Student Perceptions of Bilingual Teaching Practices: Evidence from a Colombian University

ABSTRACT

Recent studies in higher education suggest that teaching academic content using English as the Medium of Instruction (EMI) seems impractical and ineffective in countries where English is the second or foreign language. Additionally, students’ resistance to an English-only format remains problematic. University first language-English bilingual courses are a legitimate possibility to promote the internationalization of higher education in countries where English is the second or foreign language. However, little is known about students’ perceptions of Bilingual Teaching Practices (BTPs) in university courses and the Bilingual Study Techniques (BSTs) they use to deal with this type of practice. In this cross-sectional study, the 30-item questionnaire was adapted to explore the students’ (N = 1,615) perceptions and BSTs in a Colombian university. The results reveal that 50.8% of the respondents preferred the use of both Spanish and English in their university courses. “Discipline-specific vocabulary” was the most recurrent difficulty that students had in their bilingual courses. Moreover, we found that participants overused “online translator” as BST. Furthermore, the results show that participants had positive perceptions towards the use of English in educational and professional settings. Implications for bilingual education policy and practice are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Bilingual study technique
• bilingual teaching practice
• internationalization of higher education
• students’ perceptions

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Pablo Antonio Archila

Pablo Antonio Archila is a researcher in Argumentation, Bilingualism, and Science Education. He holds a Ph.D. in Educational Sciences from Université Lumière Lyon 2, Lyon, France, and a Ph.D. in Education from Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas, Bogotá, Colombia. He conducted postdoctoral research at Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia, and Université Paris Diderot, Paris 7-Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, France.

Giovanna Danies

Giovanna Danies is Associate Professor at the Department of Design at Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia. She holds a Ph.D. in Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology from Cornell University. Her research and practice center on biodesign with an interdisciplinary approach to education. Recently, she has cooperated in various university bilingual science education innovation projects at university level.

Federico Calderón

Federico Calderón is a medical professional from Universidad de los Andes, currently specializing in education for healthcare professionals and pursuing a Master’s degree in Education for healthcare professionals. He has served as a lecturer at Universidad de los Andes and has a keen interest in the intersection of medicine and education.

Isabella Coronado

Isabella Coronado is a junior researcher from the School of Government at Universidad de los Andes, in Bogotá, Colombia. She has a strong background in economic research and has co-authored papers on public management. She also served as a lecturer at Universidad de los Andes and has a deep interest in both public policy and education.

Anne-Marie Truscott de Mejía

Anne-Marie Truscott de Mejía has worked at the School of Education at Universidad de los Andes, in Bogotá, Colombia as the director of the Ph.D. Programme in Education and the research group “Education for bilingualism and multilingualism.” She holds a Ph.D. in Linguistics in the area of Bilingual Education from Lancaster University, U.K. Her research interests include teacher empowerment, interculturality, language and education policy, and bilingual teacher development.

Silvia Restrepo

Silvia Restrepo is Adjunct Professor at Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia. She holds a Ph.D. in Phytopathology from Université Paris VI / Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France. She carried out postdoctoral research at Cornell University and has recently cooperated in multiple university Spanish-English bilingual science education innovation projects. Currently she is the President of the Boyce Thompson Institute at Ithaca, New York.