Challenges and Opportunities while Using English as an Instructional Language: The case of TVET Regular Students

Abstract

The importance of using English language as an instructional medium is unarguable not only because the students need the language for their overall academic success but also because the students’ success is related with the demand of the globalized world. The overall purpose of the study is to examine the extent to which instructors of none English courses at St.May’s University College make use of the instructional language. It also focuses on the extent to which students would like to see their instructors use English language during class time. The study adopted a survey methodology for data collection using closed ended questionnaires. The questionnaires were dispatched for 139 students and 32 instructors and analyzed. The study revealed that both students and instructors believed that English as a medium of instruction is vital. Students, however, considered it as a barrier to comprehend their lesson. Thus instructors usually use L1 although most students are skeptic whether L1 is to facilitate their understanding. Finally the paper makes some recommendations that might be useful to the teaching learning process