CLIL: graphic organisers and concept maps for noun identification within bilingual primary education natural science subject textbooks

ABSTRACT

Though concept maps and graphic organisers are useful tools for bilinguals to organise the information being managed and learned, its systematic use is not widened and decisive in CLIL domains. Apart from helping students to acquire meaningful learning, concept mapping might promote in them word-recognition skills for the identification and management of relevant information within foreign language (L2) texts. Hence, this article inquires into the influence of concept maps and graphic organisers as tools for noun category identification from L2 texts. Research sample comprises sixty Spanish primary education students from a bilingual school. Design is quasi-experimental, and the training programme lasted three weeks. Materials used during the training period are not exceptional, but the ordinarily found in regular classrooms. Data gathering procedure consists of the identification and circling of nouns by sample participants. As a starting point, secondary data as the intelligent quotient, learning style, and English level is collected via standardised tests. The analysis of the variance showed a highly significant interaction between the groups and the implemented texts both for noun identification (F_3.171= 12.124, p < 0.000, η²= 0.175), and the grammatical categories mistakenly identified as nouns (F_3.171= 3.840, p < 0.016, η²= 0.063).

KEYWORDS:

• English-Spanish bilingualism
• Spanish primary education
• concept mapping
• graphic organisers
• CLIL
• EFL

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

José Luis Gómez Ramos

José Luis Gómez Ramos (PhD) is an associate professor at University of Castilla-La Mancha, Faculty of Education, Spain. He has participated and contributed to varied research projects, and his line of research focuses on the teaching and learning aspects concerning bilingual primary education and teacher training.

José Luis Palazón Fernández

José Luis Palazón Fernández (MSc, PhD) is an Emeritus Professor at University of Oriente, Venezuela, and an associate professor at Salus Infirmorum Faculty of Nursing, University of Cádiz, Spain, where he teaches biostatistics and research methods. As a statistician, he has participated and contributed to varied research projects in different areas of knowledge as biology, aquaculture, nursing, medicine, and education.

Juan Lirio Castro

Juan Lirio Castro (PhD) is a full-time professor at University of Castilla-La Mancha, Faculty of Social Sciences, Spain. He has lead, participated, and contributed to varied research projects, and his line of research focuses on teaching methodologies and teaching and learning processes in the elderly.

Isabel Mª Gómez-Barreto

Isabel Mª Gómez-Barreto (PhD) is a full-time professor at University of Castilla-La Mancha, Faculty of Education, Spain. She has lead, participated, and contributed to varied research projects, and her line of research focuses on visual thinking, metacognition, and the aspects involved in high order thinking skills.