Effectiveness of EMI in higher education: A multi-level meta-analysis

IF 5.6 1区文学 Q1 EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

System Pub Date : 2025-06-24 DOI:10.1016/j.system.2025.103755

Hansol Lee , Heath Rose , Ernesto Macaro , Jang Ho Lee

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

This study is one of the first comprehensive multi-level meta-analyses investigating the effects of English Medium Instruction in higher education. It synthesizes a total of 41 samples, comprising a total of 8,747 participants, from 28 quantitative studies, including 23 samples on content learning (7,659 participants) and 18 on English performance (1,088 participants). A comparison of EMI students’ post-test and pre-test scores (within-group comparison) revealed that students significantly improved on measures of content knowledge (d = 1.57, p < .001) and English proficiency (d = 0.81, p < .001), although we acknowledge that this finding does not account for external factors or establish causality. A comparison of post-test performance between EMI and non-EMI groups (between-group comparison), which aimed to assess EMI’s effectiveness relative to non-EMI, showed that EMI students achieved comparable outcomes in content learning (d = 0.13, p = 0.14) and significantly outperformed non-EMI students in English development (d = 0.33, p = 0.009). Moderator analyses further revealed that studies with methodological limitations, such as selection biases for within-group comparisons or unaddressed group homogeneity for between-group comparisons, often overestimate the effectiveness of EMI for content learning. Based on our findings, we offer practical implications for the implementation of EMI in higher education.

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高等教育中EMI的有效性：一个多层次的元分析

本研究是第一个调查英语媒介教学在高等教育中的效果的综合多层次元分析之一。它综合了来自28个定量研究的41个样本，包括8,747个参与者，其中包括23个内容学习样本（7,659个参与者）和18个英语表现样本（1,088个参与者）。EMI学生测试后和测试前的分数比较（组内比较）显示，学生在内容知识的测量上显著提高(d = 1.57, p <；.001)和英语水平(d = 0.81, p <；.001)，尽管我们承认这一发现不能解释外部因素或建立因果关系。旨在评估EMI相对于非EMI的有效性的EMI组和非EMI组之间测试后表现的比较（组间比较）表明，EMI学生在内容学习方面取得了可比的结果（d = 0.13, p = 0.14），并且在英语发展方面显着优于非EMI学生（d = 0.33, p = 0.009）。调节分析进一步表明，具有方法学局限性的研究，如组内比较的选择偏差或组间比较的未解决的组同质性，往往高估了EMI对内容学习的有效性。基于我们的研究结果，我们提出了在高等教育中实施EMI的实际意义。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

System Multiple-

CiteScore

8.80

自引率

8.30%

发文量

202

审稿时长

64 days

期刊介绍： This international journal is devoted to the applications of educational technology and applied linguistics to problems of foreign language teaching and learning. Attention is paid to all languages and to problems associated with the study and teaching of English as a second or foreign language. The journal serves as a vehicle of expression for colleagues in developing countries. System prefers its contributors to provide articles which have a sound theoretical base with a visible practical application which can be generalized. The review section may take up works of a more theoretical nature to broaden the background.