IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v10y2018i11p4230-d183320.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

English- vs. Chinese-Medium Instruction in Chinese Higher Education: A Quasi-Experimental Comparison

Author

Listed:
  • Haitao Guo

    (College of Mass Communication, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518000, China)

  • Fuhui Tong

    (Department of Education Psychology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77840, USA)

  • Zhuoying Wang

    (Department of Education Psychology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77840, USA)

  • Yue Min

    (Department of Education Psychology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77840, USA)

  • Shifang Tang

    (Department of Education Psychology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77840, USA)

Abstract

Through a quasi-experimental approach, we compared Chinese college students’ learning motivation, content knowledge, English language proficiency, and instructor’s pedagogical practices between an English-medium instruction (EMI) and the parallel Chinese-medium instruction (CMI) course in a non-traditional discipline. Results indicated that EMI was more effective, as compared to CMI, in motivating students’ learning of the focal subject. More specifically, EMI students held a stronger external goal orientation than did their CMI peers. Further, EMI and CMI students performed on par in their final exam in the subject and English after one semester of participation, controlling for their prior performance. The finding suggested that EMI did not carry a detrimental effect on Chinese college students’ content area learning. Finally, observation revealed a significantly higher percentage of English language instruction focused on higher-order dense cognitive area in the EMI classroom where students were more engaged in their learning. Implications for policy and research were discussed regarding this educational approach for sustained and optimized student learning.

Suggested Citation

  • Haitao Guo & Fuhui Tong & Zhuoying Wang & Yue Min & Shifang Tang, 2018. "English- vs. Chinese-Medium Instruction in Chinese Higher Education: A Quasi-Experimental Comparison," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-17, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:11:p:4230-:d:183320
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/11/4230/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/11/4230/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Antonio Baena-Extremera & Antonio Granero-Gallegos & Raúl Baños & María Del Mar Ortiz-Camacho, 2018. "Can Physical Education Contribute to Learning English? Structural Model from Self-Determination Theory," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-11, October.
    2. Fuhui Tong & Yue Min & Yi-chun Liu & Haitao Guo, 2017. "Measuring Self-Identity Change Related to English Language Learning and Bilingual Education among Chinese-Speaking College Students: An Exploratory Study," Asian Journal of Education and Training, Asian Online Journal Publishing Group, vol. 3(2), pages 135-146.
    3. Fuhui Tong & Yue Min & Yi-chun Liu & Haitao Guo, 2017. "Measuring Self-Identity Change Related to English Language Learning and Bilingual Education among Chinese-Speaking College Students: An Exploratory Study," Asian Journal of Education and Training, Asian Online Journal Publishing Group, vol. 3(2), pages 135-146.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jian-E Peng & Xiaowen (Serina) Xie, 2021. "English-Medium Instruction as a Pedagogical Strategy for the Sustainable Development of EFL Learners in the Chinese Context: A Meta-Analysis of Its Effectiveness," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-20, May.
    2. Ching-Hsue Cheng & Yun-Chun Wang & Wei-Xiang Liu, 2019. "Exploring the Related Factors in Students’ Academic Achievement for the Sustainable Education of Rural Areas," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-22, October.
    3. Shih-Ling Lin & Tzu-Hsing Wen & Gregory S. Ching & Yu-Chen Huang, 2021. "Experiences and Challenges of an English as a Medium of Instruction Course in Taiwan during COVID-19," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(24), pages 1-21, December.
    4. Teng Lin & Jun Lei, 2021. "English-Medium Instruction and Content Learning in Higher Education: Effects of Medium of Instruction, English Proficiency, and Academic Ability," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(4), pages 21582440211, November.
    5. Fuhui Tong & Zhuoying Wang & Yue Min & Shifang Tang, 2020. "A Systematic Literature Synthesis of 19 Years of Bilingual Education in Chinese Higher Education: Where Does the Academic Discourse Stand?," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(2), pages 21582440209, May.
    6. Haitao Guo & Fuhui Tong & Zhuoying Wang & Shifang Tang & Myeongsun Yoon & Ming Ying & Xiaofeng Yu, 2021. "Examining Self-Regulated Learning Strategy Model: A Measurement Invariance Analysis of MSLQ-CAL among College Students in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-12, September.
    7. Teng Lin & Yuanyue He, 2019. "Does Bilingual Instruction Impact Students’ Academic Performance in Content-Based Learning? Evidence from Business School Students Attending Bilingual and L1 Courses," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-18, January.
    8. Yeuseung Kim, 2020. "The Value of Interactive Polling and Intrinsic Motivation When Using English as a Medium of Instruction," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-13, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Fuhui Tong & Zhuoying Wang & Yue Min & Shifang Tang, 2020. "A Systematic Literature Synthesis of 19 Years of Bilingual Education in Chinese Higher Education: Where Does the Academic Discourse Stand?," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(2), pages 21582440209, May.
    2. Ireneusz Cichy & Agnieszka Kruszwicka & Tomasz Przybyla & Weronika Rochatka & Sara Wawrzyniak & Michal Klichowski & Andrzej Rokita, 2022. "No Motor Costs of Physical Education with Eduball," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-18, November.
    3. Ireneusz Cichy & Agnieszka Kruszwicka & Patrycja Palus & Tomasz Przybyla & Rainer Schliermann & Sara Wawrzyniak & Michal Klichowski & Andrzej Rokita, 2022. "Physical Education with Eduball Stimulates Non-Native Language Learning in Primary School Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-14, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:11:p:4230-:d:183320. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.