Students’ Perceptions of Content- and Language- Integrated Learning in Vietnam: A Survey Study

Abstract. Content- and language-integrated learning (CLIL), an educational approach, in which the subject matter is taught in a foreign language. This has become popular in tertiary education. Many research studies have shown its benefits and discussed the favorable effects, especially with respect to L2 language gains. Yet, critical voices, also from the primary stakeholders, namely the students taking part in such integrated programs, have also been heard. In an effort to integrate into the international academic and scientific community, universities in Vietnam have also started to teach academic courses in English. The main objective of this cross-sectional survey study (N=104) was to explore Vietnamese students’ perceptions of such dual-training programs and to investigate to what extent they feel the program currently meets their needs. Our findings show that both lecturers and students are struggling in these courses, for one thing, because of insufficient levels of mastery of the English language; while for another reason, since courses cannot be characterized as courses in which disciplinary contents and the foreign language are taught in an integrated way. The way forward seems to be to educate the lecturers and the students well, before allowing them to participate in CLIL English courses. All these issues need to be considered in the context of local Vietnamese educational realities and traditions. Keywords: English-Medium Instruction (EMI); Content- and Language- Integrated Learning (CLIL); Vietnamese Higher Education; students’ perception; survey

Jaar van publicatie:2021

Toegankelijkheid:Open