Student Satisfaction and Experiences with EMI at an International University in Thailand

Abstract

This research was conducted at an international institution known for its extensive use of English as the medium of instruction across various subjects. The study took place during the Intensive English Course. It was essential to evaluate the EMI approaches and identify issues for stakeholders, particularly the students involved. The study’s objective is to find the relationship between EMI and students’ satisfaction. The research aimed to understand how students respond to their satisfaction level with EMI experience related to the course, the university and teachers’ attributes. To gather data, we used a questionnaire with a sample of 412 participants enrolled in a 90-hour intensive English language course designed to prepare them for the EMI context. At the end of the course, 18 students agreed to answer open-ended questions regarding their EMI experience. Both the satisfaction survey and the written response addressed three research questions. The results indicated that students’ overall satisfaction with the EMI experience towards teachers’ attributes was very high (mean = 4.38, SD = 0.84). Secondly, the overall satisfaction level regarding the EMI status of the university was very high (mean = 4.42, SD = 0.76). Lastly, participants are very satisfied with the intensive course (mean = 4.33, SD =0.79) and the activities throughout the course (mean = 4.22, SD = 0.88); however, their satisfaction was lower compared to their feelings about the instructors and the university. Essentially, effective EMI curriculums should foster an inclusive learning environment that can develop competent language users regardless of their linguistic background. Therefore, student engagement is the priority. Additionally, pedagogical recommendations and recommendations for future research were provided at the end of our study.