TYPE Empirical Study PUBLISHED 04 January 2023 DOI 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1077852 Students’ English-medium OPEN ACCESS instruction motivation in three English-medium instruction EDITED BY Dragan Lambić, University of Novi Sad, Serbia REVIEWED BY Karmila Rafiqah M. Rafiq, courses in China National University of Malaysia, Malaysia Lianjiang Jiang, The University of Hong Kong, Mengjia Zhang 1* and Elisabet Pladevall-Ballester 2 Hong Kong SAR, China 1 Teacher Education U-G-S Collaborative Innovation Research Center, School of English Education, Biljana Đorić, Xi’an International Studies University, Xi’an, China, 2 Departament de Filologia Anglesa i de University of Kragujevac, Germanística, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain Serbia *CORRESPONDENCE Mengjia Zhang English-medium instruction (EMI) has been spreading rapidly as the result of zhangmengjia2021@xisu.edu.cn China’s movement to internationalize its HEIs (higher education institutions). SPECIALTY SECTION However, there is a dearth of research studies on students’ motivation in EMI This article was submitted to Educational Psychology, contexts, which should not only explore students’ Foreign Language Learning a section of the journal (FLL) motivation in isolation but the highlights of integrating both content Frontiers in Psychology and language learning as a complex. This paper specifically reports on the RECEIVED 23October 2022 development of students’ EMI motivation and anxiety over one semester and ACCEPTED 07 December 2022 PUBLISHED 04 January 2023 compares three disciplines: International Trade, Film Production, and Project CITATION Management. Pre-post questionnaires and post focus group interviews were Zhang M and Pladevall-Ballester E (2023) administered to students. Results showed that students generally had high EMI Students’ English-medium instruction motivation and anxiety though the levels decreased from pre to post phases. motivation in three English-medium instruction courses in China. The International Trade group had greater motivation, particularly instrumental Front. Psychol. 13:1077852. motivation. Findings are discussed in relation to the existing literature and the doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1077852 local context. Pedagogical and institutional-level implications for policies are COPYRIGHT also provided. © 2023 Zhang and Pladevall-Ballester. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons KEYWORDS Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other English-medium instruction, motivation, anxiety, development, pre-post forums is permitted, provided the original questionnaires, focus group interviews, China author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. 1. Introduction As China aimed to internationalize its higher education institutions (HEIs), English- medium instruction (EMI) has been widely adopted in Chinese universities (Guo et al., 2018; Xie and Curle, 2022). English is in the position of a dominant lingua franca in higher education (HE), enabling the possibility of student and staff mobility as well as the exchange of academic work and research (Dafouz and Smit, 2016). EMI can be referred to as “the use of the English language to teach academic subjects other than English itself in countries or jurisdictions where the first language of the majority of the population is not English” (Macaro, 2018, p. 19). EMI was officially implemented in Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China (2001) with the purpose of achieving higher quality for undergraduate education. Unlike other contexts, EMI in China is known as bilingual teaching (Shuang yu jiao xue), covering EMI-only or the bilingual EMI and Chinese-medium instruction (CMI) models. Empirical research data Frontiers in Psychology 01 frontiersin.org Zhang and Pladevall-Ballester 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1077852 in China, however, is scarce, especially when compared with the motivation types, playing a fundamental role in L2 motivation vigorous growth of EMI courses/programs across the country; hence, research. Gardner’s (1985, 2001) socio-educational model found researchers’ call to empirically evaluate EMI implementation in China that integrative motives and attitudes toward the learning situation continues to draw scholarly attention to investigate how students can correlated with the learner’s language learning motivation. be motivated in contexts where English is not the targeted language Integrative motivation is formed by three variables, Integrativeness, but used merely as the medium of instruction to deliver content good attitudes toward the Learning Situation, and Motivation, and knowledge (Lei and Hu, 2014; Galloway et al., 2017; Guo et al., 2018; can be referred to as “a complex of attitudinal, goal-directed, and Xie and Curle, 2022). motivational attributes. That is, the integratively motivated As Carrió-Pastor (2020) noted, EMI requires a great deal of individual is one who is motivated to learn the second language, learning motivation on the part of students to be able to learn subject has a desire or willingness to identify with the other language knowledge through another language that is not their first one. community, and tends to evaluate the learning situation positively” Motivation can be referred to as “what moves a person to make (Gardner, 2001, p. 6). Meanwhile, instrumental orientation reflects certain choices, to engage in action, to expend effort and persist in “the practical value and advantages of learning a new language” action” (Dörnyei and Ushioda, 2011, p. 3). It plays a significant role (Gardner and Lambert, 1972, p. 132). Instrumental motivation in second language learning as it may trigger language learning and refers to practical and external factors that stimulate motivation, is often the driving force to sustain long-term learning (Ellis, 1997; such as pursuing achievement in a career (Gardner, 2001). Ryan and Deci, 2000b; Dörnyei and Ushioda, 2011). It is a key factor affecting learning behavior, attitudes, and achievements (Hengsadeekul et al., 2014). Though there have been abundant 2.2. Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation studies on motivation in the field of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) contexts, very few studies focus on motivational research in Deci and Ryan (1985) Self-Determination Theory (SDT) EMI contexts. Hence, attention has been called to Foreign Language identified different types of human motivation based on the source Learning (FLL) motivation within EMI contexts (Lasagabaster, 2016; of motivation, for example, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, Guo et al., 2018; Macaro et al., 2018; Rose et al., 2020; Xie and Curle, which are highly relevant to second language learning motivation 2022). In an EMI context, not only FLL motivation is relevant but (Lai, 2013). Intrinsic motivation “is the energy source that is also the motivation to learn language and content in an integrated central to the active nature of the organism. Its recognition way. Somers and Llinares (2018) coined the term CLIL motivation, highlighted the important points that not all behaviors are drive- which was first used to research secondary school CLIL students’ based, nor are they a function of external controls” (Deci and Ryan, language and content learning motivation. The concept of CLIL 1985, p. 11). In contrast to external drives, intrinsic motivation is motivation can well be extended to EMI contexts, where language human nature and is driven by interest, enjoyment, and satisfaction and content also form a complex integrated aim (Brown and (Ryan and Deci, 2000b). Equally important is extrinsic motivation. Bradford, 2017). In fact, CLIL and EMI are sometimes used as According to Ryan and Deci (2000b, p. 71), the term extrinsic synonymous terms and remain an ongoing issue which notion to motivation refers to “the performance of an activity in order to adopt in academic studies (Smit and Dafouz, 2012; Costa and attain some separable outcome and, thus, contrasts with intrinsic Mastellotto, 2022). motivation, which refers to doing an activity for the inherent This research study is part of a larger project which