Effects of CLIL Teaching on Language Outcomes

2019

Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), introduced in the 1990s, has been gaining considerable ground across the globe in recent years. With this as a backdrop, Liss Kerstin Sylvén provides this latest edited collection which is systematically organized to illuminate a plethora of perspectives of CLIL through a 3-year longitudinal research project Content and Language Integrated Learning in Swedish Schools (CLISS). The volume is arranged in 5 diverse thematic parts, comprised of 16 chapters, and an epilogue by the editor. Covering the first three contributions, part 1 presents the general context and the layout of the CLISS project. In chapter 1 (by Sylvén), the Swedish educational system and the pivotal role of English in Sweden are introduced, followed by a detailed description of the CLISS program including its aims, informants, methods and research team, among others. Paulsrud (Chapter 2) compares and analyzes three official national statistics concerning the scope and extent of CLIL in Swedish schools. Chapter 3 by Apelgren reports and discusses the results from the initial student questionnaire in the CLISS study as regards the participating students' language and home background, extramural language activities in Swedish and English as well as attitudes and experiences of school and classroom work activities. Undoubtedly, these three chapters lay the foundations for the readers to better understand the findings in the succeeding chapters which revolve around the project. Part 2 (Chapters 4-5) is devoted to assessment and motivation with respect to CLIL. Based on data from teacher interviews, questionnaires and teachers' written assessment design, Reierstam and Sylvén (Chapter 4) explore and compare the assessment practices of CLIL versus non-CLIL teachers, as well as those of content versus language teachers. The results indicate that more conscious language-oriented assessment practices need to be established in CLIL instruction. Furthermore, benchmarks for assessment in CLIL should be created to normalize and facilitate assessment procedures. In view of the insufficient amount of research so far on assessment in CLIL, this study is timely and appealing to fill the gap in the literature of its kind. Chapter 5 (by Thompson and Sylvén) looks into the changes in language learning motivation of CLIL and non-CLIL students over their three-year senior high school period. Besides, the addition of the gender factor makes it a unique three-dimensional exploration of motivation, CLIL and gender. Part 3 (chapters 6-9) examines students' proficiency and progress in as well as their contact with English. By adopting the Vocabulary Levels Test (VLT; Nation 2001), Sylvén and Ohlander (Chapter 6) investigate learners' receptive L2/FL English vocabulary knowledge within the CLISS project. Statistically, the CLIL students significantly outscore, both pre-CLIL and at the end of their three-year CLIL program, their non-CLIL peers who appear to stagnate between the two test rounds. The authors argue that even though CLIL students make significant progress at all frequency levels covered by the VLT, there is much room for improvement for both CLIL and non-CLIL students, especially with regard to the more difficult frequency levels and academic words. In Chapter 7, Olsson & Sylvén present a quantitative inquiry over three years into CLIL and non-CLIL students' English writing proficiency, not least their development of productive English vocabulary. The most remarkable finding is that CLIL students do not seem to progress more in their use of either general or academic vocabulary when compared with non-CLIL students, even though they are at a significant advantage at the outset of the investigation. The authors consider that one reason could be the limited focus on productive L2/ FL English proficiency in the participating CLIL classes. Besides, CLIL students might not be challenged in their productive L2/FL English use in the schools. Thus, this study is conducive to reflections on what INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BILINGUAL EDUCATION AND BILINGUALISM

Applied Linguistics, 2010

This study investigates the effects of English-medium CLIL on EFL proficiency in three European countries. Seven mainstream grammar schools spread across The Netherlands, Germany, and Italy participated with a total of 263 pupils aged 12 to 16. Several language skills were measured by means of written tests in a pre/post-test design. The first test was held when the experimental classes were all at the start of the CLIL intervention in secondary education; the second test two years later. Each of the three countries participated with two CLIL classes and two mainstream classes as control groups. The results show that CLIL classes had better EFL skills from the start: they outperformed the mainstream groups at both test rounds. However, gain scores varied per country and the apparent head start of CLIL pupils makes it difficult to interpret EFL results.

