The language of instruction dilemma in the Turkish context

Abstract

Abstract This collective case study aims to investigate the effectiveness of the use of English in terms of the acquisition of both language skills and the academic content in three different approaches to language instruction, and to compare them in this regard. The approaches under question are: (1) English medium instruction (EMI), in which academic content is provided through the medium of English after a preparatory year, (2) English aided instruction (EAI), in which Turkish is used for lectures and English for exams and materials such as books and articles with the support of preparatory and post preparatory English courses, and (3) Turkish medium instruction (TMI), in which Turkish is used in all of the academic areas supported with preparatory and post preparatory English courses. The research was conducted in the Faculties of Economics and Administrative Sciences of three universities which used these approaches. The student and lecturer data concerning their perceptions of the use of English in the different faculty/language of instruction combinations were mainly collected by means of questionnaires and interviews in the 2003–2004 academic year. The population for this research consisted of 527 fourth-year students and 87 teaching staff. Although EMI is found to be the most effective of all in terms of language skill development, none of the approaches is considered to be sufficient and efficient to teach English alongside academic content. And, it is also considered that EMI fails to provide the academic content effectively.