investigates satisfaction of the activity itself.” This definition differentiates the EMI practices in three non-linguistic disciplines (International fundamental distinction between the two types of motivation, Trade, Film Production, and Project Management) in three Chinese which is that intrinsic motivation motivates individuals because of universities. This article will specifically report on pre and post inner feelings such as fun and enjoyment and extrinsic motivation semester students’ motivation questionnaires and students’ post is typically linked with external outcomes, for example, rewards focus group interviews (only the motivation part). The study seeks and approval from self or others (Ryan and Deci, 2000a). to explore and compare students’ development of EMI motivation as well as anxiety before and after the one-semester EMI courses. Besides, it aims to compare differences in motivation among the 2.3. CLIL/EMI motivation and anxiety three disciplines studied. The motivational concepts reviewed above have mainly been used in FLL motivation studies in which language learning is the 2. Literature review mainstream focus. What distinguishes EMI from FLL motivation is the inclusion of content learning together with language 2.1. Integrative and instrumental learning and their integration. FLL motivation is crucial in CLIL motivation and EMI contexts but Somers and Llinares (2018, p. 5) noted that CLIL motivation does not separate content and language learning, Gardner and Lambert (1972) proposed Integrative and it focuses on integrating the two and treats language and content instrumental motivational orientations, two widely-known learning together instead of two isolated concepts. According to Frontiers in Psychology 02 frontiersin.org Zhang and Pladevall-Ballester 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1077852 Somers and Llinares (2018), two major motives for CLIL are: (Doiz and Lasagabaster, 2018) appear to play an important role, intrinsic CLIL motivation and instrumental CLIL motivation. whereas the L2 community and integrativeness or English- Intrinsic CLIL motivation was defined as “the participation in speaking culture show less impact on students’ motivation CLIL classes for its inherent satisfaction” (Somers and Llinares, (Lasagabaster, 2016; Hernández-Nanclares and Jiménez-Muñoz, 2018, p. 5). That means CLIL learners will enjoy learning content 2017). Variables such as social status (Lueg and Lueg, 2015) and through a foreign language and feel content intrinsically through previous grades (Menéndez et al., 2018) are influential to students’ the experience. Another motive is instrumental CLIL motivation, motivation and some studies suggest that gender as a variable only which refers to “the usefulness of participating in a CLIL program has minor effects on motivation (Lueg and Lueg, 2015; as a means to achieve an ulterior motive” (Somers and Llinares, Lasagabaster, 2016) but others find that female students are more 2018, p. 6). This is related to whether the CLIL experience could motivated than male students (Menéndez et al., 2018). Students’ be beneficial for achieving practical goals, for example, for L1 is not seen as an important variable in EMI (Lasagabaster, 2016). pursuing a higher degree study or applying for a professional job. It is also important to note that motivation can differ Anxiety is a significant factor to consider in many educational significantly from context to context in relation to cultural, fields including language learning, where previous research shows language and socio-economic factors, as motivation is often that anxiety has a great negative impact on second language influenced by the language environment the learner finds him or learning (Horwitz, 2001). Similarly, anxiety may also be present in herself. A second language learning or FLL environment may lead CLIL classes due to “the threatening aspects related to engaging to very different results as regards language motivation (Oxford with and (expressing) understanding of content through a foreign and Shearin, 1994). Thus, it is vital to take contextual variables language” (Somers and Llinares, 2018, p. 5). Such anxiety may into count. affect intrinsic CLIL motivation negatively. While the CLIL In relation to Asian contexts, inconsistent findings have been approach can bring learners enjoyment, it may also increase their found. While some studies concluded that EMI was effective in anxiety toward learning due to the challenges and difficulties that motivating students, others did not find evidence supporting this integrating content and language entails. claim. Students’ anxiety, however, was detected in many EMI CLIL motivation may indeed be relevant in EMI contexts, as contexts. For example, in Thailand, Hengsadeekul et al. (2014) EMI is also argued to stimulate students’ motivation (Hellekjær, surveyed 2,252 EMI students, and found out that instrumental 2010; Hengsadeekul et al., 2014; Doiz and Lasagabaster, 2018) motivation ranked first while integrative goals were also positive. mainly thanks to its proposed dual benefits in language and Meanwhile, English speech anxiety, fear of negative evaluation, content learning outcomes. This study adopts Somers and Llinares’ and fear of social comparison had a high but negative correlation (2018) concept of CLIL motivation and anxiety and extends it to with students’ preference for EMI courses. Moving to China, Lei EMI contexts. EMI motivation would therefore include the and Hu’s (2014) study showed that students had high anxiety intrinsic and instrumental CLIL motives and anxiety proposed by levels in EMI classes and that was negatively associated with their the authors and it would also add extrinsic and integrative types prior English proficiency. Guo et al. (2018) revealed that the EMI of motivation, which are also highly relevant for EMI learning group studied obtained exceedingly higher scores in the Extrinsic settings. EMI motivation and anxiety offer a more holistic view of Goal Orientation factor than the CMI one, thus showing that EMI students’ motivation and anxiety in EMI learning settings than effectively increased students’ extrinsic motivation. A longitudinal just exploring FLL motivation alone. The concept of EMI study that assessed engineering EMI students’ changes in motivation used in this study does not specifically include perceptions in Turkey revealed that students were motivated Dörnyei’s (2005) and Dörnyei’s (2009) L2 Motivational Self System because of professional development and language learning although it has been used in the previous EMI literature which will benefits. Besides, the findings showed that students’ perception be reviewed in the following section. toward content learning through EMI improved through and after the EMI study. They explained that the positive tendency in attitude was detected possibly because the preparatory program 2.4. FLL motivation and anxiety research they took before entering EMI classes was effective in enhancing in EMI contexts their English skills (Sahan and Şahan, 2021). On the other hand, other researchers argued that EMI did not specifically motivate FLL motivation in EMI contexts has been researched far less students’ learning or positively affect their content achievement. compared with stakeholders’ attitudes and perceptions on the Wei et al.’s (2017) research study found that students’ English learning experience. The existing empirical research on FLL learning motivational intensity was slightly lower than the motivation offers no consistent consensus but only some shreds of midpoint score, suggesting they were not strongly motivated to evidence to the focal issue. learn English in the EMI context. The researcher noted that the Previous EMI studies in Europe generally show that EMI focal university was less privileged, which may have caused the motivates students. Factors such as the ideal L2 self or students’ students’ neutral or even negative motivation but students in more future career (Hellekjær, 2010; Lasagabaster, 2016; Doiz and prestigious universities might have greater enthusiasm, which Lasagabaster, 2018), and the ought-to L2 self or external pressure indicates that the specific institutional and disciplinary context Frontiers