Published in: Gatnar, Eugeniusz (ed.): Internacjonalizacja procesu ksztalcenia na kierunkach studiów economicznych. Katowice (Poland):Wydawnictwo Akademii Ekonomicznei w Katowicach 2010, 21-43.
Thomas Tinnefeld
ENGLISH AS THE MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION IN UNIVERSITY CONTENT COURSES – A SURVEY ON STUDENT ATTITUDES
1. Introduction
The present paper deals with an up-to-date topic which responds to a more and more widespread trend at German universities, but, of course, not only there: The teaching of content courses like business, law, finance and many others in English to students who are not English natives and by teachers who are not English natives, either.
This topic entails multifold aspects. There are considerable chances for students and their future competitiveness on the job market - and there are potential problems for university teachers. Both sides of the medal will be considered here, inclusive of students’ attitudes which come into play as well.
The central question dealt with in this paper is whether the teaching of subject-oriented content courses on the basis of English results in positive outcomes for students’ learning or whether this teaching approach represents an obstacle to students’ learning outcomes. In this situation, English adopts an essential role as being the medium of instruction (MOI), thus the very language which teacher and students use for their communication in the classroom.
The present reflections, which are made on a German background and from a German perspective, are based on empirical research which investigates students’ attitudes[1] and personal opinions towards this teaching approach on the one hand and the English language on the other. It also explores the interrelationships between the course content and the language of instruction in the teaching process.
2. Background and Objectives of the Paper
2.1 Background
The background of the present paper[2] lies in the fact that German students studying content matters in
Another aspect which comes into play in view of this reasoning is the fact that the number of potential teachers is greatly increased by the chance of having foreign teachers and professors teach subject matters in
The present paper aims at the potential of teaching content courses in English, regardless of the nationalities or mother tongues of teachers and students. A working hypothesis being first laid as the basis of the present study, a practice-oriented approach is followed, in the context of which students’ attitudes towards the use of English as the MOI are investigated by means of a questionnaire.
This approach forming the basis of the present research - our working hypothesis - can be formulated as follows:
Within the teaching of content courses to students other than English natives at a university level, the use of English as the MOI can be considered to be fruitful for these students, due to the multifold potential this approach occasions for them. The potential of this constellation can be regarded as higher than its possible disadvantages. These advantages result in the fact that students extend their knowledge of English, not only as far as their general command and their general communication ability is concerned, but also in view of the erection of their mastery of and capacity in English in the very content area (= English for special/specific purposes). These advantages are understood and recognised by students.
2.2 Objectives
The objective of the present study consists in discussing answers to the following questions:
- Do learners consider English as an aid for or rather as an obstacle to their learning of subject-related matters?
- What effects can be generated on the four basic skills of English (i.e. speaking and writing, reading and listening comprehension) when it is used as the MOI for teaching subject-related material?
- Do students have the impression that their English is kept on a high level through the status of this language to be the MOI?
- What is the students’ attitude towards English? Do they have positive or negative associations when thinking of this language?
- Is students’ attitude towards English identical with, better or less good their attitude towards the subject they are studying?
- Do students consider English to be potentially fruitful for the subject they are studying?
As far as the economy of foreign university (teaching) is concerned, it will be important to know if it is possible – and recommendable – to use this approach so as to “kill two birds with one stone”. In this way, the present study last but not least represents a contribution to the field of secondary language acquisition.
3. Empirical Study
In this chapter, the results of a empirical study carried out at Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft des Saarlandes (HTW of Saarland) (
Our empirical study is based on a questionnaire which comprised 20 close-ended questions, each of them following a rank-order scale (from 10 (true) to 1 (not true at all), which allow a detailed evaluation of the statements given by the respondents. The group of respondents comprised 100 randomly selected
The first point to be described will be the role of English as the MOI.
3.1 The helpfulness of English as the MOI
In our questionnaire, four statements were given so as to find out about students’ evaluation of the potential helpfulness of the English language the way it is used in content courses.
Question 1 referred to the general helpfulness of English[5]:
| 1. I think it is helpful for me that in some of my content courses, English is used as the language of instruction and communication? 10 9 8 7 X 6 5 4 3 2 1 (10 = True) (1 = Not true, at all) |
The result of this general evaluation shows that students regard the use of English as the MOI in content courses as relatively helpful for them. This value, which is clearly above the medium value of 5.0, can be considered as positive although it is not an overwhelmingly positive one: Students recognise the value of English for them, but they do not classify English as especially important for themselves, thus showing prudent acceptance of this approach. This result shows that there is still a lot of room for improvement with respect to the necessity of communicating to students why they are taught in English rather than in German.
