Students’ Motivations for Multilingual Programmes with EMI or DMI vs. Unilingual Programmes in French

Abstract

English Medium Instruction (EMI) programmes have been rapidly expanding in higher education, and students’ motivations for enrolling in such programmes have been described in various studies. However, programmes taught in Languages Other Than English (LOTE) in higher education also exist, and it remains unclear whether students’ motivations for enrolling in these programmes differ from those observed in EMI contexts. This paper addresses this gap by analysing the motivations of students enrolled in three different study programmes in Frenchspeaking Belgium: (1) multilingual programmes including Dutch Medium Instruction (DMI), (2) multilingual programmes with English (EMI), and (3) unilingual programmes (French only). 706 Bachelor’s degree students took part in an online survey, in which motivation was assessed through a series of items based on the expectancy-value model of achievement (Eccles & Wigfield, 2002). Using a cluster analysis, the findings reveal distinct motivation profiles across study programmes, varying according to students’ socio-economic status and linguistic background. Multilingual programmes have more students who see high value and interest in their study programme, while unilingual tracks have more students who report lower value and interest. This study offers new insights into the motivations that drive students to enrol in a multilingual programme with DMI, compared to a multilingual programme with EMI and a unilingual programme taught in French.