in Psychology 03 frontiersin.org Zhang and Pladevall-Ballester 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1077852 may also have an impact on students’ motivation. Similar findings based on three universities (International Trade course: Shaanxi by Rose et al. (2020) in Japan and Xie and Curle (2022) in China University of Science & Technology; Film Production course: showed no statistically significant correlation between students’ Xi’an Polytechnic University; Project Management course: Xi’an language learning motivation and academic success, indicating Eurasia University) in Xi’an, China, participated in the study. that further research was necessary to generate more robust Xi’an is located in the center of China and can be classified as a evidence. Xie and Curle (2022) suggested there should be more second-tier city. The three courses were all compulsory for longitudinal studies to investigate how motivation develops students and no pre-selection criteria (i.e., English proficiency over time. test) for students or lecturers were applied. Students accessed As is summarized above, inconsistent findings on the impact university through the National College Entrance Exam of EMI on students’ motivation have been found, thus suggesting (International Trade students: average English score in college more empirical studies are needed. Also, it is necessary to know if entrance exam 115.2, out of 150; Film Production students: students may experience loss or increase of motivation as a result average English score in college entrance exam 93.7, out of 150; of learning in EMI contexts and causes for the potential changes average English score in college entrance exam 83.8, out of 150). (Kirkgöz, 2005; Macaro et al., 2018; Xie and Curle, 2022). A single After entering university, they had to take national College case where students develop their motivation through EMI cannot English courses to pass College English Tests 4 and 6, which are be generalized to other contexts (Sahan and Şahan, 2021). In fact, standardized tests for general English proficiency. Only the students may even get more demotivated, particularly those with International Trade students took two 32-h business English limited English proficiency if they face increased greater language- courses before and during the EMI semester. The selection of related challenges along the EMI learning process (Kojima, 2021). participants and universities was based on a convenience In addition, it is important to explore motivational differences sampling method; and most importantly, the three EMI teachers among disciplines as disciplinary differences in EMI contexts are gave permission to their classes for data collection. Also, since also crucial to consider (Wei et al., 2017; Macaro et al., 2018; Rose this study focused on disciplinary differences, we chose those et al., 2020). Rose et al. (2020) noted that institutional and three different EMI courses. discipline type are also important factors as each EMI context is The three courses comprised 32 teaching hours one semester, unique so students’ motivation may vary. and only the International Trade students took in total two 32-h business English courses before and during the EMI semester. The International Trade and Film Production teachers were from 3. Methodology Spain, and the Project Management teacher was from Croatia, all had rich experience teaching the subject in China. For the 3.1. Aim and research questions International Trade teacher, English was the only instructional language in his classes. For Film Production classes, a Chinese The study aims to explore the effects of EMI implementation student assistant interpreted the lectures from English to Chinese. in China on the students’ learning motivation, more specifically, More specifically, when the lecturer paused after each subsection, how students’ EMI motivation and anxiety may change over time the student assistant explained the content to the class in Chinese, and if differences exist among different disciplines. A mixed- and he also played a role as the communicator between the methods pre to post research design was used to assess the lecturer and students when their interaction was hindered due to development of students’ motivation over EMI semesters in three the language barrier. For the Project Management teacher, English different disciplines: International Trade, Film Production, and was her only instructional language when teaching the course. A Project Management. The following research questions Chinese assistant lecturer was interpreting the lectures from are formulated: English to Chinese and had the same role as in the Film Production class. 1. How do Chinese university students’ EMI motivation and anxiety toward EMI courses (i.e., International Trade, Film Production and Project Management) develop over the 3.3. Materials and data collection and course of a semester? analysis 2. To what extent are students’ EMI motivation and anxiety toward EMI courses different among the three disciplines? Pilot data was collected before the real data collection to refine the design of the instruments. The real data collection took place at the fall semester of 2019. The questionnaires were given to students at the beginning (September) and the end 3.2. Participants and universities (December) of the semester. The focus group interviews happened only at the end of the semester after the post International Trade (n = 96), Film Production (n = 45), and questionnaire. Written informed consent forms were signed by Project Management (n = 29) students from three EMI courses the participating students and the study was reviewed and Frontiers in Psychology 04 frontiersin.org Zhang and Pladevall-Ballester 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1077852 approved by the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) 3.3.2. Focus group interviews Ethics Committee on Animal and Human Experimentation The focus group interviews were administered at the end of (CEEAH 4728). the semester in Chinese to facilitate communication among students. It took approximately 30 min for each focus group. The 3.3.1. Pre and post semester student data was audio-recorded. Nine questions on students’ attitudes questionnaires toward the EMI courses, difficulties, benefits, motivation and The pre-post student questionnaires were written in Chinese teaching methodologies were asked. The designed questions were and included three main question sections, namely biographical consistent with the topics in the student questionnaires and aimed information (section 1); perceptions, expectations and attitudes to collect more in-depth data. However, this study will only report (section 2), developed from previous studies (Galloway et al., the focus group interview question 6 “What were the motivations 2017; Yang, 2017) on stakeholders’ beliefs and attitudes; and for you to take the course (e.g., for further study, work, enjoyment motivation (section 3), adapted from Somers and Llinares’s (2018) when learning English, etc.)” in relation to motivation and to work on CLIL motivation. The pre and the post questionnaires expand on the quantitative data obtained in the questionnaires. had the same content except that the post questionnaire asked Other themes in the interview (i.e., attitudes and perceptions) are whether students had taken extracurricular English courses not reported in this study as they are not focusing on motivation. during the semester in parallel with the EMI courses. Consent ATLAS. Ti 7.5.7 was used to code and analyze the focus group information was added at the beginning of the questionnaire. interview results. Data from the questionnaire section two on perceptions, expectations, and attitudes will not be reported in this paper (cf. Zhang and Pladevall-Ballester, 2022). This study will only explore 4. Results two sections from the questionnaires: the first section, including relevant items such as age, gender, major, grade, experience of 4.1. Development of students’ EMI studying abroad, etc., and the third section, focused on students’ motivation and anxiety in the EMI EMI motivation and anxiety, including 18 five-point Likert scale courses items (q20-37). The items were grouped into five categories, namely