International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 2018

As a bilingual teaching method, Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) is growing in popularity in Europe and research has primarily focused on (language) learning outcomes. Few studies have identified what characterizes teaching in the CLIL classroom in terms of content and language integration. Studying how CLIL is practiced is vital to understanding how it works and how students can benefit from it. In this study, we filmed and observed CLIL lessons in science and mathematics in a 9th grade, Norwegian CLIL class offering subjects in English. The present study uses The Protocol for Language Arts Teaching Observation (PLATO) to analyze video-recordings of CLIL lessons in science and mathematics, emphasizing a within-CLIL focus, and compared this with the English language teaching in the same class, as a baseline. Our findings indicate content-driven and intellectually challenging CLIL teaching with clear instructional explanations and systematic language support. English was used as frequently in the CLIL teaching as in the English teaching. Content and language were clearly integrated in the observed CLIL lessons, underscoring that the CLIL teachers successfully conveyed their subject in the target language.

CLIL. Journal of Innovation and Research in Plurilingual and Pluricultural Education

T his paper provides a presentation to Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) aimed at any reader who needs a basic understanding of this approach, be they teachers, teacher educators or education stakeholders in general. The article contextualises CLIL within the European Union (EU) policy intended to promote effective plurilingualism for all, offers a rationale for CLIL and warns policy makers and practitioners of certain practices commonly observed in CLIL settings that may undermine its effectiveness. E ste artículo aspira a familiarizar a cualquier persona interesada -ya sea docente, profesional de la formación del profesorado, o persona con responsabilidades educativas -con el enfoque Aprendizaje Integrado de Contenidos y Lengua (AICLE). El artículo sitúa el AICLE en el contexto de la política lingüística de la Unión Europea (UE) encaminada a promover un plurilingüismo activo para toda la ciudadanía, presenta algunos principios teóricos que fundamentan este enfoque, y advierte sobre prácticas observadas en aulas AICLE que pueden amenazar su potencial educativo.

Future perspectives for English language teaching. …, 2007

European Educational Research Journal, 2019

Content and language integrated learning (CLIL), an educational approach in which subject matter and a foreign language-predominantly English-are taught and learnt side by side, has developed into a very popular educational innovation in most European countries. A host of research studies have shown its benefits, and discuss favourable effects especially with respect to L2 gains. However, critical voices have underscored the fact that CLIL attracts or selects mainly high-achieving learners. Hence, the question arises whether it is justified to attribute improved L2 performance mainly to the CLIL intervention, or to favourable learner characteristics. Several reviews of literature were published in the past, but due to a lack of longitudinal findings no conclusive evidence about the added value of CLIL in the process of L2 learning could be produced. The present review aims to fill this void and has undertaken a search of two decades of longitudinal studies into the effects of CLIL on various linguistic skills in the field of English as a foreign language. The findings indicate that robust studies were undertaken in only a limited number of European countries, and that only a few of them were large scale. Yet, the conclusions provide clear indications regarding the contexts in which CLIL leads to significantly better L2 results. Keywords Selective content and language integrated learning, longitudinal effects, English as a foreign language gains, literature review, European content and language integrated learning

American Journal of Educational Research 3.4 (2015): 418-426, 2015

In consideration of the need for pupils to start using English as a second language (L2) beyond the 2-3 hour a week compulsory “English lesson” in Italian primary schools, the new Italian National Curriculum Guidelines encourage multilingual education. This official stimulus could lead to the achievement of a more bilingual classroom with increased usage of English throughout the school day, especially through the use of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) strategies. Teachers need clear, practical indications of easy, brief activities that they can carry out daily in English in their classrooms in the various subject areas and they need to be familiar with the multimedia opportunities that exist to achieve this goal.

International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature, 2016

The present article has reviewed literature on Content-Based Instruction (CBI) along with the Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) in Language Teaching based on the recent development in the field. This includes the learning principle, factors responsible for the successful implementation of CBI/CLIL, their prospect and outcome. The paper is written based on secondary data from different articles providing exploratory account of contexts observed, paying attention to the views and practices of participants, and review papers on previous studies. The goal is to understand the aspects of CBI, its relation with CLIL, success and shortcoming resulted from the implementation in language teaching.

Colombian Applied Linguistics Journal

Content and language integrated learning (CLIL) is a dual focus educational approach widely used in European primary, secondary and tertiary education institutions in which content subjects included in the mainstream curriculum are taught through a foreign language, usually English. This paper presents a systematic review on relevant existing literature on the application of the CLIL approach in university classrooms. A total of 22 studies were identified and chosen for further analysis; the categories emerged from the analysis itself. These studies, which focused on language and methodological features, were explored to determine the research trends in terms of location, methodology, participants, data collection instruments, focus, teaching methodology and language focus. The results of the review show a trend to examine classroom discourses and the development of pragmatic competence in CLIL classrooms. As a result of the review, the paper offers suggestions for future research o...