Measuring the effectiveness of English Medium Instruction Shipping courses

Abstract

Purpose Shipping courses contain much technical and specialist knowledge and present particular challenges for English medium instruction (EMI). This paper aims to investigate both student perceptions of the importance and satisfaction level of EMI in shipping courses in higher education in Taiwan and the perceptions of expert stakeholders through qualitative interviews. Design/methodology/approach Importance-performance analysis (IPA) is used to gather data on participants’ perceptions of what is (un)important and (un)satisfactory. Based on past studies, four dimensions with 20 items were developed and 121 effective questionnaires were collected. Further, qualitative interviews with expert stakeholders (n = 9) are undertaken to gather data to contextualize and complement the quantitative student data. Findings Findings show students attributed high importance but low satisfaction to items such as course learning objectives and students’ English level, and low importance and high satisfaction to items such as electronic teaching platform and relevance of subject to practice. Factor analysis and cluster analysis were used to divide samples into three groups. Qualitative interview results confirm many of the quantitative findings but also show where some quantitative findings require more attention or investment when delivering EMI programmes. Research limitations/implications Questionnaire samples focus on university students. Other related field samples (e.g. EMI teachers, shipping teachers, English teachers, etc.) could be surveyed and compared in future studies. Qualitative interviews could also be expanded to other stakeholders such as government policymakers. Practical implications The findings of IPA in the shipping courses and the qualitative interviews can be used for both teaching design and implementation in related courses by university lecturers and other stakeholders (e.g. policy and decision-makers). Such approaches can enhance students’ learning motivation and teaching performance. Social implications This paper provides important guidance and diagnosis for how to introduce English teaching in shipping courses. Related courses can be further applied in higher education to popularize and promote EMI teaching in shipping and related fields. Originality/value EMI has seldom been studied in the context of shipping courses in the past. This paper adopts IPA method and qualitative interviews to complement previous studies and address gaps in recent research. It is expected that the research findings could be adapted and applied in other fields.

Student satisfaction with EMI courses: the role of motivation and engagement

“…It is necessary to assess students' satisfaction with EMI courses in a specific context to gain more understanding about this important issue. Following (Tseng et al. , 2020), we will assess students' satisfaction with four dimensions of EMI courses: course objective and content, learning resources, students' learning characteristics, and teachers' teaching characteristics.…”

“…Studies have been performed in various countries, including China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Turkey (Chu et al. , 2017; Karakas, 2019; Kim and Yoon, 2018; Rakhshandehroo and Ivanova, 2020; Tseng et al. , 2020; Tsui and Ngo, 2017).…”

“…Rakhshandehroo and Ivanova (2020) researched international students' satisfaction with EMI programs in Japan. Tseng et al. (2020) assessed students' perceptions regarding EMI at the University of Oviedo.…”

“…There have been studies of EMI conducted at each level; most have concentrated on the micro-level (students and teachers) and analyzed students' perceptions and levels of satisfaction. Studies have been performed in various countries, including China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Turkey (Chu et al, 2017;Karakas, 2019;Kim and Yoon, 2018;Rakhshandehroo and Ivanova, 2020;Tseng et al, 2020;Tsui and Ngo, 2017). Specifically, Tsui and Ngo (2017) examined students' perspectives on the EMI policy at a Hong Kong university.…”

Comparative Analysis of the Effect of Immersive English Teaching

“…When establishing a long-term support mechanism for the implementation of developmental teaching effect evaluation, the test scores of students shouldn't be taken as the only indicator to evaluate the teachers [27,28]. Figure 3 summarizes deficiencies in current teaching evaluation, including: emphasizing on management while neglecting incentives, and teaching effect evaluation has become a pure management tool of schools; the evaluation of teaching conditions is insufficient, schools often evaluate the teaching of teachers and the learning of students, while there's few evaluations on the positioning of disciplines, the school faculty, or the teaching conditions of disciplines; the evaluation of teaching organization and management is insufficient, schools often neglect the evaluation of teaching organization and management; the evaluation of the quality of practical teaching is insufficient, most schools tend to focus on theoretical teaching, while neglecting the evaluation of practical teaching; the evaluation of student abilities is insufficient, and few attention has been paid to their evaluation opinions.…”