The Role of “Radical Change ” in Medium of Instruction and Its Impact on Learning

Abstract—English language as Medium of Instruction (MOI) plays the central role in the students ’ learning at university level. Therefore, how well students would fare in academic achievement depends largely on their English language abilities. This study explores how much students are comfortable about learning in English language, and the relevant associated problems and constraints faced by them. For this retrospective study, a self made questionnaire was used to collect the data from 300 university students by using the stratified random sampling with proportional allocation. To confirm the chosen variables Confirmatory factor analysis is used and the Discriminant analysis is used to determine the most discriminating variable among the selected variables. The characteristics of different groups of students based on their Agreement, Disagreement and Neutral Opinion regarding MOI are explored by using Cluster analysis. It is argued that productive learning process utilizing English language does not only rely on the English language knowledge, but also on other factors such as students ’ ability and talent, communication skills, supportive teachers and supportive home environment, motivation and the right attitude toward language, just to name a few. The findings revealed that the majority of the students had a positive attitude and were highly motivated towards the use of English as a MOI. The conclusion also indicated that, English medium background, supportive home environment, right learning strategies and English communication skills played an important role in enhancing the positive attitude and motivation to improve their academic performance and achievements. Index Terms—medium of instruction (MOI), English language, discriminant analysis, cluster analysi