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Lecturers’ views: Academic English language-related challenges among EFL international master students

Manjet Kaur Mehar Singh (School of Languages, Literacies and Translation, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Minden, Malaysia)

Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education

ISSN: 2050-7003

Article publication date: 4 February 2019

Issue publication date: 5 April 2019

897

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate and understand academic English language-related challenges in listening and speaking faced by English as a foreign language (EFL) international Master students enrolled in various taught Master programs in a Malaysian university from the viewpoint/lens of 16 lecturers teaching the students.

Design/methodology/approach

This qualitative research relied upon 16 in-depth one-to-one interview sessions with 16 lecturers teaching the taught Master programs at a higher education (HE) institution in Malaysia for data collection. Data collected were coded and categorized according to themes via qualitative analysis software, NVivo.

Findings

It was found that academic English language-related challenges in listening and speaking from the viewpoint of the 16 lecturers are such as lack of discipline content knowledge to communicate, lack of confidence in communicating orally, difficulty in understanding lectures and other oral activities in the classroom, and coping with differences in learning culture.

Research limitations/implications

This study suggests policies and programs to equip lecturers and university administrators to overcome the challenges faced by the students in their academic English language practices especially in listening and speaking to ensure meaningful academic adaptation in the current context.

Originality/value

The uniqueness of this study is that it is a retrospection of the lecturers teaching EFL and English as a second language (ESL) international Master students in taught Master programs in a Southeast Asian country. The focus of the retrospection is on academic English language-related challenges in listening and speaking faced by EFL international Master students who are currently pursuing their Master education at a HE institution in Malaysia.

Keywords

Citation

Mehar Singh, M.K. (2019), "Lecturers’ views: Academic English language-related challenges among EFL international master students", Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, Vol. 11 No. 2, pp. 295-309. https://doi.org/10.1108/JARHE-07-2018-0117

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited

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