Students’ attitudes to lecturers' English in English-medium higher education in Denmark

Christian Jensen, Louise Denver, Inger M. Mees, Charlotte Werther

32 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This study examines the evaluative reactions of university students to their nonnative lecturers' English skills in English-medium instruction, i.e. when English is used as a lingua franca in an academic context. In particular, we examine the relationship between perceptions of English language proficiency and perceptions of general lecturing competence (defined here as knowledge of subject and teaching skills). Statistical analyses of 1,700 student responses to 31 non-native English-speaking lecturers at a major business school in Denmark revealed that the students' perceptions of the lecturers' English language proficiency is a significant predictor of their perceptions of the lecturers' general lecturing competence and vice versa. We interpret this as a two-way relationship caused by speech stereotypes similar to those which have been demonstrated in socialpsychological experiments. This effect should be addressed when universities use student ratings to evaluate teaching in English-medium content courses.

Translated title of the contributionStuderendes holdninger til underviseres engelsk i engelsksprogede videregående uddannelser i Danmark
Original languageEnglish
JournalNordic Journal of English Studies
Volume12
Issue number1
Pages (from-to)87-112
ISSN1502-7694
Publication statusPublished - 17 Apr 2013

Keywords

  • Faculty of Humanities

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