Learning subject matter through the medium of a foreign language (CLIL).

On its effects on primary school learners L2 vocabulary development and

content knowledge

Maria Xanthou, University of Cyprus

Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) has recently become a popular and fast
developing phenomenon in Europes educational scene. European institutions seek to
promote CLIL implementation expecting academic benefits especially in the area of L2
learning. This paper presents the arguments against CLIL contrasted with its theoretical
groundings. CLIL seems to satisfy the learning conditions proposed by meaningful learning
theories, the social constructivist theory, the cognitive constructivist theory, and the language
development theory. These conditions may open the door to both content and language gains.
Research related to the academic outcomes of CLIL implementation is reviewed. The need
for carrying out more investigations into the linguistic, academic and attitudinal outcomes of
CLIL is highlighted. The paper aims to examine whether students involved in CLIL are able
to learn content through the medium of L2 and simultaneously exhibit significant gains in L2
vocabulary knowledge outperforming their counterparts who are instructed through their
mother tongue (L1).

The current study employs both a qualitative and a quantitative methodology in order to
ensure triangulation of data. Two experiments were set up in two urban public primary
schools. Two groups of 6th grade students participated in each experiment. The first group
was taught three 80 minute Science lessons through the medium of L2 English, while the
second group was taught the same content through the medium of L1 Greek. Pre- and post-
treatment tests were administered to the subjects in order to strengthen the internal validity of
the study. Likert-type questionnaires examining students attitudes towards CLIL were
completed by participants after the treatment. The outcomes demonstrated a significant effect
of CLIL (p= ,000) on L2 vocabulary knowledge of the experimental group which
outperformed the control group that was not exposed to CLIL. A significant effect (p= ,000)
of treatment on content knowledge was shown for both experimental and control groups.
Observation of three video-taped Science lessons provided more information about the
learning processes allowing benefits for CLIL students. Avenues for further related research
are discussed.