The effectiveness of the use of L1 in EMI courses on disciplinary knowledge acquisition in higher education in China

Thesis

This study investigated the effectiveness of L1 use in EMI classrooms on students’ disciplinary knowledge acquisition. With the widespread implementation of EMI programs across the globe, language use in EMI classrooms has been a topic of great interest. In this study, a total of 19 university students with high English proficiency were recruited from a Chinese university. The comparison group (n = 9) received 15-minute English-only instruction, while the experimental group (m = 10) received 15-minute instruction delivered in both English and Chinese. Both groups were taught by the same teacher, and the course content was the same. All participants’ mastery of content knowledge was assessed by a post-test and a delayed post-test. It was found that the two groups performed equally well, and L1 use did not significantly affect students’ content learning and knowledge retention (p＞ 0.5). Additionally, participants completed a questionnaire to show their attitudes toward L1 use in the EMI classroom and provide reasons for the quantitative results. The findings suggested that L1 use can positively or negatively affect disciplinary knowledge acquisition from different perspectives, such as lecture comprehension and classroom engagement.

Authors: Sun, N

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-qrpvvx9wr
• Type of award: MSc taught course
• Level of award: Masters
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: disciplinary knowledge acquisition; questionnaires; quantitative (randomized controlled trial); L1 use; EMI classrooms; ASLSA; ALSLA2024
• Subjects: Quantitative research; Native language and education; English language--Study and teaching--Foreign speakers; Applied linguistics; Questionnaires