Search Results (18)

Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) has been adopted by schools to equip students with the competencies and language skills needed in today’s multilingual and multicultural society. However, teaching content courses through a foreign language requires specific teacher training, both initial and ongoing. This qualitative descriptive study analyses the development of bilingual teaching knowledge in terms of teaching skills among pre-service CLIL teachers (n = 15) at the University of Cádiz in Spain. Two reflective reports written by each pre-service teacher before and after participating in the course CLIL I: Foundations and Curricular Proposals for the Primary School Classroom (2022/23) were analyzed. The responses were categorized using Qualitative Content Analysis. The reflective reports included questions about their conception of bilingual teaching; methods for teaching bilingual courses; and justifications for their teaching methods. In addition, a focus group was conducted with a representative sample of participants. The results reveal a significant development in pre-service teachers’ knowledge of the teaching skills required for bilingual teaching. Particularly, there is an increase in contributions related to justifying their teaching methods. Moreover, the findings highlight pre-service teachers’ recognition of the differences between foreign language and CLIL teachers, as well as their ability to plan CLIL teaching effectively. Full article

Second language speech perception and production remain an enduring concern in second language acquisition, as research evidence seems to suggest that there is not a straightforward correspondence between these two speech domains and that their interrelationship seems to be of a complex nature. The present proposal intends to contribute to the inspection of such a relationship by observing the development of perception and production skills of English codas longitudinally in a group of secondary school learners in Spain involved in a content and language integrated learning (CLIL) program, which increases exposure and production opportunities. Results point to a slight overall improvement of both sound perception and production skills during a two-year period, the coda sounds exhibiting variable realizations. Many coda sounds were found to be identified and produced at near/ceiling levels while other codas remained at less successful identification and production levels even after two years of CLIL exposure. The correlation analyses performed indicated that the two dimensions tended to correlate when the development for each coda sound was inspected. No correlations were found when students’ individual overall performance in each dimension were examined, attesting individual differences. Full article

After the Taiwanese government launched the Blueprint for Developing Taiwan into a Bilingual Nation by 2030, the Implementation Project of Bilingual Instruction in several domains of primary and junior high school education was promoted by the Taiwan Ministry of Education. Content and language integrated learning (CLIL) is a dual-objective strategy in which students simultaneously acquire language skills and subject knowledge. CLIL has been widely implemented and proven to be successful in European countries. This strategy will become the primary method of bilingual education for instructors in grades K-12. Other non-European countries, such as Latin America and Indonesia, however, found difficulties applying CLIL in class. The issues need to be identified to encourage researchers and practitioners to find solutions. The purpose of this paper is to identify the barriers to implementing CLIL from the perspective of K-12 teachers. We surveyed 102 K-12 teachers in Keelung using a questionnaire. The findings indicate that (1) 49.0% of teachers feel concerned if they are required to teach half of their content in English, (2) 64.8% of teachers are willing to improve their English proficiency in their spare time for implementing CLIL in class, and (3) only 36.3% of teachers are willing to adopt CLIL in class, while 50.0% of teachers are willing to implement CLIL if a teaching assistant system supports them with English course materials. Teaching assistant systems that provide English course materials might influence teachers’ willingness to implement CLIL in class. Full article

Over the years, the integration of technology in bilingual education has become increasingly significant. In the European context, particularly in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), supporting the professional development of future educators has emerged as a crucial aspect. Video-based technology plays a key role in the training of pre-service language teachers, where it serves as a valuable tool for teacher education. There is a growing demand to enhance language teachers’ professional development programs, especially within the realm of CLIL teacher education. This study presents a video-based technology training programme intended to enhance the professional development of pre-service language teachers in CLIL. After implementation of the video-based training programme, semi-structured interviews with pre-service language teachers were conducted to evaluate the impact of the programme. The results show a positive influence on the pre-service language teachers’ professional development. The utilization of video-based technology was found to significantly improve their comprehension of CLIL while fostering their awareness of their teaching practice. For the research community, these encouraging results should act as a driving force to continue exploring video technology within teacher education programs in CLIL to enhance educators’ professional development. Full article