Question 2 referred to the potential outcome of English lectures for German students:
| 2. If my German professors teach me in English, I will have fewer problems following lectures in 10 9 8 7 X 6 5 4 3 2 1 (10 = True) (1 = Not true, at all) |
This value, being slightly higher than the one obtained for the first question, shows that students realise the chance they are given with English as the MOI, yet knowing that it would be easier for them to follow lectures in English-speaking countries: The problems they may have when attending English lectures in Germany anticipate those they would otherwise have when attending English lectures abroad. The only difference is that in
In question 3, students were asked about the role their professors play in the context described:
| 3. I think my professors do me a special favour when teaching me in English rather than in German. 10 9 8 7 X 6 5 4 3 2 1 (10 = True) (1 = Not true, at all) |
Students consider the additional efforts their professors make in teaching them in English as a kind of favour, but again, their estimation is not overwhelmingly positive. However, the figure of 
= 6,62 can be analysed in such a way that students understand that their professors could make their lives easier for themselves by teaching in German rather than in English, but that they spend extra time on course preparation for students’ benefit. Many students seem to see this supplementary effort as a contribution, even as a benefaction, of their professors to their learning, though. Understanding the result for this question as a deep appreciation by students would, on the other hand, mean to over-interpret it.
In order to check students’ answers for English as the MOI, the negative question of this issue had to be raised, i.e. the question whether students should not be taught in English, at all, as far as content courses are concerned, this question representing the last one in our questionnaire[6]. The results obtained in this context are of interest as well:
| 20. I prefer not to be taught in English, at all. All my lectures should be held in German. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 X 3 2 1 (10 = True) (1 = Not true, at all) |
As for this question, which was asked ex negativo, i.e. in the opposite way compared to all the other questions of this survey, a low value represents consent for English as the MOI. The result of = 3.78 is comparable to the results obtained for questions 1 to 3, students’ estimation being consistent in this respect[7]. The analysis of the results obtained for the first questions of the questionnaire is therefore confirmed by the one obtained for its last question. It also represents a strong confirmation of students’ overall estimation. It can be stated, then, that, as students’ attitude towards English as the MOI is reliable, this analysis is based on solid ground.
Altogether it can be stated that students accept the offer made by their professors in teaching them in English, but do not show any clear sign of overt approval nor explicit appreciation for this chance they are given. On the other hand, they do not show signs of perturbation caused by the English language as the MOI, either. Their reaction is one of ‘committed neutrality, as it were. However, the homogeneity of the results, varying between = 6.59 and = 6.89, with students’ responses confirming each other, is remarkable.
3.2 The impact of English as the MOI on the four basic language skills
Questions 4 to 7 covered the potential impact of English used as the MOI in content courses, on students’ command of the four skills, i.e. reading comprehension and writing on the one hand, and listening comprehension and speaking on the other.
Question 4 dealt with listening comprehension:
| 4. I think my English listening ability has improved ever since I attended lectures in English. 10 9 8 X7 6 5 4 3 2 1 (10 = True) (1 = Not true, at all) |
The impact of English as the MOI on students’ listening comprehension skills is estimated to be relatively high. Students have the impression that their exposure to aural English – or, at least, to an acoustic channel – improves their reception of the spoken word. For them, the mere exposure to English, regardless whether it is produced by a native or a non-native speaker, is linked to an improvement of their own ability. This result is a positive one. No matter if this estimation of students is linked to reality, i.e. a real improvement of their listening comprehension, the very fact that they believe they are making progress represents an important intermediate result of this survey. From the perspective of the well-approved notion of self-fulfilling prophecy, chances are high that if students think they are doing better, they will do better.
Question 6 dealt with the second receptive language skill, i.e. reading comprehension:
| 6. I think my English reading ability has improved ever since I attended lectures in English. 10 9 8 X7 6 5 4 3 2 1 (10 = True) (1 = Not true, at all) |
Remarkably enough, the value obtained for reading comprehension is nearly identical to the one obtained for listening comprehension[8]: So for students. there is a high comparability of the potential outcome of the two receptive skills. Students are of the opinion that their reading comprehension gets better due to the fact that they are taught in English rather than in German. So they understand the potential linguistic value that English as the MOI has for them. Without necessarily being aware of this point, they see an important outcome of this teaching approach for their own progress in English.
