnard, R. (2015). EMI in Asian Universities. Modern English Teacher, 24(2), 9-11.
Basibek, N, Dolmaci, M., Cengiz, B. C., Bür, B., Dilek, Y., & Kara, B. (2014). Lecturers’ perceptions of English medium instruction at engineering departments of higher education: A study on partial English medium instruction at some state universities in Turkey. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 116, 1819-1825.
Belhiah, H., & Elhami, M. (2015). English as a medium of instruction in the Gulf: When students and teachers speak. Journal of Language Policy, 14(3), 3-23.
Byun, K., Chu, H., Kim, M., Park, I., Kim, S., & Jung, J. (2011). English-medium teaching in Korean higher education: Policy debates and reality. Higher Education, 62(4), 431-449.
Canagarajah, S. (2011). Code meshing in academic writing: Identifying teachable strategies of translanguaging. Modern Language Journal, 95(1), 401-417.
Chapple, J. (2015). Teaching in English is not necessarily the teaching of English. International Education Studies, 8(3), 1-13.
Cheng, T. Y. (2010). Readiness of college students in Taiwan to read to learn from texts in English. Asian EFL Journal, 41, 24-49.
Collins, A. B. (2010). English-medium higher education: Dilemma and problems. Eurasian Journal of Educational Research, 10(39), 97-110.
Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2018). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. SAGE.
Dang, T. K. A., Nguyen, T. M. H., & Le, T. T. T. (2013). The impacts of globalisation on EFL teacher education through English as a medium of instruction: An example from Vietnam. Current Issues in Language Planning, 14(1), 52-72.
Dearden, J. (2015). English as a medium of instruction – a growing global phenomenon. British Council. Retrieved November 2015, from https://www.britishcouncil.es/sites/default/files/british_council_english_as_a_medium_of_instruction.pdf
Do, M. H., & Le, T. D. L. (2017). Content lecturers’ challenges in EMI classroom. European Journal of English Language Teaching, 2(1), 1-17.
Dörnyei, Z. (2007). Research methods in applied linguistics: Quantitative, qualitative and mixed methodologies. Oxford University Press.
Ellili-Cherif, M., & Alkhateeb, H. (2015). College students’ attitude toward the medium of instruction: Arabic versus English dilemma. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 3(3), 207-213.
Evans, S., & Green, C. (2007). Why EAP is necessary: A survey of Hong Kong tertiary students. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 6(1), 3-17.
Evans, S., & Morrison, B. (2011). Meeting the challenges of English-medium higher education: The first-year experience in Hong Kong. English for Specific Purposes, 30(3), 198–208.
Fleming, J., Garcia, N., & Morning, C. (1995). The critical thinking skills of minority engineering students: An exploratory study. Journal of Negro Education, 64(4), 47-453.
Floris, F. D. (2014). Learning subject matter through English as the medium of instruction: Students’ and teachers’ perspectives. Asian Englishes, 16(1), 47-59.
García, O. (2009). Bilingual education in the 21st century: A global perspective. Blackwell.
García, O., & Sylvan, C. E. (2011). Pedagogies and practices in multilingual classrooms: Singularities in pluralities. The Modern Language Journal, 9(11), 385-400.
Graddol, D. (2000). The future of English? A guide to forecasting the popularity of the English language in the 21st century. British Council.
Graddol, D. (2006). English next: Why global English may mean the end of ‘English as a Foreign Language’. British Council.
Hoang, V. V. (2008). Factors affecting the quality of English education at Vietnam National University, Hanoi. VNU Journal of Foreign Studies, 24(1), 22-37. https://jfs.ulis.vnu.edu.vn/index.php/fs/article/view/3171
Hu, G. (2008). The misleading academic discourse on Chinese-English bilingual education in China. Review of Educational Research, 78(1), 195-231.
Ismail, A. (2011). Language planning in Oman: Evaluating linguistic and sociolinguistic fallacies. [Doctoral dissertation, Newcastle University]. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/153776682.pdf
Joe, Y., & Lee, H. (2013). Does English-medium instruction benefit students in EFL contexts? A case of medical students in Korea. Asia-Pacific Education Research Journal, 22(2), 201-207.
Kagwesage, A. M. (2012). English for Academic Purposes practices in Rwandan higher education: National University of Rwanda as a case study. Lambert Academic Publishing.
Kakepoto, I., Orma, N. A. M, Boon, Y., & Iqbal, S. Z. (2012). Perspectives on oral communication skills for engineers in engineering profession of Pakistan. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Literature, 1(5), 176-183.
Kano, N. (2013). Translanguaging as a process and a pedagogical tool for Japanese students in an English writing course in New York [Doctoral dissertation, Colombia University]. ProQuest.
Kim, K. S, & Sohn, Y. S. (2009). Expert system to evaluate English-medium instruction in Korean Universities. Experts Systems with Applications, 36, 11626-11632.
Kvale, S. (2007). Doing interviews. SAGE.
Kym, I., & Kym, M. H. (2014). Students’ perceptions of EMI in higher education in Korea. The Journal of Asia TEFL, 11(2), 35-61.
