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Content-based Language Learning in Multilingual Educational Environments pp 237–255Cite as

CLIL in Context: Profiling Language Abilities

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Part of the book series: Educational Linguistics ((EDUL,volume 23))

Abstract

This study seeks to investigate the effects of the Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) approach on young EFL learners’ productive and receptive skills in a school located in Barcelona (Catalonia). The school had carefully designed and made provisions for a successful CLIL programme before its implementation. For the purpose of the study, two different groups (N = 50 each) of Catalan/Spanish bilingual learners aged 13–15 were analysed longitudinally over one academic year. One received formal instruction (FI) in English as a foreign language as a school subject, in addition to a Science subject taught with a CLIL approach and in which English was the medium of instruction (experimental group). The other received FI only (control group). Data were elicited both for receptive and productive skills, except speaking, and were statistically analysed quantitatively and also qualitatively using a pretest-posttest design. Results obtained confirm the effectiveness of the CLIL programme, however not in all domains and to the same degree. Concerning receptive skills, the CLIL group improved their reading competence significantly more than the control group, as was expected, but not their listening competence. As for productive skills, our findings show a significant improvement in the case of the CLIL group as the participants’ writing, and accuracy in particular, significantly progressed and so did their general lexico-grammatical abilities. This is in contrast with findings in previous studies.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    ‘Integrating content and language’ (in ‘higher education’), that is ILC/ILCHE are the corresponding terms used to refer to the same or similar approaches, respectively, at tertiary level, or the specific ones ‘English-medium instruction’ (EMI) and ‘English taught programmes’ (ETP) (see Pérez-Vidal 2015 for further details).

  2. 2.

    See Pérez-Vidal (2009, 2013) for the European perspective; Genesee (1987, 2013) and Wesche (2002) on the Canadian experiences; and Brinton et al. (1989) for an update of CBI in the US.

  3. 3.

    Dalton-Puffer (2011: 184) also notes that an analogous process seems to have taken place in other continents, Latin America and China being cases in point.

  4. 4.

    In Canada, early French immersion started with a well-researched experiment in St. Lambert, Quebec, in a kindergarten in 1965. Thirty-five years later, the last count stood at over 325,000 students enrolled on the programmes, that is 10 % of the children in English language schools studying French (that represents 55 % of elementary school students and 47 % of secondary school students) (Wesche 2002: 358). Immersion exists in indigenous and non-official heritage languages. In the U.S., immersion started in the Coral Way school programme in Miami in the 1960s to serve school populations with either English or Spanish in both languages. It is highly successful in around 248 two-way programmes in 23 states and Washington D.C. in more than ten languages.

  5. 5.

    See, for example, Genesee (1987), Allen et al. (1990), Harley et al. (1990), Johnson and Swain (1997), and Genesee (2013).

  6. 6.

    Oral production is not contemplated in our study due to unavailability of data.

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Acknowledgements

This research received financial support through HUM2007-66053-C02-01/02, FFI2010-21483-C02-01/02, FFI2013-48640-C2-1/2-P and ALLENCAM (SGR2005-01086/2009-140/2014-1563) from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and the Catalan Government respectively. Special thanks go to the school where data were collected, and to Cristina Escobar whose insights into CLIL have always been a source of inspiration.

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  1. Departament de Traducció i Ciències del Llenguatge, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain

    Carmen Pérez-Vidal & Helena Roquet

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  1. Carmen Pérez-Vidal
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  2. Helena Roquet
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Correspondence to Carmen Pérez-Vidal .

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  1. Departament de Filologia Espanyola, Moderna i Clàssica Campus, Universitat de les Illes Balears, Palma de Mallorca, Spain

    Maria Juan-Garau

  2. Departament de Filologia Espanyola, Moderna i Clàssica, Universitat de les Illes Balears, Palma de Mallorca, Spain

    Joana Salazar-Noguera

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Pérez-Vidal, C., Roquet, H. (2015). CLIL in Context: Profiling Language Abilities. In: Juan-Garau, M., Salazar-Noguera, J. (eds) Content-based Language Learning in Multilingual Educational Environments. Educational Linguistics, vol 23. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-11496-5_14

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