As far as the two productive skills – speaking and writing – are concerned, students’ estimations are lower:
| 5. I think my English speaking ability has improved ever since I attended lectures in English. 10 9 8 7 X 6 5 4 3 2 1 (10 = True) (1 = Not true, at all) |
| 7. I think my English writing ability has improved ever since I attended lectures in English. 10 9 8 7 X 6 5 4 3 2 1 (10 = True) (1 = Not true, at all) |
The values obtained for the two productive skills are clearly lower than those obtained for the receptive ones. This result corresponds to reality: During lectures, students are far more active receptively than they are productively, i.e. they listen and read much more intensively than they speak or write[9]. Consequently, they estimate the potential outcome of English as the MOI for their productive skills as smaller than that for their receptive skills. Our result for the former is less homogeneous than was the case for the latter, but still, the range between = 6.41 and = 6.19 is relatively small.
The following question was asked as a control question, summing up the four preceding questions.
| 8. I have the impression that the natural use of English in lectures has helped me to keep my English command at a high(er) level. 10 9 8 X 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 (10 = True) (1 = Not true, at all) |
It is remarkable to see that the value obtained for this question is even higher than those obtained for the two receptive language skills. Although in a logical perspective, a value between the highest and the lowest values of questions four to seven – i.e. between = 6.41 and = 7.10 – may have been expected, the actual value obtained for this question is even higher than the highest of the previous values. This means that the positive influence the use of English as the MOI has on students is even stronger when they take the language as a whole into account than when they see every one of the basic language skills separately. This very result alone stands for the efficiency of English as the MOI in content courses.
To sum up this section, it can be stated that students attach some importance to English as their MOI as far as the four basic language skills are concerned. They do not deny the positive influence that the former can have – and indeed does have – on the latter. The augmentation of exposure in terms of time and intensity which lectures held in English offer students, should therefore not be underestimated.
3.3 Students’ attitude towards English
In addition to the points described up to here, it was interesting to know what attitude students have towards the English language, as their attitude may be a decisive factor to determine their opinion on the use of English in content courses. The results of this section can be subsumed as follows:
| 9. I have a positive attitude towards English. 10 9 8 X 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 (10 = True) (1 = Not true, at all) |
Students’ attitude towards English in general is rather positive: They rate their liking of English as being close to 80 % of the optimal value. As all these values represent average values, the present one can be regarded as a strong statement of affinity for English: This value is the second highest of all those obtained in this study.
In view of this high figure for students’ liking of English, it is of interest to take the attitude they had towards English in their school days, into account:
| 10. I liked English in my school days? 10 9 8 7X 6 5 4 3 2 1 (10 = True) (1 = Not true, at all) |
The figure for this category is highly informative because students’ affinity for English during their university studies has considerably increased since their school days although it had not been low back then (cf. = 7.87 vs. = 6.93). The reasons for this rise in affection for the English language cannot be determined nor explained here – this is not the purpose of the present study -, but the very fact that this rise can be documented here is of importance. The least point which can be made in this context is that the use of English in lectures has, thus, had a positive effect on students’ attitude towards this language. This is a strong confirmation of our results described in chapter 3.1.
The question whether students’ attitude towards English changes for the better because of this language being used as the MOI in content courses was not raised directly after question 10, but within a certain distance in the questionnaire – i.e. in question 15 – so that these two questions would not interfere with each other:
| 15. My attitude towards English is improving now that I see that it helps me to get more and more internationalised. 10 9 8 X 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 (10 = True) (1 = Not true, at all) |
The result obtained here is a positive one: Students did not like English in their school days so deeply (cf. question 10), but they have a positive attitude towards this language now (cf. question 9), and this positive attitude is reinforced even more right now, in view of students’ being trained to become more internationalised[10]. This result confirms the use of English as the MOI in a convincing way and shows that this teaching approach is worth every effort.
Students are less positive, however, in the evaluation of their own (natural) communication ability when interacting with foreigners:
| 16. Due to the English orientation of some of my courses, I can communicate with foreigners naturally. 10 9 8 7 X 6 5 4 3 2 1 (10 = True) (1 = Not true, at all) |
This result shows that students are not really satisfied with their own communicative competence of English in their interaction with foreigners, and they do not attribute their language performance to the use of English as the MOI. This result may be further analysed in subsequent studies. The question to be clarified will then be whether students are not satisfied with their own performance in English or whether they are not satisfied with the way English is used as the MOI to improve their performance in English. This, however, is a direction of impact which cannot be shed any light on in this study.
