Why do students choose EMI courses? An analysis of their motivational drives

• Autores: Iratxe Serna Bermejo, David Lasagabaster Herrarte
• Localización: Porta Linguarum: revista internacional de didáctica de las lenguas extranjeras, ISSN 1697-7467, Nº. 40, 2023, págs. 235-252
• Idioma: inglés
• DOI: 10.30827/portalin.vi40.27025
• Títulos paralelos:
  • ¿Por qué eligen los estudiantes matricularse en EMI? Análisis de sus motivaciones
• Enlaces
  • Texto completo (pdf)
• Resumen
  • español

    Históricamente, la motivación ha sido un tema de gran interés para los estudiosos del área de la educación y la enseñanza de lenguas. Sin embargo, a medida que las realidades educativas van cambiando, nos encontramos con nuevas preguntas que deben ser resueltas.  En este estudio pretendemos conocer las motivaciones que llevan a los estudiantes universitarios a matricularse en EMI (English-medium Instruction) en lugar de elegir  su L1 BMI (Basque-medium Instruction) o SMI (Spanish-medium Instruction). 455 estudiantes de la Universidad del País Vasco UPV/EHU cumplimentaron un cuestionario en el que se les preguntó acerca de sus motivaciones hacia EMI, tomando como marco teórico el L2MSS de Dörnyei (2005). El análisis estadístico reveló que la mayoría de estudiantes mostraron motivaciones relacionadas con el Yo ideal y con las preferencias personales, mientras que no se sentían presionados por sus tutores ni por la propia universidad (Yo deóntico) para estudiar en inglés. El carácter innovador de este estudio radica en que la mayoría de estudiantes que han participado en esta investigación tienen como L1 el euskera (lengua minoritaria) y/o el castellano (lengua mayoritaria). Esto ha permitido identificar las motivaciones de los estudiantes para elegir EMI frente a BMI o SMI en una universidad multilingüe.

  • English

    The great influence of motivation in the learning process is widely acknowledged since it plays a key role in any learning context. However, as educational realities change, researchers are assailed by new questions that must be resolved. Through this research we intended to know the motivations that lead university students to enrol in EMI (English-medium Instruction) courses instead of choosing courses in their L1, BMI (Basque-medium Instruction) or SMI (Spanish-medium Instruction). A total of 455 students from the University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU completed a questionnaire in which they were asked about their motivations towards EMI, taking Dörnyei’s (2005) L2MSS as theoretical framework. The statistical analysis revealed that the majority of students showed motivations related to the Ideal L2 Self and to personal preferences, while they did not feel pressured by their tutors or by the university itself for studying in English (the Ought-to L2 Self). The innovative nature of this study lies in the fact that students’ choices included both a minority language (Basque) and a majority one (Spanish), which has allowed us to identify students´ motivations to choose EMI over BMI  or SMI in a multilingual university context in which three different languages are used as MOI.

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