Viewing CLIL through the eyes of former pupils: insights into foreign language and intercultural attitudes

Abstract

This article examines the long-term effects of CLIL on former pupils' foreign language and intercultural attitudes. The 24 participants, who received English-medium CLIL for nine years in the 1990s, were interviewed and the data analyzed using thematic analysis. The participants generally felt that CLIL had had a very positive effect on their target language attitudes. However, many considered that CLIL had affected negatively on their attitudes towards other foreign languages. The perceptions regarding the effect of CLIL on intercultural attitudes diverged more. The study elucidates the longstanding impact CLIL can have on individuals' attitudes yielding insights into future CLIL education. Artikkelissa tarkastellaan CLIL-opetuksen kauaskantoisia vaikutuksia oppilaiden asenteisiin vieraita kieliä sekä kulttuurienvälistä tietoisuutta kohtaan. Tutkimusta varten haastateltiin 24 entistä CLILoppilasta, jotka saivat englanninkielistä CLIL-opetusta 1990-luvulla. Haastatteluaineisto analysoitiin laadullisen sisällönanalyysin keinoin teemoittelemalla. Osallistujien mukaan CLIL-opetuksella oli erittäin positiivinen vaikutus heidän asenteisiinsa englannin kieltä kohtaan. Moni kuitenkin koki, että englannin vahva rooli oli vaikuttanut negatiivisesti heidän suhtautumiseensa muihin vieraisiin kieliin. Näkemykset CLIL-opetuksen vaikutuksista kulttuurienväliseen tietoisuuteen puolestaan vaihtelivat enemmän. Tutkimuksen tulokset havainnollistavat millaisia kauaskantoisia vaikutuksia CLILopetuksella voi olla yksilöiden asenteisiin.

‘It has given me this kind of courage…’: the significance of CLIL in forming a positive target language self-concept

“…This result is contradictory to studies on non-CLIL early language teaching that have found an early start resulting in a positive attitude towards languages in general (Muñoz and Singleton 2011). This suggests that in CLIL context, multilingualism should be explicitly acknowledged so that the CLIL language would not cast aside other foreign languages (see also Roiha and Sommier 2018). One solution is to offer a multitude of languages already at primary level.…”

“…The interviews lasted from 30 minutes to 79 minutes, the average being 48 minutes. The semi-structured interviews were based on broad themes which were given to the interviewees in advance in order for them to recollect aspects and experiences of their CLIL education (see Roiha and Sommier 2018). Despite the general outline, each interview was slightly different as the participants were given the opportunity to focus on the topics relevant to them and their individual life trajectories.…”

“…Three participants associated a momentary decline in their English selfconcept, particularly regarding speaking, with the lack of English use. For two, in turn, university was a period when they had experienced some challenges in written English: 10 participants explicitly associated their difficulties in other languages with CLIL (see also Roiha and Sommier 2018). That is, they felt that learning English implicitly through content had been counterproductive to their learning of other foreign languages which had been taught more explicitly.…”

Measuring Intercultural Learning through CLIL

“…Amongst others, Ortega-Martín, Hughes, and Madrid (2018) have conducted extensive research on the influence of political factors on bilingual CLIL programmes in Spain which confirms that such schemes do not attach enough importance to intercultural competence development or to language assistants. Moreover, Roiha and Sommier (2018) assert that the participants in their study (former CLIL students) "did not receive formal intercultural communication training during their CLIL education" (p. 12).…”

The effectiveness of content and language integrated learning-based teaching material in the topic of the nature of matter on scientific literacy

“…One way to improve language skills, especially English, is to use these languages in learning (Brevik & Moe, 2012;Roiha & Sommier, 2018;Martínez Agudo, 2019;Deswila et al 2020). Learning that integrates content and language in learning is known as Integrated Learning and Content Learning (CLIL) (Dalton-Puffer, 2011;Baneges, 2012;Dale & Tanner, 2012;Coyle et al 2013).…”