A case study on the effect of English medium instruction on prep school students`success and motivation

DergiPark English

English-medium instruction (EMI) has become a widely adopted approach especially in higher education institutions not only in Europe but also in Turkey. Students may go for departments with 100% English medium instruction as well as departments with 30% EMI, which are offered by many universities in Turkey. However, depending on the medium of instruction in their future departments, students may show different performance and attitude even when they are at prep schools. A quantitative case study was conducted to see if there is a relationship between the perceptions and motivation well as the success of EMI students at prep school. Attitude/Motivation Test Battery (AMTB) developed by Gardner in 1985 was utilized as the main data collection tool. The data includes responses of prep school students in a public university who were randomly chosen from the full EMI departments as well as 30% EMI departments. Considering the success of the students, the results showed that that there is a decrease in the achievement of the 100% EMI students while there is an increase in the performance of 30% EMI students. Furthermore, no significant relationship was found between the test scores and motivation level of the students. The study adds to our understanding of how different the students might perceive learning English for further academic instruction while they are receiving English courses at prep school lighting up the pathway for curriculum design studies of prep school programs.