Assessment Practices in Local and International EMI Programmes: Perspectives of Vietnamese Students

Abstract

This study investigated Vietnamese students’ perceptions of assessment practices in local and international English-Medium Instruction (EMI) programmes. Participants were six Vietnamese students who, at the time of the research, were studying towards or recently completed a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in a science- or business-related discipline in Australia, the UK, and France (international EMI programmes). These students had also previously taken some English-taught courses or attended an entirely EMI degree programme in Vietnam (local EMI programmes). Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with individual participants to probe on their perceptions towards different aspects of assessment practices in both types of EMI programmes, including assessment types, evaluation criteria, and feedback. The findings show similarities and differences between the two programme types in how these students experienced assessment. While both EMI programmes exposed them to a wide variety of similar kinds of assessment tasks (e.g. oral presentations, written assignments, exams), students found discrepancies in how these assessments were executed between the two settings, such as preparation for exams, group assessment, and evaluation and feedback. These findings are discussed in light of recent research on EMI teaching and learning in higher education. This research is hoped to provide critical insights into areas where EMI programme designers, policy makers, and teacher trainers could focus on to enhance the effectiveness of assessment practices in EMI implementation in various contexts.