Reviewing Theoretical and Empirical Literature on the Impact of the English Medium Instruction in the Tertiary Level

Abstract

In Sri Lanka, except for selected degree programmes in Social Sciences, Humanities or Arts, the medium of instruction is often English for Medicine, Engineering or Management. In fact, there is a great demand for English medium instruction in higher education due to rapid globalization. However, when students switch from their L1 medium of instruction (either Sinhala/Tamil) from the school level to the L2 medium of instruction (English) at the tertiary level, obviously a gap is created. Thus it has been long observed that those students often face difficulties in the new context. Moreover, there is often an observation that students do not perform to their full potential when they are taught the subject matter in a second language. They may face two major challenges: grasping the subject matter while acquiring the target language. Thus, the focus in this paper is to explore the existing literature on the impact of English medium instruction on students' academic performance by reviewing the existing theoretical and empirical literature.