VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ĐỖ THỊ THANH THƯ A STUDY ON PHYSICS STUDENTS’ CHALLENGES AND THEIR COPING STRATEGIES ON AN ENGLISH AS A MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION (EMI) PROGRAM AT HANOI UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE, VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY (Nghiên cứu về những khó khăn và biện pháp khắc phục của sinh viên khoa Vật lý khi theo học khóa học chu ên ngành gi ng ng ti ng nh t i trường Đ i học Khoa học Tự nhiên, Đ i học Quốc gia Hà Nội) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English teaching methodology Code: 60140111 Ha Noi, November 2016 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ĐỖ THỊ THANH THƯ A STUDY ON PHYSICS STUDENTS’ CHALLENGES AND THEIR COPING STRATEGIES ON AN ENGLISH AS A MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION (EMI) PROGRAM AT HANOI UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE, VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY (Nghiên cứu về những khó khăn và biện pháp khắc phục của sinh viên khoa Vật lý khi theo học khóa học chu ên ngành gi ng ng ti ng nh t i trường Đ i học Khoa học Tự nhiên, Đ i học Quốc gia Hà Nội) (M.A THESIS) Field : English teaching methodology Code : 60140111 Supervisor : Dr. Vu Thi Thanh Nha Ha Noi, November 2016 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com DECLARATION I hereby certify that this thesis is entirely my own work. I have provided fully documented references to the other‟s work. The material in this thesis has not been submitted for assessment in any other formal course.
I also accept all the requirements of University of Languages and International Studies relating to the retention and use of M.A Graduation Thesis deposited in the library. i TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This thesis would not be fulfilled without the help of some people, and in some ways, I would like to thank everyone who has taught me, inspired me, challenged me, and supported me throughout the realization of this thesis. I would like to express my deepest thanks to my beloved supervisor, Dr. Vu Thi Thanh Nha, for her whole-hearted assistance, encouragement as well as the profound guidance she gave me while I was doing my research.
I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to all lecturers in Faculty of Post-graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi for their interesting lectures which have inspired me to conduct this thesis. Last but not least, I would also like to express my thanks to students at Hanoi University of Science, VNU for their willingness to participate in the research. Without their help, this project could not be fulfilled. Hanoi, November, 2016 Do Thi Thanh Thu ii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.university ABSTRACT English-medium instruction (EMI) has been a great interest to language and language policy researchers in an era of globalization and internationalization.
In spite of recognising implemental problems and constraints, EMI has been widely introduced into countries where English is not the native language. This paper reported the findings of the study that aimed at identifying second-year physics students‟ challenges and their coping strategies when they studied the EMI program. Two issues, hence, are investigated: (1) what challenges the learners face and (2) what are their coping strategies in the implementation of EMI in Vietnam. The analysis of empirical data garnered from questionnaires and interviews reveals that the students faced such serious challenges as: students‟ English ability and comprehending lectures.
Their common strategies were group work, extensive reading, lecture attendance, completing assigned work and memorization. Based on these findings, suggestions are made for enhancing the success of similar programs. iii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.university LIST OF ABBREVIATION TERMS HUS : Hanoi University of Science VNU : Vietnam National University CBI : Content-based Instruction CLIL : Content and Language Integrated Learning L1 : First Language L2 : Second language MOET : The Ministry of Education and Training ELT : English language teaching EMI : English as the Medium of Instruction iv TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.university TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION. iii LIST OF ABBREVIATION TERMS.
iv TABLE OF CONTENTS. v LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES. vii CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION. Aims of the study.
Scope of the study. Method of the study. Design of the study. 3 CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW.
The EMI context. Context of EMI in the world. Context of EMI in Vietnam. Challenges facing EMI students.
Previous studies on coping strategies in multilingual higher education. 14 CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY. Context of the study. Data collection instruments.
Data collection procedure. 21 v TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.university CHAPTER IV: FINDINGS. The findings of questionnaire. Students‟ coping strategies.
The findings of interview. Students‟ coping strategies. 28 CHAPTER V: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION. Discussion of key findings.
Summary of key findings. Suggestions for further research. 37 APPENDIX…………………………………………………………………45 vi TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.university LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 1: Language-in- Education Policy Goals. 7 Table 2: Review Findings Regarding the Students‟ Language Proficiencies.
8 Table 3: Review Findings Relating to Academic EMI Situation. 11 Table 4: Review Findings Relating to EMI support. 12 Table 5: Students‟ challenges. 25 Table 6: Students‟ coping strategies and suggestions for teachers.
26 Figure 1: The students‟ purposes for learning English. 23 Figure 2: Areas of using English students often face challenges. 25 vii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.university CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION I. Rationale Globalization and internationalization, combined with the rapid growth of the internet, have resulted in the spread of English worldwide.
