Students’ Perceptions of the Use of English in Higher-Education Bilingual Programs

Abstract

Students’ voices about the use of the English language in bilingual higher-education programs have received little attention, since most research has focused on lecturers’ attitudes, challenges, and needs. This exploratory study aims to gain insights into the perception of 310 students from a Spanish university context about the use of English in bilingual programs through questionnaires. Results show the students’ overall satisfaction in terms of lecturers English language proficiency and use of strategies to facilitate comprehension, as well as reluctance to be evaluated in that language, demand for further classroom interaction, and inclusion of language-related courses in bilingual-higher education curricula.

Keywords

• Bilingual programs
• higher education
• students’ voices
• English-medium instruction
• English language use