Teaching Language Effects on Students׳ Performance

Abstract

We report our results on a study of our medical student׳s performance and its relation to the teaching language. We used the force concept inventory (FCI) as our study tool and gave it to our students before and after instructions in class on materials covered by the test. Our students׳ native language is Arabic and we teach in English and therefore they were given the test both in Arabic and English. This study is one part of a bigger project to assess the whole educational process (both teaching and learning) in our department. It was triggered by students׳ poor English proficiency shown in class. Our results indicate weak correlation between students׳ performance and the teaching language used.

Keywords

• Physics education research
• Force concept inventory
• Pre-medical students
• English as a second language
• Students׳ performance