3.4 The professional relevancy of English as the MOI
The professional relevancy of English as the MOI represented another point enquired about in our questionnaire. This point comprised five questions, among which the first one referred to students’ job chances:
| 11. I know that my job chances increase on the basis of a good command of English. 10 X9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 (10 = True) (1 = Not true, at all) |
The high rate of = 9.18 hints to an immense importance students attach to their command of English in view of their competitiveness on the job market. This value alone should stand for a high motivation of theirs to master this language as well as possible. Students do, however, not transfer the motivation potential of English, as is shown here, to its implied helpfulness when preferred to German in content courses (cf. chapter 4,1): The values obtained for questions 1 to 3 are distinctly lower (cf. = 6.59 to = 6,89). The fact that students do not see any link between these two aspects – i.e. the potential helpfulness of English on the one hand and the potential increase in job chances through a good command of the language on the other – is surprising.
The evaluation of the next question may be equally insightful:
| 14. I know that the English instruction I enjoy not only in language courses, but also in content courses (lectures) is an investment into my professional future. 10 9 8 X 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 (10 = True) (1 = Not true, at all) |
This question, which functions as a control question to question 11, is ranked at a lower level: Students consider English as important for increasing their job chances, but they do not see it so much as an investment into their professional future. In students’ minds, the idea of an investment is therefore less closely linked to their knowledge of English. It will therefore be necessary to make students understand even better that a good command of English belongs to the ultimate assets a graduate student and job seeker can have. This interpretation is confirmed by the result of the next question to be dealt with, which precedes the previous question in the questionnaire:
| 13. I think my knowledge of English opens up new language horizons for me? 10 9 8 7 X 6 5 4 3 2 1 (10 = True) (1 = Not true, at all) |
According to this result, students do not see much interdependency between their mastery of English and the acquisition of another foreign language. They limit the experience they have made with English to this very language and do not transfer it to others. Thus, they do not make use of a possibly charming aspect of language learning: the effect that one foreign language learnt facilitates the acquisition of other languages enormously. An important pedagogical effort to be made in the future will therefore consist in pointing out this potential language transfer to students.
The professional relevancy of English as the MOI needed to be linked to one of the potential outcomes of students’ present subjects, which may lie in the field of internationalisation. To avoid this term, which has become too shallow a label in the past few years, we preferred the paraphrase international life:
| 12. I like studying business administration, law or finance in English because this makes it possible for me to lead an international life. 10 9 8 7 X 6 5 4 3 2 1 (10 = True) (1 = Not true, at all) |
Unlike the first impression one may have, this question does not refer to whether student like their subjects[11], nor to whether they like their subject to be taught in English, but it does give evidence of students’ motivation for having chosen this subject, suggesting it might contribute to (their own) internationalisation. On the basis of the results obtained for this question, it can, however, be stated that leading an international life is not part of students’ most important ambitions. They do want to have a (good) job (cf. question 11), but they do not necessarily want to go international. If this desire could be strengthened in students’ minds, they would surely consider the use of English as the MOI to be even more important than they do at present: Students who do not strive for leading international lives, do quite naturally not care so much about the foreign language which will enable them to be international[12].
The last part of our enquiry referred to students’ attitude towards their studies.
3.5 Students’ general interest in their studies
Students’ general attitude towards their studies plays an important role for the analysis of the present results. Should students not be particularly dedicated to their subject, a low estimation of English as the MOI would be easily explainable, a high estimation, in turn, would be surprising. Should students, however, be highly interested in and motivated for their studies, a low estimation of English as the MOI would be even more significant, and a high estimation of it would be relativised.
In order to find out about students’ interest in their studies, this question was asked in a direct manner:
| 17. I am interested in the subject I am studying now. 10 9 X8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 (10 = True) (1 = Not true, at all) |
The value of = 8.07 obtained here is a high one. In fact, it represents the second highest value in our survey, only being topped by the result for question 9 which referred to students’ job chances. In the light of this response, students are truly involved in the studies they are doing, which constitutes a positive result.
The control question, following in the questionnaire directly afterwards, an arrangement which could not be organised any differently, mirrors the result for question 17, with a deviation of .42 only:
| 18. If I could, I would change my studies to start a totally different subject 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 X 2 1 (10 = True) (1 = Not true, at all) |
This deviation being seen as a non-decisive one, it can be stated that students are interested in their subject, and that they would not change it easily to redo their studies. This confirmation of the decision they made before taking up their studies is evidence of consistency in their attitude and seriousness in their decision-making processes.
