Prof. Sihan Zhou

Towards deeper learning in EMI lectures: How English proficiency and motivation shape students’ comprehension of subject knowledge  

A central question in EMI research is whether students can process content knowledge in depth when it is taught through a language that they have limited proficiency in. The present study explores the extent to which students report using deep-level strategies for processing content knowledge in EMI lectures, and whether such strategy use is related to students’ English listening proficiency and motivational beliefs. A mixed-methods design was used, collecting questionnaire responses from 316 students and conducting semi-structured interviews with a subsample of 35 students at an EMI university in China. The findings highlight students’ self-efficacy and intrinsic learning goals as stronger predictors of deep processing strategy use than listening proficiency. Low-proficiency students conducted more laborious previewing than their highly proficient peers to develop schematic knowledge to aid in-class deep processing of content. The study offers implications for programme designers and lecturers on scaffolding meaningful content learning in EMI settings.