Does Bilingual Instruction Impact Students’ Academic Performance in Content-Based Learning? Evidence from Business School Students Attending Bilingual and L1 Courses

Teng Lin and Yuanyue He
Additional contact information
Teng Lin: School of Accounting, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Guangzhou 510006, China
Yuanyue He: English Language Center, Shantou University, Shantou 515063, China

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-18

Abstract: Despite the rapid adoption of bilingual programs (English–Chinese) in Chinese higher education institutions (HEIs), concerns have been raised about perceived language hindrance to students’ academic comprehension and performance. In response to these concerns, we investigated the effects of bilingual instruction on content-based learning, and provide empirical evidence after testing influential factors in bilingual environments. Analyzing a sample of 498 undergraduate students enrolled in a fundamental business course at a sample university in China, we found insignificant statistical differences in the students’ academic performance between bilingual and L1 (Chinese) classes. We attribute this to the English language support provided by the university, and show that learning competence can help students minimize language barriers and solve common learning problems facing both bilingual and L1 students. Overall, our paper aimed to identify key determinants of students’ academic performance during bilingual instruction, and provide policy implications for developing desirable bilingual programs in HEIs.

Keywords: bilingual program; academic performance; learning competence; English proficiency; student workload (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/1/263/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/1/263/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:1:p:263-:d:195499

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().