This result shows that students highly identify with their university subject. The estimations they have given for English as the MOI, then, are not caused by a potential (dis)satisfaction with their studies, but they truly refer to English as the MOI. Therefore, there is no evidence for any interference existing between these two areas, i.e. English as the MOI on the one hand and the students’ subjects on the other: Both areas are clearly separated.
This positive result, however, is linked to a cry for help by students, which becomes clear in the following question:
| 19. English is a real obstacle for me to make good progress and achieve good results in my subject. 10 9 8 7 6 5 X 4 3 2 1 (10 = True) (1 = Not true, at all) |
The fact that students see English as an obstacle to achieving good progress and good results in their subjects can be interpreted as a demand for even more intensive language training outside the content courses in question here. What is needed would be a programme of non-curricular language courses at every university concerned, additionally to existing compulsory language courses, whose ultimate goal is to enhance students’ level of English: Wherever English is offered as the MOI in lectures, a consistent and comprehensive optional language-training programme should be organised to further support the implementation of this teaching approach. Courses of English offered at university level should therefore not only comprise the compulsory language classes, which are part of the curriculum anyway, but, additionally, a full range of optional courses which students can choose without any pressure to perform well, but whose goal consists in the training of students’ individual linguistic needs to fill gaps and to build up a profound self-consciousness as far as their language ability is concerned. From this perspective, the more efforts are made, the more promising the overall situation will turn out to be.
4. Final remarks
This study has shown, then, that English as the MOI has been evaluated by students in a much more positive way than may have been expected beforehand. Although this teaching approach does not in all cases and in all situations facilitate students’ academic life, it represents a milestone for students and their professional future, and it constitutes an important factor to increase students’ job chances both on a national and on an international scale. The working hypothesis of this study (cf. chapter 2.1) has therefore been generally verified, with students understanding and recognising the advantages of this teaching approach. The empirical results might, however, have been even more convincing in some respects, which hints to the areas in which students may need further information, clarification, and enlightenment.
The teaching approach in question here should therefore be pursued in the future with even more aplomb. There are, however, at least two important prerequisite to be fulfilled.
Only with a solid back-up of compulsory and optional English-language training will it, in the long run, be possible to maintain and extend English as the MOI in content courses, making its use more and more natural for students to communicate in English, and creating a steadily bigger number of internationalised students who face the job markets in the whole world and master its challenges. To create this effect, it will therefore be necessary to extend existing English-language programmes more and more.
The second prerequisite to be fulfilled consists in steadily improving the (non-native) teachers’ command of English by offering them a continuous training on the job. In a functional approach, there should be a number of English courses offered to content-course teachers to give them the opportunity to constantly develop or even perfect their English and to show them how to possibly compensate their weak points in English by applying functional and communication-oriented teaching approaches so as to optimise their teaching and, thus, students’ learning.
We are still far from the realisation of an all-English campus atmosphere at German universities, but it will be possible to guide students to a higher level of internationalisation and to equip them with the competence and confidence to communicate in English naturally so as to pave their way to international job markets on the basis of a sound English training - and an ever increasing number of content courses taught in English.
Appendix
Questionnaire
Personal Information:
Duration of Learning English: ___ years
Your age: ______________
Gender: ______________ （M/ F）
Your Study Programme (Please tick; Abbreviations in German): □ BW □ IBW / ITM □ DFHI □ WI
Are you enrolled in a □ Bachelor or a □ Master programme?
