RT Journal Article
T1 Students’ performance and English as a Medium of Instruction: Do students learn less?
T2 Rendimiento de los estudiantes e Inglés como Medio de Instrucción: Aprenden menos los estudiantes?
A1 García Álvarez de Perea, Juan
A1 Ramírez-García, Carolina
K1 Academic performance
K1 Business administration degree
K1 Content-learning
K1 English as a medium of instruction (EMI)
K1 Higher education internationalization
AB The European Higher Education Area (EHEA) is an EU initiative aimed at harmonising university degrees and attracting international students and staff. Proficiency in the English language is now regarded as a prerequisite for all business students. By adopting a quasi-experimental design, this paper focuses on the effects that teaching Accounting in English as a foreign language (3 groups totalling 52 students) may exert on Spanish students' academic performance (measured through final exam grades), and compares it to the performance of peers having been taught in their native Spanish language (5 groups totalling 70 students), where all groups have the same instructor. The impact of language on the students' test scores is also considered. The findings show that the group using English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) obtained better results, which suggests that, in this research context, the language of instruction does not seem to compromise students' learning of academic content. Furthermore, the achievement of content regarding questions of a more conceptual nature is not dependent on language skills, which seems to contradict previous research. These findings may help foster the implementation of EMI courses, thereby encouraging both universities and students to partake therein. Suggestions are provided to enhance lecturer involvement, drawing on the lecturer's pedagogical approach.
PB SAGE
YR 2024
FD 2024-09-04
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10433/21730
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10433/21730
LA en
NO García Álvarez de Perea, Juan & Ramirez-Garcia, Carolina. (2024). Students' performance and English as a Medium of Instruction: Do students learn less?. Language Teaching Research. 10.1177/13621688241270797.
NO Departamento de Economía FInanciera y Contabilidad, UPO
DS RIO
RD May 13, 2026