Language Skills in CLIL

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CLIL is close to some types of immersion programs but different from other content-based approaches developed outside Europe. CLIL classrooms are not typical language classrooms; non-linguistic content is used to teach as learners acquire new knowledge but in a foreign language. According to Wolff and Marsh (2007), there are at least three important points in the CLIL teaching method:

Firstly, CLIL should not be perceived as an approach to language teaching and learning, as it is important to pay attention to both content and language. Second, in CLIL content and language are learnt in an integrated way. The two subjects are related to each other and dealt with as a whole. Thirdly, in CLIL, another language is used as the medium of instruction (p. 55).

Naturally, the learners must have some basic knowledge of the language they are learning and be capable of understanding the content. As knowledge of the language becomes the means of learning content, the learner is highly motivated and language acquisition becomes crucial.

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dictated by the context of the subject and approached lexically rather than grammatically. This methodology highlights both the necessity of providing meaningful input as well as of producing contextualized output. In order to get adequate input students need to be exposed to a great amount of reading and listening materials, the main goal being to develop student proficiency in both language and content. However, students should also practice productive skills, that is speaking and writing, in order to become proficient users of the target language.

Lessons are usually delivered by teachers versed in CLIL methodology and are based on material directly related to a content-based subject. Both content and language are explored with equal weight, with the aim of guiding language processing and production, using techniques for exploiting reading or listening texts and structures, or for supporting spoken or written language. What is different is that the language teacher is also the subject teacher, or the subject teacher is also able to exploit opportunities for developing the four language skills.

At the core of learning in CLIL lessons is classroom communication, hence students must participate actively to acquire language competence (Marsh & Coyle, 2010). Furthermore, CLIL promotes genuine communication in the target language because this boosts the learners’ motivation. Moreover, language use in authentic interactive settings leads to a subtle overlap between intentional language learning and incidental language acquisition. See Figure 21 for the four language skills in a CLIL lesson framework:

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Figure 21: Four Language Skills in a CLIL Lesson (Source: Steve Darn, “CLIL: A lesson framework”)

Listening comprehension, according to Vandergrift (2002), is an interactive, interpretive process where listeners use both prior knowledge and linguistic knowledge in understanding messages. Listening comprehension, as an integral part of verbal communication, is influenced by the situational context, the relationship between the interlocutors, the sender and the addressee, and their mutual perceptions, as well as their goals in the communicative event (Dakowska, qtd. in Papaja, 2014, p. 34). The CLIL teacher may provide this input in the form of lectures, instructions, discussions, video clips or audio recordings. Students also listen to other students presenting or discussing work, giving opinions or asking questions in class. A study of 130 Spanish primary school learners in CLIL and EFL settings assessed their performance and revealed that CLIL students outperformed their non-CLIL counterparts in both receptive and productive listening (Jiménez-Catalán, Ruiz de Zarobe and Cenoz, 2006). Similarly, Admirral and Westhoff (2009), who conducted a four-year longitudinal study of secondary school students in five Dutch schools comparing CLIL and non-CLIL students also provided evidence that listening skills were favoured in CLIL settings.

CLIL appr oach

Listening is a normal input activity, vital for language learning

Reading, using meaningful material, is the major source of input

Speaking focuses on fluency. Accuracy is seen as subordinate

Writing is a series of lexical activities through

which grammar is recycled.

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Liubinienė (2009) conducted research related to developing listening skills in CLIL, and indicatd that CLIL students develop better listening skills than non-CLIL students since the CLIL environment provides students with more opportunities for the development and use of listening strategies. Marsh (2008) remarks that there is no need to pay particular attention to the development of listening comprehension skills since CLIL learners are constantly exposed to a foreign language.

