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.