English-only Instruction in Post-secondary Education in Taiwan: Voices from Students

Abstract

The internationalization of higher education in Taiwan has become a trend since Taiwan entered the World Trade Organization (WTO). One of the most popular internationalizing mechanisms for Taiwan is to provide English-taught courses in postsecondary education. Despite its proliferation, we rarely have empirical studies on its effectiveness, which 15 particularly important since Vinke et al. (1998) found that the effects of using English as the only medium of teaching to facilitate one' s language abilities and international understanding were not totally positive. This paper thus aims to report student voices regarding English-Only instruction in one department in a comprehensive, private university in Taiwan. Ten student interviews were conducted. Data were analyzed by Carspecken's (1996) reconstructive analysis. The results showed delicate complexity between positive and negative learning effects. The students perceived English improvement in terms of listening, vocabulary and confidence, while they expressed worries about a loss in their acquisition of professional knowledge. In addition to teachers' clarity and expressiveness, students' language ego, intrinsic motivation, proficiency levels and time for adjustment also account for learning effectiveness. Although the results are inconclusive, the complicated factors emerging from student data, I believe, function as a preliminary step for an in-depth understanding of the effectiveness of English-only instruction and the anticipated future internationalization of higher education in Taiwan.