Primary and secondary school learners' perceptions of CLIL: a study in the Basque Autonomous Community
Abstract
Recently, there has been an increasing number of implementations of pedagogical
approaches such as Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) in order to
promote multilingualism. Apart from the analysis of learning outcomes and successful
classroom practices in this approach, the examination of stakeholders’ perceptions,
specially of students, on how they perceive CLIL is of great interest. Therefore, this paper
attempts to highlight the importance of students’ perceptions concerning their learning
experience and process when learning through a foreign language. Through a
questionnaire-based analysis carried out in two different schools in the province of
Biscay, this study explores primary and secondary education students’ perceptions of
English and CLIL. The results revealed that no significant differences were found
between the primary and secondary school students. In addition, the participants
conveyed a positive feeling towards their CLIL experience, despite the low language
competence of some students. Furthermore, the findings suggest that students’ motivation
and language proficiency are enhanced through this bilingual programme. In view of the
responses obtained from the participants, the data presented in this paper may have a
significant pedagogical value regarding the possible improvements of CLIL for the
purpose of increasing students’ motivation towards language learning.