Unlike listening, students will have time to read over difficult sections of text and consult a dictionary if necessary and they also can read to find facts, opinions, and arguments, to compare, to follow instructions or to correspond with people. CLIL effectively improves reading skills on a variety of levels which has been shown in a number of studies comparing CLIL and non-CLIL learning situation in which CLIL was consistently shown to provide greater. Pladevall and Ballester (2014) conducted a study related to the development of English reading skills of two CLIL and non-CLIL groups, and found that the CLIL group outperformed the non-CLIL group in the results obtained in the reading comprehension tests. Zarobe and Zenotz concluded in their study about the impact of CLIL on the reading skills that the implementation of this method had a positive effect on the reading comprehension process (2012, 2015). In a CLIL classroom, reading is extremely important because it activates the learners’ world and language knowledge and helps them to remember new content information (Papaja, 2014; Andrzej & Konrad, 2013). It also provides the major source of input through relative materials for acquiring detailed information (Hillocks 1987, p. 71). Anderson and Pearson (1984) claim that gaining new content knowledge through reading thematically connected texts activates cognitive structures which help in developing reading comprehension skills. CLIL is more involving and motivating to the learners if the content of the reading tasks is more significant. However, it should be remembered

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that reading comprehension is goal-oriented and may be defined as searching for meaning and sense connected with the subject content. To sum up, reading in CLIL classes is supposed to provide the learners with an opportunity to decode and comprehend the text as precisely and deeply as is necessary to store the knowledge for use in communicative activities.

As for the development of speaking skills in the CLIL context, it is evident that students are encouraged to communicate in English, in discussions, presentations, and information exchange in class. Speaking about the subject content allows students to show their understanding and consolidates learning using thinking skills. Spoken production can be considered in terms of fluency, accuracy, communicative interaction, coherence and the range of vocabulary and grammatical structures. It has been suggested that “spoken language skills do not develop as well as receptive skills in CLIL which it may be linked to the types of teaching methods or lack of experience of teachers who are not familiar with CLIL” (Marsh and Marsland, 1999, p. 79). Getting learners to speak English regularly in lessons is one of the main goals of CLIL.

Belenkova (2014) has concluded that CLIL learners are more motivated to speak in CLIL classes because the rules for the class structure require their active involvement and also provide a framework for their contributions. Thus, speaking skills are practiced extensively in a CLIL class since learners are required to use the target language to participate, to manage tasks and to communicate with other classmates and the teacher, use subject-specific language to discuss the content of the lesson, and academic language to express the processes or thinking skills which they are using. As Loranc-Paszylk (2009) aptly remarks, these positive experiences in classroom can lead to greater skills and confidence in speaking in front of larger groups.

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The ability to write in a target foreign language is necessary to become successful in academic and professional life. Saville-Troike (1984) claims that writing is a language competence which develops academic competence. Taking into consideration the development of writing skills, Wysocka (1989) points out that the ability to select information as well as to plan and organize writing is the most important thing, and it is connected with a special way of thinking on the part of the writer. Writing allows students to demonstrate their understanding of the concepts learnt and allows consolidation and extension of that knowledge. Written work is considered in both content terms and in linguistic accuracy, range, organization and cohesion, register and format (Hawley, 2004; Alves, 2008). Writing strategies such as drafting, paragraph organization and writing introductions and conclusions demonstrated in CLIL class has proved beneficial to learning outcomes for CLIL learners. This method helps student adopt a top-down approach to writing and, therefore, students are more focused on expressing ideas in a well-organized way. They also need to have their audience in mind, which obliges them to select the adequate style and vocabulary.

In addition, the benefits which come from the adquisition of writing skills also help CLIL learners to deal with the subject content and language knowledge. The results of the experiment in Loranc-Paszylk’s research in 2009 found that the students who attended CLIL classes made significant progress in developing academic writing skills and grammatical competence. She stressed that the CLIL formula provides a very suitable educational context for a natural integration of thematically-coherent and text-responsible writing.

Overall, research work carried out on CLIL affirms that it is a safe and promising way of teaching both for foreign language and a content subject. (Gregorczyk, 2012). Findings have shown that CLIL has a positive impact not only on content

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learning (Vollmer, 2008; Deller & Price, 2007), but also on L1 and L2 competences (Coyle, Hood, &March, 2010). The advantages of adopting a CLIL approach include increasing students’ motivation, developing a positive attitude towards learning languages since the learning process is not only about the language grammar, but personalizing the language through teaching subject content that is relevant to students.

It also broadens FL learners’ horizons through preparing students for further studies and work since the specific target language terminology in their specialty is acquired in natural learning conditions. Moreover, CLIL provides a purpose for language use in the classroom by putting the emphasis on meaning rather than on form. A curriculum taught in the target language will double its exposure time.