Strongly influenced by this phenomenon, many Asian countries, where English is not officially used, have adopted diverse educational policies that aim to support students in acquiring higher levels of English proficiency and preparing them for better future jobs. While Content-based Instruction (CBI) or Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) refers to an approach where language teaching is organized around the informational content rather than a linguistic syllabus (Richards & Rodgers, 2001), EMI is mostly used for educational programs at a tertiary level where professional knowledge is taught through English with the purpose of enhancing students‟ knowledge-specific ability as well as their English (Coleman, 2006). In Vietnam, English is considered as an indispensable subject in all universities‟ curriculum. There is a rapidly growing tendency for English to be adopted as the medium of instruction, even when a majority of the population speaks a local language.
However, when EMI courses have expanded, they do not get immediate success. At Hanoi University of Science (hereafter HUS), English is a compulsory subject for all students of all faculties. EMI is considered a preferable program to make learners understood in a workplace context, or have an advantageous job over the others. For the second-year physics students, they have one year to be familiar with the ways of studying at university.
Learners try their best to improve their English as well as the knowledge of subjects; however, not all students have succeeded. The questions of the ways the students choose to overcome are left unanswered in this context. There have been not much attempts in investigating this issue. Hence, it is greatly important to research the matter intensively.
1 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.university Hopefully, the findings of this research could contribute to understand more about learners, to enhance teaching and learning EMI program at the institution, and to lay a foundation for subsequent research. The following sections will briefly describe the aim of study, research questions, its scope, method and the outline of the thesis. Aims of the study The study aimed to investigate the EMI program, especially related to the learners. It identified strategies that Vietnamese students used in order to deal with challenges they faced.
Based on these findings, recommendations to promote learners‟ proficiency and improve the implementation of EMI policies are made. Research questions In order to achieve the above-mentioned aims, the following research questions are raised in the study: 1. What are Physics students‟ challenges in taking an EMI program? 2. What coping strategies have they been taking? I.
Scope of the study Teaching and learning a new EMI program in Vietnam are broad topics, and they cannot be wholly discussed within the framework of this paper. Thus, this minor thesis attempted to investigate only the challenges which students faced and their coping strategies in the implementation of EMI. The subjects of the study included thirteen Physics students in a class at the Department of International Standard Program (ISP) at Hanoi University of Science (HUS) who were not English majored but learning the EMI program, therefore, the findings of this study might not be generalized to all Vietnamese students. Method of the study This study employed both qualitative and quantitative research methods in 2 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.university order to get a more detailed and comprehensive picture about what was investigated.
Questionnaires and interviews were needed to collect information on students‟ difficulties and their strategies on how to learn successfully in the content and language integrated learning program. Design of the study This study is composed of five following parts, outlined as follows: Chapter I: Introduction presents the background, aims, research questions, the significance, the scope, and the design of the study. Chapter II: Literature review, conceptualizes the framework of the study through the discussion of issues and ideas on theories of learners‟ challenges in the implementation of EMI. Chapter III: Methodology, presents the context, the methodology used in this study including the context, the subject, the data collection instruments, data collection procedure, and data analysis.
Chapter IV: Findings consists of a comprehensive analysis of the data. Chapter V: Discussions and Conclusion offers a discussion and a summary of the key findings, recommendations, limitations, and future directions for further study. In summary, this chapter has briefly introduced the issue this thesis will address, the study it was based on, and the outline summary of the thesis. The following chapter will review the ELT literature that provides theoretical underpinnings for the study and address EMI students‟ challenges and coping strategies.
3 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.university CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW The previous chapter has provided the overview of the thesis, its aims and structure. In this chapter, the researcher will present some theoretical backgrounds that necessitate the realization of this research and provide the related literature for the study. The EMI context In this section, the researcher begins by analyzing the context of EMI in the world and in Vietnam. Context of EMI in the world In reality, the concept of EMI is not new in the world but not easy to define (Manh, 2012).
A review of literature indicates that EMI has been called different names such as content and language integrated learning (CLIL), content-based teaching (CTB), immersion or language as a medium of instruction. EMI means learners acquire both the subject content and target language in a natural setting (Sert, 2008). Numerous studies have been conducted to evaluate the feasibility of using a non-native language to instruct at tertiary level in different contexts at the micro level. Specifically, researchers aim to explore students‟ challenges and their coping strategies about EMI.
For example, in Europe, Airey & Linder (2006) concern about students‟ experience of learning university physics in Sweden. In Africa, a recent case study by Marie (2013) about students‟ strategies that multilingual university students in Rwanda use in order to deal with complex academic materials. Findings reveal that students have multiple coping strategies that enable them to complete academic tasks given through the medium of English. Regarding Asian contexts, many reports on the implementation of EMIs reflect leaners‟ challenges and their ways to overcome the situations.