The present empirical study investigates, analyzes, and discusses the affordances and limitations of an augmented reality (AR)-based educational intervention for the critical digital awareness of secondary school students through a sociocultural framework of instruction. The design of the educational intervention focuses on the empowerment of students’ critical digital skills in the new media produsage ecosystem in parallel with the development of target language skills through content and language integrated learning (CLIL) in a mobile augmented reality (MAR)-based transnational educational setting. This study focuses on examining the usefulness rather than the digital use of MAR from a socio-constructivism perspective with 77 participants from diverse socio-cultural backgrounds and educational settings. More specifically, an investigation of the potential of internalization of new knowledge through immersive-triggered inclusive educational practices is carried out, examining the effectiveness of the universal design for learning principles (UDL) as a pedagogical framework for AR-based instruction related to long-term memory retention, the synthesis of meaningful learning instances, and the creation of new knowledge. The study findings suggest that AR-based instruction, if incorporated into a robust pedagogical framework, can enhance attention and long-term memory retention, provide meaningful, inclusive learning opportunities, and facilitate digital well-being in the ever-evolving complex learning ecosystem. This study concludes by proposing the term of critical immersive-triggered literacy (CIT Literacy), defined as a skill development framework that triggers learners’ attention and facilitates digital well-being for meaningful learning instances via immersive technologies. Full article

Bilingual teaching has experienced rapid growth in the Spanish educational panorama and numerous university programmes have emerged with the aim of training future CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) teachers. However, there is little research assessing the level of linguistic competence in Spanish and foreign languages of future teachers, especially those who are studying for a bilingual degree. Although this work is part of a broader project that analyses bilingual lexical competence in subjects related to the Social Sciences and Experimental Sciences, we focus on the analysis of lexical availability of content related to the teaching of science. The sample consisted of 46 students of the Degree in Primary Education at the University of Extremadura. Using a lexical availability test, lexical production in Spanish and English is analysed and compared to determine whether the fact of studying in English affects the acquisition and consolidation of lexical knowledge in Spanish. The results show that there are no significant differences in lexical production between Spanish and English. In addition to the quantitative data, results from the qualitative analysis are presented, analysing the most available words and the organisation of the lexicon in both languages. Full article

The relationship between technology and society is an ever-changing dynamic, but one in which education is a key domain. In educational practice, the use of computer technology has increasingly become an inseparable part of teaching students in numerous ways across the world. The COVID-19 global pandemic accelerated this dramatically, with online teaching environments becoming the sole way for students to access education for extended periods of time. This shift to online teaching also required that teachers learn new skills and deal with new challenges. Based on mixed-methods research conducted with 20 teachers from an established content and language integrated learning school in mainland China, this research paper investigates the different challenges and problems that were faced by content and language integrated learning teachers in their experiences of online teaching and, in tandem with wider content and language integrated learning and technology-enhanced language learning literature, develops some potential solutions for future use. Full article

This study provides a systematic literature review of research in the field of teaching and learning mathematics through Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), Content-Based Instruction (CBI), and English Medium Instruction (EMI). The review aims to examine the most relevant literature with a focus on mathematics and CLIL, CBI, or EMI in Scopus and Web of Science per the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews (PRISMA) guidelines. Based on 151 sources, 52 papers were selected according to predefined selection criteria. The papers were analysed and coded according to the following categories: (1) geographical productivity, (2) diachronic productivity growth, (3) main objectives, (4) methodology, and research design, (5) variables and measurement instruments, (6) context and sample details, and (7) main findings. The results reveal that most of the research analysed has been carried out in the Asian continent, followed by Europe. The analysis of diachronic productivity shows that the study of the application of CLIL, CBI, and EMI programs in the teaching-learning process of mathematics has notably increased in recent years, especially in the last triennium (2020–2022). Regarding the objectives of the selected corpus, the majority aimed at teaching practices and learning processes, and outcomes in mathematics and language proficiency in CLIL, CBI, and/or EMI classrooms. The corpus analysed fits within one or more of the following categories: empirical, qualitative, descriptive, correlational, and cross-sectional. The samples utilized in different studies differ significantly, both in terms of quantity –ranging from one person to 700– and in the educational level being studied, which would be primary, secondary, or tertiary education. The main variables studied in the corpus focus on mathematical competence, language proficiency, teaching practices, teacher training, science competence, and teachers’ perceptions. The most widely used instruments have been objective tests, such as questionnaires, together with standardized tests to measure some aspects related to mathematical competence and language proficiency. They are followed by an analysis of documents (academic records, teaching materials, official documents...), participant or non-participant observation, interviews, and video and audio recordings. In summary, in the scientific literature analysed, a positive or neutral view predominates on the effects of the CLIL, CBI, and EMI approaches on the learning of mathematics and the L2. This can be due to methodological issues fundamentally related to the methodology, research design, sample, and measurement instruments. Thus, we must highlight that some of the results from the selected papers must be interpreted with caution. Taking this factor into consideration, further comparative studies on a wider scale are required to examine thoroughly the effects of CLIL, CBI, and EMI on the teaching and learning of mathematics in an L2. Besides, it is important to study in greater depth the different levels of language acquisition since the research analysed shows that these have not been sufficiently addressed in the mathematical field of knowledge. Full article

