Investigating Students’ and Instructors’ Perceptions of English-Medium Instruction (EMI) at Tertiary-Level Science Education in UAE

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Date
2016-09
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Publisher
The British University in Dubai (BUiD)
Abstract
In the absence of research-based policies and conventional practices in science education in the Arab region, the current study aims to shed light on the perceptions of both university students and instructors toward the educational policy of adopting English as the medium of instruction in teaching science courses in the UAE. At College of Health Sciences- University of Sharjah, one hundred students participated in the study through completing a self-assessment questionnaire on the impact of EMI course-taking experiences on their English academic skills. Semi-structured, individual interviews were conducted with ten students and four instructors in order to explore their perceptions of EMI in science classes. A convergent parallel mixed methods approach was employed to analyze quantitative and qualitative data. Using descriptive statistics, independent-samples t-tests, ANOVA, and Pearson correlation, the study revealed that the discrepancies in the students’ acknowledgement of the impact of EMI on their learning experiences are due to a number of sociocultural and educational factors. However, most of the students and half of the instructors advocated the English-only science instruction.
Description
DISSERTATION WITH DISTINCTION
Keywords
english-medium instruction, science education, content-based instruction, constructivism, sociocultural theory
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