Abstract
This study centres on the issue of English-medium instruction (EMI) academic motivation by investigating this phenomenon in a Chinese transnational university. After critically analysing previous literature and identifying the theoretical and methodological gaps in this literature, this study aimed to fill in the following research gaps: 1) employ a well-established theoretical framework to explore motivation in EMI; 2) validate a quantitative instrument to measure EMI academic motivation; 3) uncover the motivational predictors of EMI academic performance and the salient factors influencing these predictors; 4) reveal the developmental trajectories of the motivational constructs and the salient factors influencing these changes.To achieve these goals, this study employed a longitudinal mixed-methods research design. It focused on investigating the academic motivation of Chinese EMI students in the discipline of International Business while they were transitioning from a one-year preparatory programme to a full EMI programme. During the piloting stages of the study, a Chinese EMI Student Academic Motivation Scale was developed and validated as the quantitative instrument of this study. Also, a semi-structured interview protocol was developed and piloted. Both research instruments were established based on the three key dimensions in the situated expectancy-value theory, i.e. ability-expectancy beliefs, subjective task values, and task costs. The main study lasted for seven months, and data was collected five times by administrating the questionnaires three times and the interviews twice over that period.
The study found that, based on the simple linear regression results, five variables, i.e. expectancies for success, self-concept beliefs, intrinsic value, emotional cost, and opportunity cost for leisure activities, statistically significantly and relatively consistently predicted EMI students’ academic performance. Nevertheless, the multiple linear regression results showed that only expectancies for success and emotional cost were the strongest predictors. All ten investigated variables had an overall medium-level impact on the students’ content scores. Expectancies for success and self-concept beliefs had a larger impact on academic performance than emotional cost and opportunity cost for leisure activities, and intrinsic value had the least impact. The qualitative findings revealed that a complex and multifaceted self-socializer-environment system influenced these key motivators.
With regard to the dynamic changes of the motivators, the study found that six variables statistically significantly changed over the research period. These were: expectancies for success, intrinsic value, utility value for knowledge acquisition, emotional cost, opportunity cost for leisure activities, and opportunity cost for not learning through Chinese-medium instruction. The effect size results showed that time-change had a medium-level effect on expectancies for success and intrinsic value but only a small impact on the other four variables, indicating that these two variables were more malleable due to situational factors. Such quantitative findings were also supported by the follow-up qualitative results.
This study is significant to the development of theories and methodologies in the research field of EMI. Practical and pedagogical implications were also provided based on the key findings. Notwithstanding the contributions, the limitations of the study were identified and reflected on by the researcher. Recommendations for future research were given at the end of the thesis.
Date of Award | 25 Aug 2023 |
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Original language | English |
Awarding Institution |
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Supervisor | Samantha Curle (Supervisor) & Trevor Grimshaw (Supervisor) |
Keywords
- EMI
- learning motivation
- academic performance
- situated expectancy-value theory (SEVT)