English as medium of instruction and international posture: From the perspective of students

Abstract

There is a significant effect of learners’ perceptions on educational setting as the active participants of the learning process are learners. In this respect, revealing students’ perceptions contributes to the improvement of learning and teaching. With this in mind, this study aimed to investigate English Language Teaching (ELT) students’ International Posture and perceptions of the English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) courses at a state university. In addition, the purpose of this study is to answer the research question related to the perceptions of students concerning EMI and IP by considering gender differences. The study was conducted with the students of ELT Department in the spring term of 2016 - 2017 academic year at a state university. A questionnaire and semi-structured interviews were carried out with a view to establishing whether the concepts of International Posture and the students’ perceptions of EMI are interrelated. The quantitative data obtained from the questionnaire were analyzed with the help of SPSS by means of descriptive statistics, Pearson’s Correlation and Mann Whitney U test while content analysis was done for the qualitative data. The current study reported the perceptions of ELT students and revealed the differences and relations with regard to EMI and IP as well as male and female students. As the findings revealed, the students with high IP have positive attitudes towards EMI. Whereas, there is not a significant correlation between the perceptions of students related to EMI and IP. The findings of this research led to some suggestions for further studies.