intrinsic motivation (q20-22), extrinsic motivation (q23- The pre-post questionnaire results from the three groups 25), integrative motivation (q26-27), instrumental motivation (International Trade, Film Production, and Project Management) (q28-31), and anxiety in EMI classrooms (q32-37). The intrinsic will be presented below to address our first research question, motivation category asked about students’ enjoyment learning the which aimed to explore the development of students’ EMI subject taught through English and included three items. The motivation and anxiety in the EMI courses over one semester. extrinsic motivation section elicited information on whether Table 1 shows the data of each group from the pre and post learning the subject through English is importantly associated questionnaires and the difference from pre to post data collection with pressure from society, parents and peers and it also included times by presenting the mean scores and standard deviations of three items. Two items were under the Integrative motivation the five-point Likert scale questions. category, focused on whether studying the subject in English As can be seen in Table 1 and Figure 1 above, all categories in would be helpful to know better foreign cultures and meet foreign the three groups decreased their values from pre to post friends. The instrumental motivation category comprised four questionnaires, except “Extrinsic motivation” in the International items relating to whether studying subjects in English would Trade group, where the score slightly increased. Generally, the be beneficial for practical purposes such as studying abroad or International Trade group had a smaller decrease in “Intrinsic finding a job. Six items asked about anxiety in EMI classrooms, motivation,” “Integrative motivation,” and “Instrumental based on whether students feel nervous or not while asking or motivation” from pre to post questionnaires than the other two answering questions or speaking in English in EMI classes. groups. Besides, “Anxiety in EMI classrooms” decreased the most Cronbach’s Alpha was run to assess the reliability of the in International Trade (0.42), followed by Film Production (0.31), instrument. The scales were all widely above 0.7 (Intrinsic and almost did not change in Project Management (0.02). The motivation category: =0.939; integrative motivation category: Film Production and Project Management groups had the most 0.799; instrumental motivation category: 0.809; anxiety in obvious drop in “Intrinsic Motivation,” with the same value of EMI classrooms: 0.894), except one (extrinsic motivation 0.48. Besides, Film Production scored the lowest among the three category: 0.587), which is almost 0.6. Quantitative data was groups in the four motivational categories from pre-to-post coded (i.e., 1 to 5 from the Likert scale for each participant’s questionnaires. Project Management had the highest level of response to each statement) in Excel and then analyzed using “Anxiety in EMI classrooms” at the two data collection times. SPSS23. Paired t-tests and one-way ANOVA with Bonferroni Importantly, almost all the values were higher than the midpoint post-hoc tests were adopted to calculate pre to post within- 3, considering it is a five-Likert scale questionnaire. group gains and between group comparisons at pre and A Wilcoxon signed-ranked test was conducted within each post test. group to test if changes were significant. For the International Frontiers in Psychology 05 frontiersin.org Zhang and Pladevall-Ballester 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1077852 TABLE 1 Pre-post student questionnaires (discipline differences). International trade (N=96) Film production (N=45) Project management (N=29) 5-point Pre Post Difference Pre Post Difference Pre Post Difference Likert scale (SD) (SD) (p value) (SD) (SD) (p value) (SD) (SD) (p value) 1. Intrinsic 3.63 3.55 −0.08 (p = 0.580) 3.23 2.75 −0.48 (p = 0.011) 3.79 3.31 (0.79) −0.48 (p = 0.070) motivation (0.84) (0.87) (0.99) (0.81) (0.78) 2. Extrinsic 3.22 3.37 0.15 (p = 0.246) 3.12 3.00 −0.12 (p = 0.446) 3.36 3.25 (0.67) −0.11 (p = 0.617) motivation (0.82) (0.74) (0.69) (0.64) (0.68) 3. Integrative 4.04 3.89 −0.15 (p = 0.345) 3.85 3.55 −0.30 (p = 0.108) 3.96 3.70 (0.93) −0.26 (p = 0.190) motivation (0.77) (0.88) (0.80) (0.89) (0.84) 4. Instrumental 4.10 3.99 −0.11 (p = 0.219) 3.83 3.53 −0.30 (p = 0.054) 3.90 3.66 (0.73) −0.24 (p = 0.091) motivation (0.61) (0.67) (0.78) (0.65) (0.76) 5. Anxiety in 3.69 3.27 −0.42 (p = 0.001) 3.60 3.29 −0.31 (p = 0.145) 3.72 3.70 (0.98) −0.02 (p = 0.933) EMI classrooms (0.78) (0.89) (0.87) (0.91) (0.93) Bold values are statistical significant. FIGURE 1 Pre-post student questionnaires (discipline differences). Trade group, a significant decrease was found in “Anxiety in EMI “Instrumental motivation” ranked first, followed by “Integrative classrooms”: Z = −3.368, p = 0.001. For the Film Production motivation,” “Intrinsic motivation” and “Extrinsic motivation”; group, “Intrinsic motivation” dropped significantly: Z = −2.528, “Anxiety in EMI classrooms” ranked fourth in the pre test and fifth p = 0.011. No significant change was detected in the Project in the post test; for the film group in both pre and post tests, Management group. The results indicate that, generally, students’ “Integrative motivation” was in the first place, and “Instrumental EMI motivation remained high from pre to post phases, although motivation” in the second place, and they were higher than the other there was a decreasing tendency. Anxiety was also remarkably motivation variables; “Intrinsic motivation” was higher than high but decreased at the end of the semester. “Extrinsic motivation” in the pre test but their rankings were reversed To understand differences among the motivation variables in the post test. “Anxiety in EMI classrooms” was in the third place within the same group at different times, Friedman with paired in both pre and post tests. For the project group in the two test sample t-tests were carried out to compare the means of motivation phases, the variables followed the order of “Integrative motivation,” variables and their differences within each group. Regarding “Instrumental motivation,” “Intrinsic motivation,” and “Extrinsic rankings of means among the EMI motivation variables in each motivation”; “Anxiety in EMI classrooms” was in the fourth place in disciplinary group, for the trade group and in pre and post tests, the pre test but ranked first in the post test (see Table 2). Frontiers in Psychology 06 frontiersin.org Zhang and Pladevall-Ballester 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1077852 As illustrated in Table 3, in the trade group, “Intrinsic 4.2. Differences in students’ EMI motivation” was significantly lower than “Integrative motivation and anxiety among the three motivation” (pre p < 0.001; post p = 0.001) and “Instrumental disciplines motivation” (pre p < 0.001; post p < 0.001). “Extrinsic motivation” was also significantly lower than “Integrative 4.2.1. Quantitative results (pre-post motivation” (pre p < 0.001; post p < 0.001) and “Instrumental questionnaires) motivation” (pre p < 0.001; post p < 0.001). “Intrinsic motivation” Our second research question aimed to compare students’ was significantly higher than “Extrinsic motivation” but only in EMI motivation and anxiety toward the EMI courses among the pre test time (p < 0.001). For the film group, “Intrinsic three different disciplines over the semester. Pre-post student motivation” was significantly lower than “Integrative questionnaire results revealed between-group motivation” (pre p < 0.001; post p < 0.001) and “Instrumental differences statistically. motivation” (pre p < 0.001; post p < 0.001). Though “Intrinsic One-way ANOVA with Bonferroni post-hoc tests were motivation” was significantly higher than “Extrinsic motivation” performed to investigate differences among the three groups in the post test (p < 0.049), the statistical significance was almost (Table 4). The results yielded significant differences in all categories marginal as the p value was very close to 0.05. For the project except in “Integrative motivation” (F = 0.872, p = 0.420; F = 2.506, group, “Intrinsic motivation” was significantly lower