The perceptions of the main stakeholders of universities regarding English medium instruction in Turkey

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the perceptions of students, content professors and language instructors in 25 EMI (English Medium Instruction) universities in Turkey regarding EMI, and whether there is a significant difference between their perceptions. In this explanatory research, a survey research design was implemented by collecting the quantitative and qualitative data through surveys. 205 students, 81 content professors and 45 language instructors took part in the surveys, and content analysis was conducted to analyze the open-ended questions to obtain qualitative data. Major findings show that all participant groups have a positive perception of EMI, with the students showing the highest level and content professors the lowest. The Welch ANOVA test showed that there was a significant difference between the perceptions of students and content professors. The content analysis revealed that the necessity to have a high level of English language skills for EMI programs is seen both as an advantage for following recent literature, but also as an obstacle for academic success in courses both by students and content professors.