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English-medium instruction in Chinese higher education : a case study of classroom discourse
Author
Li, Xiuhai
Supervisor
Hu, Guangwei
Abstract
The use of English as a medium of instruction has been promoted in Europe and beyond to achieve the dual objectives of integrating content and foreign language learning. In China, this form of language provision is known as bilingual instruction and typically including the use of not only English, but also Chinese and a mixture of both languages as the mediums of classroom interaction. To understand whether the dual objectives can be achieved in the Chinese context, this case study focuses on classroom questions and responses to investigate the relationship between classroom interactions in different mediums and the learning of content knowledge and the English language. Specifically, the study seeks to answer the following three research questions:
(1) What types of question and response are found in classroom discourse in Chinese universities?
(2) How do classroom questions shape classroom interaction?
(3) Does the medium of classroom discourse have any effect on the cognitive and syntactic complexity of questions and responses in the classroom?
To answer the research questions, ten teachers from various
disciplines in two Chinese universities were invited to participate in this study. One 1-hour lecture given by each teacher to an undergraduate class was observed and recorded. Subsequently, semi-structured interviews were conducted with the teachers and their students. The recorded lectures and interviews were transcribed verbatim for analyses.
In the study, four instruments were used. A classroom observation scheme (COS) adapted from the Communicative Orientation of Language Teaching Observation Scheme (Spada & Fröhlich, 1995) to profile classrooms observations and facilitate further data coding and interpretations. A cognitive complexity scheme (CCS), adapted from Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy of educational objectives (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001), was used to code the cognitive complexity of questions and responses found in the recorded lectures. A T-unit-based syntactic complexity coding scheme (SCCS) was developed to measure the syntactic complexity of the same questions and responses. The semi-structured interviews were content- analyzed according to the three research questions and used to triangulated the quantitative patterns established with the cognitive and syntactic complexity data.
Analyses conducted to address Research Question 1 revealed that most teacher questions were of lower cognitive complexity with, engaging higher-order thinking being in the minority. Learner questions were scarce and were mostly of lower cognitive complexity. Likewise, learner responses were primarily of lower cognitive complexity. In relation to Question 2, statistical analyses found that no significant correlations either between the cognitive and syntactic complexity of teacher/classroom questions and the cognitive complexity of learner responses, or between the cognitive and syntactic complexity of teacher/classroom questions and the syntactic complexity of learner responses. As for Research Question 3, analyses found that the instructional mediums had no significant effect on the cognitive and syntactic complexity of teacher questions, but had a significant effect on the cognitive complexity of learner responses. As far as cognitive complexity is concerned, no significant effect of medium was found on the mean T-unit length of learner responses, but a significant effect of medium was detected on the mean number of clauses per T-unit in learner responses. Learner responses in Chinese had greater number of clauses than in English which in turn had greater number of clauses than the mixture of Chinese and English.
Pedagogical implications are derived from the study for stakeholders in various educational organizations such as teachers, learners, curricula developers, educational administrators and policy makers. Finally, limitations of the study are discussed and suggestions for future research are made.
(1) What types of question and response are found in classroom discourse in Chinese universities?
(2) How do classroom questions shape classroom interaction?
(3) Does the medium of classroom discourse have any effect on the cognitive and syntactic complexity of questions and responses in the classroom?
To answer the research questions, ten teachers from various
disciplines in two Chinese universities were invited to participate in this study. One 1-hour lecture given by each teacher to an undergraduate class was observed and recorded. Subsequently, semi-structured interviews were conducted with the teachers and their students. The recorded lectures and interviews were transcribed verbatim for analyses.
In the study, four instruments were used. A classroom observation scheme (COS) adapted from the Communicative Orientation of Language Teaching Observation Scheme (Spada & Fröhlich, 1995) to profile classrooms observations and facilitate further data coding and interpretations. A cognitive complexity scheme (CCS), adapted from Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy of educational objectives (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001), was used to code the cognitive complexity of questions and responses found in the recorded lectures. A T-unit-based syntactic complexity coding scheme (SCCS) was developed to measure the syntactic complexity of the same questions and responses. The semi-structured interviews were content- analyzed according to the three research questions and used to triangulated the quantitative patterns established with the cognitive and syntactic complexity data.
Analyses conducted to address Research Question 1 revealed that most teacher questions were of lower cognitive complexity with, engaging higher-order thinking being in the minority. Learner questions were scarce and were mostly of lower cognitive complexity. Likewise, learner responses were primarily of lower cognitive complexity. In relation to Question 2, statistical analyses found that no significant correlations either between the cognitive and syntactic complexity of teacher/classroom questions and the cognitive complexity of learner responses, or between the cognitive and syntactic complexity of teacher/classroom questions and the syntactic complexity of learner responses. As for Research Question 3, analyses found that the instructional mediums had no significant effect on the cognitive and syntactic complexity of teacher questions, but had a significant effect on the cognitive complexity of learner responses. As far as cognitive complexity is concerned, no significant effect of medium was found on the mean T-unit length of learner responses, but a significant effect of medium was detected on the mean number of clauses per T-unit in learner responses. Learner responses in Chinese had greater number of clauses than in English which in turn had greater number of clauses than the mixture of Chinese and English.
Pedagogical implications are derived from the study for stakeholders in various educational organizations such as teachers, learners, curricula developers, educational administrators and policy makers. Finally, limitations of the study are discussed and suggestions for future research are made.
Date Issued
2015
Call Number
LC3715 Li
Date Submitted
2015