The past decades have witnessed the rise and boom of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL). As this dual-focused pedagogical approach continues to grow with remarkable vitality and sustainability, however, there is a paucity of knowledge regarding its development and application in China, necessitating a systematic review of previous research to apprise the academia of what has been done in the education and research agenda of CLIL. Grounded in four databases (i.e., Web of Science, Scopus, Education Resources Information Center, and Google Scholar), 28 research articles were extracted from 2013 to 2022 with certain exclusion and inclusion criteria considered. Thematic analyses primarily demonstrated that: (1) most studies were conducted in higher education providers, with English being the predominant instructional language; (2) diverse subject matters were embraced, denoting the coordination of “self” and “other” intercultural identities; (3) affective evidence concerning perceptions of CLIL and performance evidence regarding language learning outcomes tended to be the research nuclei, de-emphasizing the other research topics (e.g., assessment, translanguaging, heterogeneity in learning, learning materials, learning process); (4) the research findings were various, with most of them corroborating the benefits of CLIL to different aspects of learning; (5) CLIL learners were the principal source of data, and diverse research paradigms were displayed with appropriate designs as per the research objectives. These findings, by comparison with the knowledge and experience obtained from the Western world, imply that the scope of the CLIL agenda should be extended and deepened in China, encouraging educators and researchers to consider and probe a wider range of issues of interest. Full article

This study aims to examine the opinions of prospective pre-primary and primary teachers about Madrid’s regional Bilingual Programme in Spain, assessing the correlations between their self-perceived level of English and their positioning concerning the effectiveness of the regional programme. Although there is a growing body of research in the field of education on how CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) provisions impact in-service teachers’ attitudes concerning bilingual education, there is a dearth of literature on the way student teachers depict the teaching reality. Thus, this paper explores pre-service teachers’ beliefs towards the Bilingual Programme via an ad hoc questionnaire, administered to a non-probabilistic sample of 170 undergraduate students at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. The data collected were explored using Chi-square and Somers’ D tests. The results show that the self-perceived English level, greatly determined by prior bilingual schooling, has a strong influence on their perceptions about the Bilingual Programme. The findings also indicate that, although the learning experience at the pre-primary stage is valued positively by students, the acquisition of curricular contents in primary education is seen as negatively affected due to English medium instruction. Full article

Learning a foreign language involves a wide range of cognitive, social and affective skills. The present article gives ideas to develop socio-emotional competencies in English courses: the capacity to identify the emotion, to understand the causes and consequences, to express their emotions and to do so in a socially acceptable manner, to manage stress and to use their emotions to increase the effectiveness of thinking, decision making and actions. Content and language integrated learning (CLIL) is a dual approach aiming to develop both language and academic subject knowledge. It may be gradually introduced, embedding it at three levels: into the classroom (routines, organization, pupils’ behavior), the school and the curriculum. Successful learning in CLIL remains based on (1) communication, (2) ways of engaging in the learning process and (3) the use of meaning-making strategies. We propose a pedagogical sequence (several courses) to learn a second language based on the social and emotional learning approach, and the English coursebook MORE! 7e for primary school pupils (aged 10–11). We combine the specific language learning of the unit—talking about ourselves, people and their feelings—with the development of pupils’ basic emotional competencies, and discuss advantages and disadvantages to consider in order to successfully implement such lessons. Full article

Using advanced artificial intelligence (AI) technology in learning environments is one of the latest challenges for educators and education policymakers. Conversational AI brings new possibilities for alternative and innovative Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) tools, such as AI chatbots. This paper reports on field experiments with an AI chatbot and provides insights into its contribution to Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL). More specifically, this paper presents an experimental use case of an educational AI chatbot called AsasaraBot, designed to teach high school students cultural content in a foreign language, i.e., English or French. The content is related to the Minoan Civilization, emphasizing the characteristic figurine of the Minoan Snake Goddess. The related chatbot-based educational program has been evaluated at public and private language schools in Greece. The findings from these experiments show that the use of AI chatbot technology for interactive ICT-based learning is suitable for learning foreign languages and cultural content at the same time. The AsasaraBot AI chatbot has been designed and implemented in the context of a postgraduate project using open-source and free software. Full article