Lam, Q. D., & Le, T. H. Y. How are pre-service teachers prepared for EMI at a Vietnamese university? [Unpublished manuscript]. VNU University of Languages and International Studies.
Langman, J. (2014). Translanguaging, identity, and learning: Science teachers as engaged language planners. Language Policy, 13(1), 183-200.
Larson-Freeman, D. (2000). Techniques and principles in language teaching. Oxford University Press.
Lau, F. W. W., & Yuen, K. H. A. (2011). The impact of the medium of instruction: The case of teaching and learning of computer programming. Educational Information Technology, 16, 183-201.
Le, D. M. (2012). English as a medium of instruction in Asian Universities: The case of Vietnam. Language Education in Asia, 3(2), 263-267.
Linn, M. C. (2000). Designing the knowledge integration environment. International Journal of Science Education, 22(8), 781–796.
Madileng, M. M. (2007). English as a medium of instruction: The relation between motivation and English second language proficiency [Master's thesis, University of South Africa]. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/2332
Nguyen, T. H., Ian, W., & Pham, H. H. (2017). EMI programs in a Vietnamese university: Language, pedagogy and policy issues. In B. Fenton-Smith, P. Humphreys & I. Walkinshaw (Eds.), English medium instruction in higher education in Asia-Pacific (pp. 37-52). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51976-0_3
Nunan, D. (2003). The impact of English as a global language on educational policies and practices in the Asian-Pacific region. TESOL Quarterly, 37(4), 589-613.
Phillipson, R. (1992). Linguistic imperialism. Oxford University Press.
Polkinghorne, D. E. (1995). Narrative configuration in qualitative analysis. Qualitative Studies in Education, 8(2), 5-23.
Pritchard, R. M. O., & Nasr, A. (2004). Improving reading performance among Egyptian engineering students: Principles and practice. English for Specific Purposes, 23(1), 425-445.
Punch, K. F., & Oancea, A. (2014). Introduction to research methods in education. SAGE.
PwC. (2021). Vietnam digital readiness report: PwC Vietnam’s survey on technology, jobs, and skills. https://www.pwc.com/vn/en/publications/2021/pwc-vietnam-digital-readiness-report-en.pdf
Resnick, L. (1987). Education and learning to think. National Academy.
Ritchie, J., Lewis, J., McNaughton Nicholls, C., & Ormston, R. (2014). Qualitative research practice: A guide for social science studies and researchers. SAGE.
Sert, N. (2008). The language of instruction dilemma in the Turkish context. System, 36(2), 156-171.
Shaheen, N. (2012). International students at UK universities: Critical thinking related challenges to academic writing [Doctoral dissertation, University of Huddersfield]. http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/id/eprint/16429/
Shen, M. Y. (2013). Toward an understanding of Technical University EFL learners’ academic reading difficulties, strategies, and needs. Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Learning, 10(1), 70-79.
Sivaraman, I., Al Balushi, A., & Rao, D. H. (2014). Understanding Omani students’ (University) English language problems. International Journal of Sciences: Basic and Applied Research (IJSBAR), 3(1), 28-35.
Strevens, P. (1988). ESP after twenty years: A re-appraisal. In M. Tickoo (Ed.), ESP: State of the art (pp. 1-13). SEAMEO Regional Centre.
Swales, J. (1990). Genre analysis: English in academic and research settings. Cambridge University Press.
Tamtam, A., Gallagher, F., Sumsun, N., & Olabi, A. G. (2010). EMI engineering education in Arab World and twenty first century challenges. In E. P. Byrne (Ed.), Proceedings of the 3rd International Symposium for Engineering Education ISEE2010: Educating engineers for a changing world - leading transformation from an unsustainable global society. University Colleges Cork.
The Prime Minister of Vietnam (2017). Quyết định số 2080/QĐ-TTg ngày 22/12/2017 của Thủ tướng Chính phủ về việc dạy-học ngoại ngữ trong hệ thống giáo dục quốc dân giai đoạn 2017-2025 (Decision 2080/QĐ-TTg dated 22 December 2017 of the Prime Minister on foreign language teaching-learning in the national educational system for the period 2017-2025).
Troudi, S., & Jendli, A. (2011). Emirati students’ experiences of English as a medium of instruction. In A. Al-Issa & L. S. Dahan (Eds.), Global English and Arabic: Issues of language, culture and identity (pp. 23-47). Peter Lang.
van Wyk, A. (2014). English-medium education in a multilingual setting: A case in South Africa. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 52(2), 205–220.
Vinke, A. A. (1995). English as the medium of instruction in Dutch engineering education [Doctoral dissertation, Delft University].
Vu, T. T. N. (2017). The Vietnamese agenda of adopting English as a medium of instruction. VNU Journal of Foreign Studies, 33(3), 53-65. https://doi.org/10.25073/2525-2445/vnufs.4155
Wellington, J. J. (2015). Educational research: Contemporary issues and practical approaches. Bloomsbury.
William, K. (2010). In what ways, if any, does the role of the ESP teacher differ from that of a teacher of GE? And to what extent is it necessary for the teacher of ESP to have knowledge of the student’s subject or professional discipline? Retrieved November 2020, from http://Studymode.com/essays.html