than p = 0.085) and “Anxiety in EMI classrooms” (F = 0.216, p = 0.806; “Instrumental motivation” in the post time (p = 0.033). F = 2.334, p = 0.100). As for “Intrinsic motivation” (F = 4.542, “Extrinsic motivation” was significantly lower than “Intrinsic p = 0.012; F = 13.726, p < 0.001), there were significant differences motivation” (pre p = 0.009) and “Integrative motivation” (pre between Film Production and International Trade (p = 0.038 in the p < 0.001; post p = 0.013) and “Instrumental motivation” (pre pre questionnaire; p < 0.001 in the post questionnaire) in favor of p = 0.001; post p = 0.003). the latter group, and between Film Production and Project In summary, integrative and instrumental motivations Management (p = 0.022 in the pre questionnaire; p = 0.017 in the ranked either first or second in all the test phases, indicating post questionnaire) in favor of the latter group. Regarding that the participating Chinese students had stably higher “Extrinsic motivation” (F = 862, p = 0.424; F = 4.266, p = 0.016), a integrative and instrumental motivation; Intrinsic motivation significant difference was only detected between Film Production ranked lower than integrative and instrumental motivation but and International Trade in the post questionnaire (p = 0.012) in was averagely higher than extrinsic motivation. Thus, extrinsic favor of the latter group. As for “Instrumental motivation” motivation was the lowest among the four EMI motivation (F = 2.790, p = 0.064; F = 8.495, p < 0.001), International Trade variables. The four variables throughout the semester were all obtained significantly higher scores than Film Production higher than midpoint 3, except intrinsic motivation in post film (p = 0.001) and Project Management (p = 0.040) in the post test was slightly lower than 3 (2.75). Anxiety in EMI classrooms questionnaire. Thus, the quantitative results found substantial had been high throughout EMI learning in the semester. differences in intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation and Notably, there was no significant difference between integrative instrumental motivation but not in integrative motivation nor and instrumental motivation in any group, implying that the anxiety in EMI classrooms. Chinese students had similarly high integrative and The tendencies are different in each type of motivation by instrumental motivation. Generally speaking, the Chinese discipline. The Film Production group scored significantly lower students had much greater integrative and instrumental in “Intrinsic motivation” both at the pre and post questionnaires motivation than intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, and there than the other two groups. Also, The Film Production group had a existed almost no significant difference between intrinsic and much lower score in “Extrinsic motivation” than the International extrinsic motivation either. Trade group in the post questionnaire. Besides, the International TABLE 2 Pre-post student questionnaires (motivation variable means). Motivation Pre trade Post trade Pre film Post film Pre project Post project variable means (Ranking) (Ranking) (Ranking) (Ranking) (Ranking) (Ranking) 1. Intrinsic motivation 3.63 (3) 3.55 (3) 3.23 (4) 2.75 (5) 3.79 (3) 3.31 (3) 2. Extrinsic motivation 3.22 (5) 3.37 (4) 3.12 (5) 3.00 (4) 3.36 (5) 3.25 (4) 3. Integrative 4.04 (2) 3.89 (2) 3.85 (1) 3.54 (1) 3.96 (1) 3.67 (1) motivation 4. Instrumental 4.10 (1) 3.99 (1) 3.83 (2) 3.53 (2) 3.90 (2) 3.64 (2) motivation 5. Anxiety in EMI 3.69 (4) 3.27 (5) 3.60 (3) 3.29 (3) 3.72 (4) 3.67 (1) classrooms Frontiers in Psychology 07 frontiersin.org Zhang and Pladevall-Ballester 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1077852 TABLE 3 Pre-post student questionnaires (motivation variable differences-significance). Motivation variable Mean difference Sig. Motivation variable Mean difference Sig. (International trade) (two-tailed) (International trade) (two-tailed) Pre intrinsic-extrinsic 0.40 0.000 Post intrinsic-extrinsic 0.17 0.088 Pre intrinsic-integrative −0.42 0.000 Post intrinsic-integrative −0.35 0.001 Pre intrinsic-instrumental −0.48 0.000 Post intrinsic-instrumental −0.45 0.000 Pre intrinsic-anxiety −0.06 0.625 Post intrinsic-anxiety 0.28 0.057 Pre extrinsic-integrative −0.82 0.000 Post extrinsic-integrative −0.52 0.000 Pre extrinsic-instrumental −0.88 0.000 Post extrinsic-instrumental −0.62 0.000 Pre extrinsic-anxiety −0.47 0.000 Post extrinsic-anxiety 0.11 0.337 Pre integrative-instrumental −0.06 0.382 Post integrative-instrumental −0.10 0.187 Pre integrative-anxiety 0.35 0.001 Post integrative-anxiety 0.63 0.000 Pre instrumental-anxiety 0.42 0.000 Post instrumental-anxiety 0.73 0.000 Motivation variable (Film Mean difference Sig. (two-tailed) Motivation variable (Film Mean difference Sig. (two-tailed) production) production) Pre intrinsic-extrinsic 0.11 0.478 Post intrinsic-extrinsic −0.25 0.049 Pre intrinsic-integrative −0.62 0.000 Post intrinsic-integrative −0.80 0.000 Pre intrinsic-instrumental −0.60 0.000 Post intrinsic-instrumental −0.78 0.000 Pre intrinsic-anxiety −0.37 0.121 Post intrinsic-anxiety −0.54 0.009 Pre extrinsic-integrative −0.75 0.000 Post extrinsic-integrative −0.54 0.000 Pre extrinsic-instrumental −0.71 0.000 Post extrinsic-instrumental −0.53 0.000 Pre extrinsic-anxiety −0.49 0.006 Post extrinsic-anxiety −0.29 0.009 Pre integrative-instrumental 0.03 0.660 Post integrative-instrumental −0.02 0.883 Pre integrative-anxiety 0.25 0.198 Post integrative-anxiety 0.25 0.173 Pre instrumental-anxiety 0.22 0.246 Post instrumental-anxiety 0.24 0.193 Motivation variable (Project Mean difference Sig. (two-tailed) Motivation variable (Project Mean difference Sig. (two-tailed) management) management) Pre intrinsic-extrinsic 0.44 0.009 Post intrinsic-extrinsic 0.06 0.717 Pre intrinsic-integrative −0.18 0.296 Post intrinsic-integrative −0.36 0.079 Pre intrinsic-instrumental −0.12 0.500 Post intrinsic-instrumental −0.33 0.033 Pre intrinsic-anxiety 0.07 0.794 Post intrinsic-anxiety −0.36 0.102 Pre extrinsic-integrative −0.60 0.000 Post extrinsic-integrative −0.42 0.013 Pre extrinsic-instrumental −0.53 0.001 Post extrinsic-instrumental −0.39 0.003 Pre extrinsic-anxiety −0.35 0.103 Post extrinsic-anxiety −0.42 0.039 Pre integrative-instrumental 0.06 0.614 Post integrative-instrumental 0.03 0.711 Pre integrative-anxiety 0.24 0.192 Post integrative-anxiety 0.00 1.00 Pre instrumental-anxiety 0.18 0.328 Post instrumental-anxiety −0.34 0.867 Bold values are statistical significant. Trade group scored significantly higher than Film Production and explained above, this article only reports one question on Project Management in “Instrumental motivation” in the post motivation in the focus group interview, which is “What were the questionnaire. The significant differences appearing among the motivations for you to take the course (e.g., for further study, three disciplines also imply that the participants from the three work, enjoyment when learning English, etc.)?” Data from the universities were different in EMI motivation and anxiety. three groups will be first presented generally and then within each group. 