Open Access
Intensity of CLIL exposure and L2 motivation in primary school: evidence from Spanish EFL learners in non-CLIL, low-CLIL and high-CLIL programmes
(De Gruyter, 2023) Azpilicueta Martínez, Raúl; Lázaro Ibarrola, Amparo; Ciencias Humanas y de la Educación; Giza eta Hezkuntza Zientziak; Institute for Advanced Social Research - ICOMMUNITAS; Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa, PJUPNA05-2022; Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa, PJUPNA2023-11401
Preliminary studies suggest a positive effect of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) on young learners' (YLs) L2 motivation. However, much more research with larger samples is is necessary to gain a more detailed understanding of the interaction between CLIL exposure and L2 motivation. This study specifically explores the effect of different levels of CLIL exposure on YLs’ L2 motivation. To do so, five measures of motivation were analysed in 895 L1-Spanish YLs of English (mean age= 10.61) comprising a non-CLIL group (n=289) who had received five EFL weekly lessons; a low-CLIL group (n =152) who had received five EFL and two CLIL weekly lessons, and a high-CLIL group (n =454) who had received five EFL and seven CLIL weekly lessons. Normality, Kruskal-Wallis and Dunn-Bonferroni post-hoc tests were conducted. The results revealed significantly higher motivation levels for the high-CLIL learners over the low-CLIL group in all five measures, and higher motivational levels of the high-CLIL group over the non-CLIL group in four of the measures. The study provides evidence of the motivational benefits of high-CLIL exposure and underscores the need for further research on the motivational implications of low-CLIL programmes.
Open Access
Exposure or age?: the effect of additional CLIL instruction on young learners' grammatical complexity while performing an oral task
(SAGE, 2024-12-29) Azpilicueta Martínez, Raúl; Ciencias humanas y de la educación; Giza eta Hezkuntza Zientziak; Institute for Advanced Social Research - ICOMMUNITAS; Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa
The purported foreign language gains of content and language integrated learning (CLIL) over traditional EFL (English as a foreign language) programs with young learners are still unclear. Specifically, little is known about how CLIL time and timing impact grammatical complexity. Additionally, mediating factors such as socioeconomic status (SES) and extramural exposure have been rarely controlled in the existing literature. This study analysed grammatical complexity in four groups of young learners in Spain (n = 108) during an oral task. The sample comprised: (1) an EFL-only group (1,766 EFL hours), (2) a low-exposure CLIL group (1,766 EFL hours + 707 CLIL hours), (3) a high-exposure CLIL group (1,766 EFL hours + 2,473 CLIL hours), and (4) a younger high-exposure CLIL group (1,545 EFL hours + 2,164 CLIL hours). All groups were matched for SES and extramural exposure. The analysis included independent ratings and computational measures of overall sentence complexity, subordination, and coordination. Distribution, Kruskal¿Wallis and post-hoc tests were conducted. Results showed significant differences in favour of the high-exposure groups over the EFL-only group in the ratings and in two of the computational measures: overall sentence complexity and subordination. This evidence highlights the potential of high-exposure CLIL to supplement grammatical instruction in EFL programs. Our results also suggest that the comparatively higher exposure of the younger high-exposure CLIL group has the potential to override the one-year cognitive advantage of the older, EFL-only learners.
Open Access
Motivation towards the foreign language (English) and regional language (Basque) in immersion schools: does CLIL in the foreign language make a difference?
(SAGE Publications, 2021) Lázaro Ibarrola, Amparo; Azpilicueta Martínez, Raúl; Institute for Advanced Social Research - ICOMMUNITAS; Gobierno de Navarra / Nafarroako Gobernua
Motivation to learn languages strongly correlates with language achievement, and the school context has a great influence on the motivation of young learners (YLs). A key rationale for the implementation of content and language integrated learning (CLIL) programs, therefore, was pupil motivation. Very few studies have measured motivation in this context, especially in primary schools. Even fewer have done so in bilingual areas, where the continuation of widespread use of the regional language often depends on its presence in the school system and where CLIL reduces this presence. To address these gaps, motivation towards the foreign language (FL), English, and the regional language, Basque, was measured in 399 YLs of English (aged 10–12 years) in Basque immersion schools. The learners were divided into a CLIL group (n = 230), with English as a foreign language (EFL) and CLIL lessons, and a non-CLIL group (n = 169), which received only EFL lessons. Results showed that the CLIL learners had a more positive attitude towards English and a slightly lower motivation towards Basque. This suggests that increasing the amount of exposure to the foreign language (FL) via CLIL lessons improves the motivation towards English but could decrease the instrumental motivation towards the regional language.
Open Access
Revising expectations: the effect of different levels of CLIL exposure on young learners' oral performance
(John Benjamins Publishing, 2024-12-17) Azpilicueta Martínez, Raúl; Ciencias humanas y de la educación; Giza eta Hezkuntza Zientziak; Institute for Advanced Social Research - ICOMMUNITAS; Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa
Research evidence predominantly based on studies with older learners suggests that Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) instruction yields significant language gains when exposure exceeds 300 hours (Muñoz, 2015). However, the impact of high-intensity CLIL on young learners' oral proficiency remains underexplored. This study examined fluency, pronunciation, and productive vocabulary measures in young L1-Spanish learners (mean age = 10.46) across four groups: non-CLIL (n = 23), low-CLIL (n = 21), high-CLIL (n = 32), and a younger high-CLIL group (n = 32; mean age = 9.84) with 0, 707, 2473, and 2164 CLIL hours, respectively. Socioeconomic status and extramural exposure were controlled. Intraclass correlations, Kruskal-Wallis, post-hoc, and Friedman tests were conducted. Significant advantages were limited to both high-CLIL groups over the non-CLIL group at the vocabulary level, providing policymakers with empirical evidence about the markedly different outcomes of high, and low-CLIL programmes in relation to oral gains with young learners.
Open Access
What lies beneath: L1 morphosyntax seeping in through young learners’ EFL
(Springer, 2019) Azpilicueta Martínez, Raúl; Ciencias Humanas y de la Educación; Giza eta Hezkuntza Zientziak
Recent findings regarding L1 use among students learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL) have called into question the notion of a negative correlation between proficiency and lexical crosslinguistic influence (CLI). However, interaction-based studies often focus on CLI via explicit L1 use exclusively. While this study also analyses explicit L1 use, it primarily taps into the underlying impact of L1 morphosyntax shaping part of the students’ oral production in L2, a fact which has already been pointed out in the literature, yet needs looking into in further detail. Participants were 20 children aged eight, L1 Spanish beginner learners of English in a Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) programme. They took on the narrator role in a communicative task which they carried out firstly with (i) an expert speaker of English and, subsequently with (ii) a matched-level peer. The results boast an extremely low rate of explicit L1 use, yet reveal the existence of more pervasive CLI in the form of structural transfer, particularly so when children interacted with their peers. This fact might hint at a trade-off strategy for their low mastery of the target language.