Exploring College Students’ Expectations, Satisfaction, and Perceived Improvements by Gender, Major and Academic Year towards EMI Writing Course in a Korean University

Exploring College Students’ Expectations, Satisfaction, and Perceived Improvements by Gender, Major and Academic Year towards EMI Writing Course in a Korean University

EMI (English-medium Instruction) is an accepted policy at Korean universities, yet its effectiveness remains controversial. This study explores students’ expectations, satisfaction, and perceived improvements and relationship of content, instructor effectiveness, evaluation methods, perceived improvement, and overall satisfaction in an EMI writing class. 25 students from a local university in Busan, Korea as participants complete a related questionnaire, which is conducted at the beginning and at the end of a semester. SPSS 26.0 is used to analyze the results by gender, major and academic year. Findings are as followings: firstly, improving overall English level and enhancing English writing skills are mostly expected in this writing course. Writing skill is improved mostly as expected. Male students show significantly higher satisfaction than female students. English major students, who are generally more proficient in writing in English, exhibit higher satisfaction with the course compared to non-English major students. Regarding content and instructor, juniors show the highest satisfaction, and regarding assessment, sophomores showed highest. Writing organization is improved mostly, while peer feedback is improved least. Secondly, it is found that the satisfaction with content significantly influences overall satisfaction, and the instructor has a significant impact on perceived improvement. This study provides valuable insights into the methods of conducting EMI writing courses and suggests avenues for further investigation. (212 words)