4.2.2. Qualitative results (focus group interviews) 4.2.2.1. Course optionality Qualitative results from the student focus group interviews at All the students pointed out that they took the courses the end of the semester corroborated the quantitative findings. As because they were compulsory. Yet, the International Trade and Frontiers in Psychology 08 frontiersin.org Zhang and Pladevall-Ballester 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1077852 TABLE 4 Pre-post student questionnaires (motivation variable differences among the three disciplines). Motivation variable Mean Sig. Motivation variable Mean Sig. difference (two- difference (two- tailed) tailed) p value p value Pre intrinsic Trade Film 0.40 0.038 Post intrinsic Trade Film 0.80 0.000 motivation Project −0.17 1.000 motivation Project 0.24 0.561 Film Trade −0.40 0.038 Film Trade −0.80 0.000 Project −0.56 0.022 Project −0.56 0.017 Project Trade 0.17 1.000 Project Trade −0.24 0.561 Film 0.56 0.022 Film 0.56 0.017 Pre extrinsic Trade Film 0.10 1.000 Post extrinsic Trade Film 0.37 0.012 motivation Project −0.13 1.000 motivation Project 0.12 1.000 Film Trade −0.10 1.000 Film Trade −0.37 0.012 Project −0.24 0.576 Project −0.25 0.400 Project Trade 0.13 1.000 Project Trade −0.12 1.000 Film 0.24 0.576 Film 0.25 0.400 Pre integrative Trade Film 0.19 0.570 Post integrative Trade Film 0.35 0.097 motivation Project 0.08 1.000 motivation Project 0.22 0.743 Film Trade −0.19 0.570 Film Trade −0.35 0.097 Project −0.11 1.000 Project −0.13 1.000 Project Trade −0.08 1.000 Project Trade −0.22 0.743 Film 0.11 1.000 Film 0.13 1.000 Pre Trade Film 0.28 0.083 Post Trade Film 0.47 0.001 instrumental Project 0.20 0.520 instrumental Project 0.36 0.040 motivation motivation Film Trade −0.28 0.083 Film Trade −0.47 0.001 Project −0.07 1.000 Project −0.11 1.000 Project Trade −0.20 0.520 Project Trade −0.36 0.040 Film 0.07 1.000 Film 0.11 1.000 Pre anxiety in Trade Film 0.08 1.000 Post anxiety in Trade Film −0.03 1.000 EMI classrooms Project −0.03 1.000 EMI classrooms Project −0.41 0.107 Film Trade −0.08 1.000 Film Trade 0.03 1.000 Project −0.12 1.000 Project −0.38 0.241 Project Trade 0.03 1.000 Project Trade 0.41 0.107 Film 0.12 1.000 Film 0.38 0.241 Bold values are statistical significant. Film Production students reached a consensus that they would toward content learning in the EMI course. This might be due to have chosen the courses even if they were optional. In contrast, the fact that the course content was perceived as not closely related only one student from Project Management stated that she would to their field. It seems that the relevance of the course content to have attended it even if the course was optional, while others students’ fields had some impact on their motivation to take either answered negatively or gave no explicit answer; Such the course. discrepancies across disciplines were likely associated with students’ perceptions toward content learning in the EMI courses. 4.2.2.2. Major motivations for each group The International Trade and Film Production students held There were two major motivations for the International Trade positive attitudes toward content learning in the EMI courses and students. First, they hoped to improve English proficiency by expressed willingness to take them if they were optional. In taking the EMI course. This is because their discipline is highly contrast, the Project Management students were more reluctant associated with the use of English, and they are required to have a to take an optional EMI course and held a more negative attitude good command of English to be competitive in future Frontiers in Psychology 09 frontiersin.org Zhang and Pladevall-Ballester 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1077852 development; also, they believe that English as the lingua franca is And the content is not Project Management. I am unhappy a practical skill in life. Second, they were motivated by the course with it.” content as it would be beneficial to their future development. Particularly, they expect to have their previously learned subject knowledge to get consolidated by understanding some concepts deeper. In addition to these major reasons, the students 5. Discussion highlighted that they seldom had taken courses taught by international lecturers, thus this course greatly arose their interest. 5.1. Development in students’ motivation They emphasized their lack of experience taking courses taught by foreign teachers in secondary schools. Research question (1) sought to explore the development of students’ EMI motivation and anxiety in the EMI courses over one “International Trade Student F: Before entering university, semester. The findings were drawn from the questionnaires and we seldom had foreign lecturers’ courses at junior and senior indicated that students’ overall EMI motivation and anxiety middle schools. We want to experience such a course out of our remained high from pre to post phases but generally tended to own interest. The other reason is that I want to practice oral decrease. This decreasing tendency contradicts a study in Turkey English as far as I am concerned because if we don’t practice it where students were more motivated toward professional and in real life, then it will be useless.” linguistic benefits of EMI through and after taking EMI classes (Sahan and Şahan, 2021). Likely, the preparatory program their Learning subject knowledge was the most important students took enhanced their English proficiency, but this is not motivation for the Film Production students. They were interested our case. Our students’ decreased motivation was possibly linked in learning professional film-making knowledge with the EMI to their reported language difficulties due to limited English lecturer from an international perspective. The students proficiency (Kojima, 2021). Additionally, our students might have appreciated the foreign EMI lecturer’s contribution to their subject idealized EMI learning since they had very little relevant knowledge learning, especially from a different perspective than experience before entering the courses. More specifically about the local teachers, thanks to the foreign teachers’ different life, changes, intrinsic motivation, integrative motivation, instrumental educational and working experiences. Also, they were motivated motivation, and anxiety in EMI classrooms all dropped in scores because the content knowledge would be helpful for their future from pre to post questionnaires. Integrative and instrumental career and personal development. Regarding the experience of motivations were the most highly valued motivational factors, and language learning as a motivation, only one student mentioned it the scores were similar, followed by intrinsic motivation in the and believed that progress in English proficiency would be a third place. Extrinsic motivation, however, was the least positively natural result of taking the EMI course. It seems that improving weighted motivational factor. Only in the case of extrinsic English skills was not seen as the most urgent demand for motivation and only for the International Trade Group, a slight these students. pre to posttest increase was observed. Our focus group interview results validate the questionnaire findings that the students “Film Production Student E: I am interested in this course as it generally had high EMI motivation. Notably, they expressed that is relevant to my major and my interest. Also, we need admit the courses were helpful for their personal and professional that the Hollywood film industry in western countries is more development; specifically, they mentioned gains in content mature, from which Chinese filmmakers should learn. I think knowledge, English skills, and international perspectives. In that I have learned a lot from the teacher.” addition, many said they would like to attend the course even if it was not compulsory. Regarding the Project Management group, students admitted Overall positive scores in EMI motivation are in line with that the course would help self-development and management, many previous research studies which have shown that students but some complained that the course content was not closely were greatly motivated within EMI contexts (Hengsadeekul et al., related to their major, so many would not have attended it if it 2014; Lasagabaster, 2016; Hernández-Nanclares and Jiménez- were an optional course. Besides, some students mentioned Muñoz, 2017; Guo et al., 2018; Menéndez et al., 2018). However, knowing foreign cultures as a motivation that they enjoyed our findings contrast with the studies by Lei and Hu (2014) and listening to the foreign teacher share her life experience in another Wei et al.’s (2017) in China, where motivational scores were lower. country and getting to know different cultures. Our particularly high scores in instrumental motivation corroborate findings by many previous studies (Hengsadeekul “Project Management Student C: I liked what she told us about et al., 2014; Lasagabaster, 2016; Doiz and Lasagabaster, 2018; her life in another country and stories, I was interested in those Somers and Llinares, 2018 for secondary CLIL students) which things…this course could be an optional one for us journalism revealed that students were greatly driven the pragmatic usefulness students, and students should be able to choose. You know, my of