MASTER PROGRAMS TAUGHT IN FOREIGN LANGUAGES: STUDENTS’ EXPERIENCE IN RESEARCH

There is a growing number of universities in non –English native language countries that offer degree programs in English.
One can compare the following figures: 2,389 of such programs in non-English-speaking countries in Europe in 2007, and over 8,000 in 2014. And about 80%of the above covered master's-level courses.

Both scholars and educators agree that master program opens a door to research for a student (Agre 1996, 2001).
This means a particular emphasis should be laid on consistent training in research methodology, techniques (Jesús Rey et al 2014).
Nonetheless, there is evidence across countries that English-taught programs in non-English-speaking countries fail to satisfy students’ aspirations in term of research experience (Ghadirian et al. 2014) The issue of a foreign language mastery is mentioned as the main reason for the above situation (Pilcher 2011).

However, the authors experience in supervising masters and PhD students’ research activities in a foreign language lead to the hypothesis that challenges to research quality in a foreign language taught master degree course go beyond language issues and concern the overall students’ skills related to research activities and methodology.

The research goal is to explore students’ opinions regarding their research experience through studies on master degree program.
The studies comprised desk and field research and involved relevant literature review and students and research supervisors survey.
The research findings confirmed the hypothesis and revealed a number of challenges, including the academic curriculum contents, supervisors’ style of research guiding activities, students’ aptitude to divers types of research activities, etc.

The research results allowed for drafting recommendations to enhance the quality of research within foreign languages-taught master programs.

References:
[1] Agre, Phil (1996, 2001) Advice for Undergraduates Considering Graduate School. Available on-line: http://polaris.gseis.ucla.edu/pagre/grad-school.html
[2] Ghadirian L, Sayarifard A, Majdzadeh R, Rajabi F, Yunesian M. 92014) Challenges for Better thesis supervision. Med J Islam Repub Iran 2014 (10 May). Vol. 28:32.
[3] Lau Yeen (2014) The challenges of getting your research published when English is not your first language. Available on-line https://blogs.biomedcentral.com/bmcblog/2014/11/24/the-challenges-of-getting-your-research-published-when-english-is-not-your-first-language/
[4] Marsh HW, Rowe KJ, Martin A. (2002) PhD students’evaluations of research supervision: Issues, complexities, and challenges in a nationwide Australian experiment in benchmarking Universities. J High Educ. 73(3):48–313.
[5] Pilcher N. (2011) The UK postgraduate Masters dissertation: an ‘elusive chameleon’? Teaching in Higher EducationVolume 16, Issue 1.