3. 心理旋轉作用 (Mental rotation)

(1) Vu, N. T., & Burns, A. (2014). English as a medium of instruction: Challenges for Vietnamese tertiary lecturers. Journal of Asia TEFL, 11(3). p.1-2 It is now a truism to state that English is spreading rapidly around the world. Speakers of English as a first, second and foreign language are said to have increased from 1.2 billion in 2003 to 1.5 billion in 2006 (Crystal, 2006). The most common factors accounting for this surge in international use include globalization, economic development, internationalization, technological development and the expansion of education (Coleman, 2011c; Doiz, Lasagabaster, & Sierra, 2012b; Hamid, Nguyen, & Baldauf Jr, 2013). The impact of English means in many international educational contexts there is a rapidly growing tendency for English to be adopted as the medium of instruction, even when a majority of the population speaks a local language. For example, Wachter and Maiworm (2008, as cited in Doiz et al., 2012b, p. xvii) note that at over 400 European higher education institutions there were 2400 English-medium programs in 2007, which represented a 340-percent increase within bachelor and master courses compared with 2002. However, the rapid spread of EMI does not imply immediate success. Hamid et al. (2013), who examined medium-of-instruction (MOI) policies in ten Asian countries, conclude that implementation is "fraught with difficulties and challenges" (p.11). Examples from India, Indonesia and Pakistan suggest that EMI leads to social division (Meganathan, 2011), inequitable resource allocation (Coleman, 2011a), and "language apartheid" (Coleman, 2011b), a phenomenon whereby local languages are dominated by English at school. Further difficulties such as shortage of competent teachers and learners, inadequate resources and support, content and language trade-offs, and inappropriate methodology are also reported in school settings implementing EMI (Byun et al., 2011; Coleman, 2006; Hamid et al., 2013; Kennedy, 2011; Kyeyune, 2010; Manh, 2012; Sert, 2008; Shohamy, 2012; Vinke, Snippe, & Jochems, 1998). Other possible reasons for failure are naive goals mandated from macro-level policy makers without careful consideration of the power and agency of micro-level actors, especially teachers and students, or inadequate resources (Hamid et al., 2013; Lia, Leungb, & Kemberb, 2001; Manh, 2012; Tsui & Tollefson, 2004).

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3. 心理旋轉作用 (Mental rotation)

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