Your stays abroad (Where?/How long?): ________________________________＿＿＿＿＿＿＿___＿＿_
Your English performance in your A-Level (Abitur):______________
（or your score in another language test like TOEFL, TOEIC; IELTS：＿＿＿＿＿____＿）
Self-Evaluation of your English Proficiency（Please tick）:
□ very good □ good □ fair □ poor □ very poor
What other foreign languages do you speak? ____________________________________________
| 1. I think it is helpful for me that in some of my content courses, English is used as the language of instruction and communication? 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 (10 = True) (1 = Not true, at all) |
| 2. If my German professors teach me in English, I will have fewer problems following lectures in 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 (10 = True) (1 = Not true, at all) |
| 3. I think my professors do me a special favour when teaching me in English rather than in German. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 (10 = True) (1 = Not true, at all) |
| 4. I think my English listening ability has improved ever since I attended lectures in English. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 (10 = True) (1 = Not true, at all) |
| 5. I think my English speaking ability has improved ever since I attended lectures in English. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 (10 = True) (1 = Not true, at all) |
| 6. I think my English reading ability has improved ever since I attended lectures in English. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 (10 = True) (1 = Not true, at all) |
| 7. I think my English writing ability has improved ever since I attended in English. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 (10 = True) (1 = Not true, at all) |
| 8. I have the impression that the natural use of English in lectures has helped me to keep my English command at a high(er) level. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 (10 = True) (1 = Not true, at all) |
| 9. I have a positive attitude towards English. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 (10 = True) (1 = Not true, at all) |
| 10. I liked English in my school days? 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 (10 = True) (1 = Not true, at all) |
| 11. I know that my job chances increase on the basis of a good command of English. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 (10 = True) (1 = Not true, at all) |
| 12. I like studying business administration, law or finance in English because this makes it possible for me to lead an international life. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 (10 = True) (1 = Not true, at all) |
| 13. I think my knowledge of English opens up new language horizons for me? 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 (10 = True) (1 = Not true, at all) |
| 14. I know that the English instruction I enjoy not only in language courses, but also in content courses (lectures) is an investment into my professional future. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 (10 = True) (1 = Not true, at all) |
| 15. My attitude towards English is improving now that I see that it helps me to get more and more internationalised. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 (10 = True) (1 = Not true, at all) |
| 16. Due to the English orientation of some of my courses, I can communicate with foreigners naturally. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 (10 = True) (1 = Not true, at all) |
| 17. I am interested in the subject I am studying now. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 (10 = True) (1 = Not true, at all) |
| 18. If I could, I would change my studies to start a totally different subject 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 (10 = True) (1 = Not true, at all) |
| 19. English is a real obstacle for me to make good progress and achieve good results in my subject. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 (10 = True) (1 = Not true, at all) |
| 20. I prefer not to be taught in English, at all. All my lectures should be held in German. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 (10 = True) (1 = Not true, at all) |
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Streszczenie:
Niniejszy referat traktuje o potencjalnych skutkach płynących z zastosowania języka angielskiego używanego jako środka nauczania MOI (medium of instruction) w wykładach z zakresu administracji biznesu, prawa, finansów i innych.
Po scharakteryzowaniu podłoża badań i określeniu roboczej hipotezy, zgodnie z którą należałoby się spodziewać, że użycie języka angielskiego jako MOI będzie – z punktu widzenia studenta – korzystne, okazało się, iż zalety tej metody nauczania znacznie przewyższają ich potencjalne niedogodności. Co wiecej, została ona zaakceptowana i doceniona przez studentów. Hipotezę tę potwierdza badanie empiryczne przeprowadzone na 100 losowo wybranych studentach, spośród tych, zapisanych do Business School Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft des Saarlandes (Saarland University of Applied Sciences/Germany). W ramach tego badania oceniono postawę respondentów wobec angielskiego w ogóle, jak i w roli MOI, ich stosunek do wpływu omawianej metody nauczania na cztery podstawowe umiejętności językowe (mówienie, pisanie, słuchanie i czytanie) oraz opinie nt. zastosowania angielskiego MOI na gruncie zawodowym.
[1] For the phenomenon of learners’ attitudes, cf.
[2] Cf. among others Stake (1995), Yin (2002), and Borchardt / Göthlich (2007).
[3] As to the academic discussion presently made in
[4] This, however, is true on condition that students have a fair English ability and that the teacher in question has a good command of English.
[5] For clarification, the empirical value obtained from students’ responses is symbolised by an X put inside the rank-order scale.
[6] It was of essential importance for the success of this questionnaire to separate this question from all the other questions so as to avoid any interference between this one and the others.. This is why it represented the last question in the questionnaire.
[7] If the result of 3.78 is rendered positive – as if the question had been asked in the affirmative -, a value of = 6.22 is obtained. This value is relatively close to those obtained for questions 1 to 3, with ranging from 6.59 to 6.89.
[8] In order to avoid potential interferences between the answers given for reading comprehension and listening comprehension, these two questions were separated by another question (which concerned speaking). Therefore, chances are high that students did not simply transfer their answers for listening comprehension to reading comprehension, but that they answered both categories independently. These results can therefore be considered as reliable.
[9] In Power-Point based lectures, which are the rule at HTW and for which scripts are easily available to students, the necessity for them to take notes is reduced to a minimum.
[10] In this context, the fact has to be stated that the positive change of the students’ attitude towards English is of a higher semantic importance here than student’s potential internationalisation which will be dealt with in question 12.
[11] Students’ liking of their subject will be examined in question 17.
[12] It is of interest to note that the value obtained for this question closely corresponds to those obtained for questions 1 to 3.
