Lecturers´Attitudes Towards Bilingual Teaching Methodologies in Andalusian Higher Education

Abstract

The current proliferation of bilingual programs in Spanish higher education institutions in the last years, as a result of the internationalization policies, has driven to an increase in the concern about the appropriate methodologies to be used in class in order to facilitate the teaching of academic contents through the medium of a non-native language. The quick spread of such programs has caught lecturers unprepared for the adoption of teaching methodologies adapted to the special needs of these particular teaching contexts. The present study aims to analyze the lecturers' attitudes towards the use of certain methodologies in bilingual courses, which range from master classes to exhibition of group work, in accordance with their perceived level of satisfaction and difficulty. For such purpose, a Lickert-type questionnaire was devised and administered to 67 lecturers participating in bilingual courses in four Andalusian universities. The findings show a high satisfaction rate for the master class, teamwork and audiovisual projections on the part of the teaching staff, whereas the higher difficulty rate stands, at the same time, for the master class and teamwork, despite the high level of satisfaction reported. These results may be potentially useful for language policy makers at university as well as for the design of teacher training plans for higher education bilingual programs.