learning English and subject knowledge in English for future major is journalism, and we have to study Project Management? education or career development or other relevant purposes. This Frontiers in Psychology 10 frontiersin.org Zhang and Pladevall-Ballester 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1077852 finding is also in line with our focus group interview results where discrepancy. External pressure to meet parental and social the most widely mentioned motivational reasons to take the expectations is possibly a vital driving force of learning in the courses were improving English proficiency and enhancing Chinese context (Guo et al., 2018), but it may not be the case in subject knowledge for future development, categorized under western countries. In fact, this is not an uncommon phenomenon instrumental motivation. in Asian countries. Ethical values emphasize family pride, filial As for integrative motivation and its same high scores piety and the importance of hard work (Chen, 2012). Chinese obtained, it echoes Hengsadeekul et al.’s (2014) findings in Asia parents are typically very strict with their children’s study and but contrasts with some other studies in Europe (Lasagabaster, push them to perform well in academic life. It is a widely accepted 2016; Hernández-Nanclares and Jiménez-Muñoz, 2017). social norm to follow parents’ orders as they are traditionally Seemingly, students in Asia have more curiosity and interest in regarded as authorities; comparatively, western students may face English-speaking cultures than those in Europe. In addition, less parental pressure and have more freedom to make decisions students in Asian countries or China may not have had a rich for themselves. Also, Asian parents, particularly Chinese parents, language-learning context or opportunities to use English outside may regard their children’s success in academic achievement as the classroom (Hu, 2008, cited in Lei and Hu, 2014), thus they may their most important goal (Luebbe et al., 2018). Interestingly be more eager to practice English with those who speak English. enough, our students did not mention parental pressure in their Particularly in the case of the present study, the three institutions group interviews, which might have existed, but students might analyzed were found in less privileged areas and were second-tier not have wanted to share it. Possibly, since less privileged universities, where there might be fewer opportunities for students universities normally require lower entrance scores than other top to meet foreign students and lecturers and to practice their ones, we assume that students in less privileged universities may English. The focus group interview results support this, as students face greater parental pressure as their parents may expect them to expressed interest and needs to study with foreign EMI lecturers perform better academically. and know foreign cultures. Many pointed out that they barely had Regarding anxiety in the EMI classroom, results indicate any course taught by a foreign lecturer before and that they valued remarkably high levels of anxiety, which confirms the results in having one. other studies (Hengsadeekul et al., 2014; Lei and Hu, 2014). Intrinsic motivation was also high in this study, suggesting Unsurprisingly, students in our study faced great stress using that students enjoyed the process of learning content through English in the EMI class as they reported lacking sufficient English English as a medium of instruction, although they were not as proficiency and experience in practicing English before entering high as instrumental or integrative motivation. This is in line with the EMI course. China tends to be an EFL and poor language Somers and Llinares’ (2018) secondary school CLIL study which learning context where students have few opportunities to use found that CLIL students (both High-intensity and Low-intensity English outside the classroom (Hu, 2008, cited in Lei and Hu, CLIL groups) had significantly higher instrumental motivation 2014). In our study, students were anxious as they turned more than intrinsic motivation. Besides, it should be noted that Intrinsic often to the interpreters’ language help (in the case of Film motivation tends to be more restrained after childhood (Ryan and Production and Project Management) and most of the students Deci, 2000a) and older or adult students may regard enjoyment or did not take the chance to interact with the EMI lecturer satisfaction in learning as less important than instrumentality. The in English. student focus group interview results of our study also corroborate this, as they mainly expressed the importance of learning English and content knowledge rather than enjoying the learning process. 5.2. Differences in students’ motivation Nevertheless, students showed intrinsic motivation as some among the three disciplines mentioned they would have attended the courses even if they were not compulsory. Research question (2) dealt with potential differences among Extrinsic motivation ranked the lowest in this study, but it was the three disciplines under study regarding students’ EMI still positive and in line with Guo et al.’s (2018) study in China, motivation and anxiety. Generally speaking, the three disciplines which showed that EMI students had significantly higher extrinsic followed similar patterns, as instrumental and integrative goal orientation than CMI peers. This finding can also be validated motivations ranked similarly high, followed by positive but not so by the focus group interview results where many of our students high-ranking intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. In addition, mentioned they enrolled in the courses because of their anxiety in the EMI classroom was high for the three disciplines. compulsory nature. Similarly, Doiz and Lasagabaster’s (2018) The fact that the three disciplines generally had similar results study in Spain found that students had high ought-to L2 self regarding motivation might be attributed to their shared social, scores as they were aware of external pressure from their parents’ cultural, and educational contexts. The three EMI courses were and society’s opinions on the importance of English. Nevertheless, conducted based on the same city in China, with the local students our findings greatly differ from the ones by Lasagabaster (2016) in coming from the same educational and cultural backgrounds and Spain, where students’ ought-to L2 self scores were not particularly holding similar social norms. The students in the three disciplines remarkable. Sociocultural differences might explain this were highly interested in knowing English-speaking cultures. They Frontiers in Psychology 11 frontiersin.org Zhang and Pladevall-Ballester 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1077852 had neither rich experience with EMI nor opportunities to use disciplines were from three universities, which may also have had English before, and thus they were greatly motivated by an impact on students’ EMI motivation and anxiety since each integrative reasons. institution has its own strengths in certain disciplines and they Though there were no significant differences in integrative may require different entrance scores. motivation and anxiety in EMI classroom among the three disciplines, discrepancies in other motivational factors existed. Specifically, the International Trade and the Project Management 6. Conclusion groups significantly outperformed the Film Production group in intrinsic motivation at the pre and post phase. As for extrinsic This study has attempted to shed some light on whether and to motivation, the International Trade group significantly what extent students might be motivated in EMI contexts over one outperformed the Film Production group at the post phase and in semester in China. Our findings suggest that students from the relation to instrumental motivation, the International Trade group three groups all had generally high EMI motivation, which tended scored significantly higher than the other two groups at the post to decrease at the end of the semester. Regarding students’ learning phase. This generally shows that the Trade students had the highest anxiety in the EMI classroom, the