The main aim of the present study is to analyze the differences that may exist when students address the resolution of verbal problems in their mother tongue and in the language of instruction when these are different. We understand that knowing the type of verbal problems and their semantic structure can be helpful for students’ contextual and mathematical understanding and will allow teachers to improve instruction during the first years of elementary education in bilingual schools specialized in the area of second language acquisition as well as in CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning). This study shows how children, as they are acquiring a greater command of the second language, show similar effectiveness to those students who work on mathematics in their mother tongue. This transversal study was conducted on 169 bilinguals studying in international schools. The sample was made up of 80 1st grade students (39 girls, mean age of 7.1 years and 41 boys, mean age of 7.3 years); and 89 2nd grade students (38 girls, mean age 8.2 years, and 51 boys, mean age 8.2 years). The exploratory analyses let us show how 1st grade students demonstrate lower effectiveness in solving problems when they do it in a second language, compared to 2nd grade students whose effectiveness is higher in carrying them out. It is also relevant that in first graders, the largest number of errors are found in the simplest tasks as students’ effectiveness is less when they are taught in a second language, since it takes them longer to create effective resolution models. This fact will allow us to reconsider appropriate strategies and interventions when teaching mathematics in bilingual contexts. Full article

This study focused on the characteristics of an action-research study concerning an English language reading and writing intervention program in a primary state school, located in northeast Portugal (low-Socio Economic Status setting), where four groups of children (n = 92) participated in the academic year 2019–2020, after the National strategy for foreign languages was launched. The longitudinal study carried out in the action-research methodology, where the teacher, syllabus designer and researcher was the main author, was set out with two main aims. The first was to tackle and to overcome the lack of teacher training for teaching English to young learners in Portuguese primary schools. The second was to prompt intervention, through the design and implementation of a suitable pedagogic approach for teaching English to young learners, in line with Content for Language and Integrated Learning (CLIL) principles, namely English Across the Curriculum, thus fostering the interrelationships between English language reading and writing skills. The findings of the action-research reading intervention program demonstrate that it is possible to overcome such barriers as pupils’ negative attitudes and counteract the damaging effects of poverty in foreign language literacy development by exposing them to children’s picturebooks/storybooks, thus fostering the overall literacy development. The key concepts explored in these books, being associated with primary key curriculum themes are an effective way to establish clear positive connections among English language reading and writing relationships. In addition, the current study also sheds light on how primary English language school teachers can design suitable pedagogic approaches to foster overall literacy development, thus advancing innovative teacher training opportunities. Full article

The article considers industrial applications of digital twins and their contribution to decision-making and prevention of failures in manufacturing. Virtual laboratories are described as an example of using digital twins not only in industry but also for educational purposes. The article is also focused on the value of physical and virtual investigations through the prism of content and language integrated learning approach (CLIL) and it offers recommendations for combining the two to strengthen science inquiry learning and job-relevant learning. Students conduct online investigations resulting in interdisciplinary team interaction and knowledge integration. Adopting the CLIL approach changes engineering students’ attitudes to learning a foreign language, drums up their academic interest, and strengthens their motivation. In addition, the article describes how neural networks are applied for the simulation of physical processes in a virtual laboratory. The advantages of using virtual laboratories for professional-oriented training include linking observable and unobservable phenomena, pointing out essential information, and providing online, adaptive guidance. To evaluate the efficiency of the virtual laboratory environment, we conducted an experiment to assess the effectiveness of an integrated learning course with the elements of a virtual laboratory. The sample was 48 students (23 of them were enrolled on the course based on integrated learning with elements of virtual environment; 25 students studied professional discipline and professional English separately). To collect the data two online testing on English were conducted. The professional discipline was evaluated once at the end of the semester. In addition, we conducted an online survey on motivation for students of both groups to reveal the influence of educational process organization on this indicator. The results of the experiment allowed us to ascertain that the CLIL approach in the virtual laboratory environment resulted in better outcomes and helped the students adopt a more positive attitude to learning English. Full article