The Relationship between Teaching Language and Student Learning in Swedish University Physics

J. AIREY

A mouse woke up one morning feeling hungry. Outside his hole he saw a small piece of cheese. 'What luck!' he said to himself. He was just about to run out and enjoy his breakfast when he remembered the cat – maybe it was a trap! Being a cautious mouse, he stopped and listened. In the distance he heard the cat's 'Miaow'. Reluctantly, he decided that it was not safe to go out, and so he went back to bed.

The next morning the mouse was feeling very, very hungry when he saw a much larger piece of cheese outside his hole. But he still had the self-control to stop and listen. Once again he heard the cat's 'Miaow', and once again he was forced to abandon his breakfast plans and go back to bed.

On the third day the mouse was absolutely starving. He dragged himself out of bed and saw a gigantic piece of cheese outside his hole. But he still had just enough self-control to stop and listen. This time he heard 'Woof, Woof'.

Thinking that he was safe with the cat's natural enemy around, the mouse ran happily out to eat the cheese, at which point he was jumped upon and eaten.

Later that day, the cat was heard to boast, 'You see! That's the benefit of learning a second language!'

Background

There are many benefits of learning a second language – particularly if this second language happens to be widely understood by others and can function as a lingua franca. Recently, the notion of English as a lingua franca (ELF) has received a great deal of attention in research circles (e.g. Ammon, 2000; Björkman, 2008a, 2008b; Firth, 1996; Jenkins, 2007; Mauranen & Ranta, 2008; Seidlhofer, 2004; Shaw, 2008; Smit, 2007) (see also Chapters 3, 4, 5, 9 and 10 on English as a lingua franca). The interest is justified. As Graddol (2006) points out, non-native speakers of English now account for the vast majority of communication in English. The ELF approach is also gaining ground in higher education, with more and more courses being taught through the medium of English – often as a response to an increase in international exchange students (e.g. Maiworm & Wächter, 2002; Wächter & Maiworm, 2008). This trend towards increasing mobility of the student population and the corresponding increase in courses taught through the medium of English seems set to continue (see also Chapter 3 on mobility). For example, the goal of the 46 countries implementing the Bologna Process is that by 2020 at least 20% of their graduates will have spent some time studying abroad (Bologna Process, 2010) (see also Chapter 8 on the Bologna Agreement).

There are many advantages of using English as the teaching language in higher education. I have previously listed some of them for the Swedish context as follows:

• In a number of disciplines, the publication of academic papers takes place almost exclusively in English. Teaching in English is therefore seen as necessary in order to prepare students for an academic career (see also Chapter 2 on teaching in English).

• In many disciplines the majority of textbooks used are written in English. Teaching in English may then seem like a natural choice in order to have a match between lectures and course literature.

• The use of English develops the language skills and confidence of Swedish lecturers and can be seen as promoting movement/exchange of ideas in the academic world.

• Using English as the language of instruction allows the use of visiting researchers in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching.

• Teaching in English allows exchange students to follow courses at Swedish universities.

• Swedish students can be prepared for their own studies abroad.

• A sound knowledge of English has become a strong asset in the job market. (Adapted from Airey, 2003: 11)

Of course this list is by no means exhaustive, but it is sufficient to underline the fact that there are many potentially positive effects of teaching university courses in English. But might there also be the potential for negative effects associated with this type of teaching? What, for example, are the effects on disciplinary learning when the medium of instruction changes to English?

In this chapter, I present some of the findings from my PhD thesis (Airey, 2009b) where I examined the differences that occur when Swedish undergraduate physics students are taught in English rather than in Swedish (see also Chapters 2, 6 and 7 on the Scandinavian perspective). I have organized the chapter as follows. After a short presentation of earlier research findings, I go on to describe my study, and report the main results. I then discuss these results and make suggestions for teaching. Finally, I discuss the issue of language choice and parallel language use in higher education, making recommendations for how decisions about the teaching language might be taken (see also Chapter 7 on language choice).

Earlier...