level was high both at the pre level of motivation among the three disciplines. The Project group and posttest phases and also showed a decreasing tendency. The remained the middle group in terms of motivational factors, and International Trade group generally had the highest motivation, the Film group ranked the lowest among the three disciplines. and the Film Production group the lowest one, particularly as The qualitative findings are in line with and could explain the regards intrinsic (pre-posttest), extrinsic and instrumental quantitative data. According to the focus group interview results, (posttest) types of motivation. No significant between-group only the International Trade students were both enthusiastic about differences emerged in relation to integrative motivation and improving their language proficiency and content knowledge anxiety in EMI classrooms at either of the two data collection points. through EMI, thus showing interest and motivation on the A number of specific Implications can be offered to both integration of both content and language, whereas most of the Film China and international contexts. In terms of pedagogical Production students only expressed their high expectation on strategies for EMI teaching, first, lecturers may offer students subject knowledge learning but showed less enthusiasm with more interaction opportunities such as answering questions or language learning. Besides, the Project Management students doing group activities to use English to interact in class and pointed out that the course content was not closely related to their encourage them to do so as this may help students to become major thus many said they would not have attended if the course more confident in spoken English and eventually reduce their were optional. This might explain that the International Trade anxiety in the EMI class. Second, EMI lecturers are supposed to group had the greatest instrumental motivation and the Project also pay attention to students’ language difficulties and make every Management group was barely motivated intrinsically. The fact that effort to facilitate content comprehension. the International Trade group had the highest English scores in Regarding implications for institutional policy, it would College Entrance Exam (see section 3.2) than the other two groups be advisable to ensure that students reach a certain English and that only the International Trade group had taken extra threshold before entering EMI courses. Standardized English English for Specific Purposes (ESP) courses before and during the proficiency tests could be adopted. As is supported by our EMI course may have contributed to their greater motivation as findings, students’ prior English proficiency had an impact on effective preparatory EMI language courses may help reduce their motivation in EMI contexts. That is, students of higher students’ linguistic difficulties and increase their positive English proficiency had the greatest EMI motivation. Besides, experience (Sahan and Şahan, 2021). providing students with English language or ESP courses, before Furthermore, a crucial factor that influences students’ and after students’ enrolment to the EMI courses is also essential motivation surely lies in the type of discipline (Hengsadeekul and could help enhance students’ English ability. Moreover, et al., 2014; Guo et al., 2018; Menéndez et al., 2018). Science universities may offer more multiple optional EMI courses to majors and social science majors may show different students’ students to choose the ones that are most relevant to their major motivations (Guo et al., 2018). Likely, students’ motivation may and interests. Otherwise, they are forced to attend but may not vary from course to course, depending on each specific course’s have high motivation and thus the quality of learning may characteristics (Menéndez et al., 2018). As is illustrated in be negatively affected. Further empirical studies examining Hengsadeekul et al.’s (2014) case, business majors had significantly students’ motivation and its relation to English proficiency and lower social-cultural goals, namely, integrative motivation, than academic achievement in EMI contexts are needed. international business majors. The international business major’s Limitations of the study should also be acknowledged. First, more internationalized nature may attribute a higher level of the study only assessed students’ development in motivation over integrative motivation to students. This might explain that the the course of one semester, too short a period. A longer International Trade group had greater overall motivation than the longitudinal study is needed to trace development more robustly. other more domestic-oriented groups (Film Production and Further research may include a wider variety of qualitative data to Project Management). In addition, it should be noted that the obtain more profound insights. Second, there were differences in Frontiers in Psychology 12 frontiersin.org Zhang and Pladevall-Ballester 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1077852 the number of participants, and the disciplines were based on Author contributions different universities and the study adopted a convenient sampling method, thus findings may not be generalizable to other contexts MZ: conceptualization, data collection, and writing the draft. as the sample size was small and was not on the same specific EP-B: conceptualization and revising the draft. All authors agreed institutional context. Besides, it should not be ignored that the to the submitted version of the manuscript. International Trade group taking an extra ESP course might have affected the results. Although this research focused on comparing differences among disciplines, further research could make the Acknowledgments best efforts to control other variables in order to make the results more valid. Furthermore, it would also be interesting that further We would like to thank all the participants for their support research employs a larger number of participants to examine in this research work. students’ EMI motivation in the same subject within the same university. Last, empirical studies that examine students’ motivation, English proficiency and academic achievement in Conflict of interest EMI contexts are also needed. Our study has indeed contributed new data on EMI in China. The authors declare that the research was conducted in the It has offered empirical evidence on students’ development of absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could motivation in EMI contexts and confirms the need to conduct be construed as a potential conflict of interest. longer longitudinal studies on learning motivation. Publisher’s note Data availability statement All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the The original contributions presented in the study are included authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated in the article/Supplementary material, further inquiries can organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the be directed to the corresponding author. reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher. Ethics statement The studies involving human participants were reviewed and Supplementary material approved by the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) Ethics Committee on Animal and Human Experimentation (CEEAH The Supplementary material for this article can be found online 4728). Written informed consent to participate in this study was at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1077852/ provided by the participants. full#supplementary-material References Brown, H., and Bradford, A. (2017). “EMI, CLIL, & CBI: differing approaches and Dörnyei, Z. (2005). The Psychology of the Language Learner: Individual Differences goals” in Transformation in Language Education. eds. P. Clements, A. Krause and H. in Second Language Acquisition. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. Brown (Tokyo: JALT), 328–334. Dörnyei, Z. (2009). “The L2 motivational self system” in Motivation, Language Identity Carrió-Pastor, M. L. (2020). “CLIL vs EMI: different approaches or the same dog and the L2 Self. eds. 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