Listening Comprehension Strategies of EMI Students in Turkey

This chapter discusses the issue of English as a medium of instruction (EMI) at higher education, reporting specifically the results of a listening comprehension strategy survey and qualitative comments to open-ended questions. The study was conducted at three universities (two states, one private), conveniently sampling 76 students (30 male, 46 female) from four non-English-related departments such as Business Management (n = 38), Electronics and Communication Engineering (n = 15), Agricultural Biotechnology (n = 12), and International Trade (n = 11). The results of the questionnaire showed that of 32 items, students stated 24 items (median rating = 4) generally reflect what they do during the lecture to comprehend it, while another eight items received an overall median rating of 3 (neutral). As to differences, the study found statistically significant differences between male and female students for some strategies, between full EMI and partial EMI groups, among grades, and major/department, as well as finding a statistically significant relationship of students’ general GPA scores to some questionnaire items. The qualitative results also revealed that the students used many strategies while listening to their lecture: notably they focused on the lecturer, took regular notes in a good shape, and came to class prepared. At the end of the chapter, some important implications are given to both students and lecturers in an EMI context, and suggestions are made for ongoing research studies.