1,374
Views
13
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Articles

‘Speaking French alive’: learner perspectives on their motivation in Content and Language Integrated Learning in England

Pages 45-60 | Received 01 Jul 2015, Accepted 28 Mar 2017, Published online: 03 May 2017
 

ABSTRACT

This article reports part of an empirical research study undertaken in state secondary schools in England in 2012/2013, to investigate the extent to which Content and Integrated Learning (CLIL) promotes pupil motivation in the teaching of modern foreign languages (MFLs). Pupil perspectives of the impact of CLIL on their motivation are presented from two schools where different models of CLIL are practised. Firstly, a Partial Immersion Model of more than two subjects, for one Year 8 (Y8) mixed ability group, was taught for over six hours a week by a language teacher. Secondly, a curriculum Subject Strand Model was taught for one lesson per week by a geography specialist in Year 7 (Y7) and Y8 ability sets. Data are presented from student questionnaires and focus groups. This article offers a unique contribution to the field by its focus on pupil motivation linked to contrasting CLIL contexts in England. The findings reveal positive perceptions of CLIL methodology and high levels of concentration, effort, enjoyment and progress, especially in the Partial Immersion Model, where the depth of relationship and cooperation and the enhanced levels of linguistic competence both lead to greater pupil engagement and motivation.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Kim Bower is Principal Lecturer in Education, teacher educator and former language teacher. Drawing from social constructivist perspectives, her research focuses on Content and Language Integrated Learning and learner motivation.

Notes

1. Content-based Language Learning in the Canadian context is used to describe the learning of languages through the medium of another curriculum subject.

2. The name of the town has been changed.

Log in via your institution

Log in to Taylor & Francis Online

PDF download + Online access

  • 48 hours access to article PDF & online version
  • Article PDF can be downloaded
  • Article PDF can be printed
USD 53.00 Add to cart

Issue Purchase

  • 30 days online access to complete issue
  • Article PDFs can be downloaded
  • Article PDFs can be printed
USD 229.00 Add to cart

* Local tax will be added as applicable

Related Research

People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read.

Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine.

Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.
Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab.