|
The need for global education at the university level is higher than any other times. It has been a trend that almost all universities are trying to expand the number of classes taught with international language mediated instruction(IMI). This paper looks into the situations of a TTE(teaching through English) class as one of IMI programs currently implemented to enhance global education at a university and then suggests a way of enhancing the quality of TTE.
The paper surveyed total 14 TTE classes with the research s self-designed questionnaires: total 195 students and 14 professors responded to the questionnaires. The results of the survey revealed the following main points.
First, it is desirable to expand TTE classes for the general education classes in the beginning stage and then move to specialized areas. Both students and professors expressed the same preference for this. This implies that the university authority should offer TfE classes systematically based on the type and level of classes, not on the demand from teachers.
Second, to the question of whether the teacher feels that TTE classes were taught to fulfil the aim of global education, only 42% of the respondents answered positively. This means that most of the classes may not be taught at a satisfactory level and that the university needs to put more efforts to monitor the TTE classes and keep their quality at a higher level.
Third, in order to have a successful TTE program, students must be well prepared for taking such classes. Some of the students taking TTE classes even have lower command of English so that they even have difficulties in communicating through English in the classroom. In addition, most of the students regard their English level as the most serious problem in taking TTE classes. Both students and teachers think of improving student s English as the first priority for the success of TTE program.
Fourth, the percentage of using English in the classroom is also an important factor in improving the quality of TTE classes. When teachers use less than 60% of English in the classroom, the course evaluation scores seem to downgrade. Students tend to have more satisfaction when they use more English for class activities. This result implies that both teachers and students need to use more English as often as possible. One point to remember is that teachers who used English 80% in the classroom had better course evaluation than those who used English 100%. This indicates that when needed, teachers are recommended to use the native language to help students understand the contents of the class more clearly.
The research also revealed that the students attitude toward TTE classes influences the course evaluation. Those students who assumed that TTE classes help them enrich their global mind and recommended to open more TTE classes are more satisfied with TTE classes than those who do not. This suggests that the students positive attitude is an important factor in the success of global education and that the university need to guide students in an appropriate way.
The research tells us that the quality of instruction is the most significant factor for the success of TTE. The results of course evaluation demonstrate that the variables related to the quality of instruction such as instructional organization, instructional materials and so on are the most closely related to the evaluation of TTE.
The support from the university administration is also a key factor for the success of TTE classes. 32% of the responded students preferred to have more incentives for taking TTE classes first and 62. 84% of the responded teachers also think that the university needs to provide more incentives both students and teachers. |
PDF Links
Full text via DOI
Download Citation
