Learning Motivation and Challenges of Vietnamese Students in English Medium of Instruction (EMI) at Japanese Universities

要旨

Recently, English medium of instruction (EMI), in which English language is used to teach academic subjects in non-English-speaking countries, has become popular in many Asian countries, including Japan.Many Japanese universities are expanding their EMI programs not only to attract international students but also to strengthen their university ranking inside and outside the country.There is a large number of international students studying abroad in Japan both at Japanese medium instruction universities and at EMI universities.However, there is little research on international students in these programs such as what attracts students to EMI universities, particularly Vietnamese students.For the purpose of narrowing the gap, this study aimed to examine Vietnamese students' learning motivations towards the EMI program at Japanese universities, and it also focused on their challenges when learning at EMI universities.One hundred and three students enrolled in EMI universities were administered an online survey, and 18 students were also interviewed for this study.The study revealed that (1) the students in the present study have a mix of instrumental and integrative motivation.However, they were attracted primarily by instrumental motivation rather than integrative motivation, (2) students' sources of motivation in EMI programs varied owing to their plan to take EMI university before or after they came to Japan, (3) motivation can be changed if the learning environment is changed, and students clearly acknowledged their future orientation, and (4) problems identified by the students centered on the challenges in understanding lecturers' language and learning two languages.

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