Motivations of higher education students to enrol in bilingual courses

Abstract

This paper addresses the views on motivation of students who participated in higher education bilingual programmes in a Spanish state university for two academic years and were asked to inform on the experiences that they found more motivating and the changes they would introduce to feel more enthused to participate in a similar programme in the future. Qualitative data were gathered through a questionnaire administered to 310 students that included two open questions related to motivating factors. The responses were coded in relation to 6 fields that emerged consistently and were converted into percentages. The obtained results show evidence that students display signals of motivation that are related to aspects of the L2 motivational self-system. The relevance of this study lies on the voice of the students participating in an EMI context in HE as well as on the new paths shown on the benefits of self-confidence and self-efficacy, the need to focus on professional opportunities and communities of practice, and a consideration of critical views on current practice and overwhelming use of English.