Open Access
A matter of age: negotiation for meaning in child and adult interactions
(Universidad de Vigo, 2022) Azpilicueta Martínez, Raúl; Lázaro Ibarrola, Amparo; Ciencias Humanas y de la Educación; Giza eta Hezkuntza Zientziak
Los hallazgos en estudios de interacción con poblaciones adultas han sido extrapolados a menudo a la población infantil sin apenas modificaciones. Además, las diferencias encontradas entre niños y adultos provienen de estudios en los que estas poblaciones realizan diferentes tareas o tienen diferentes niveles de competencia lingüística. Este trabajo de investigación pretende ofrecer una comparación más fiable mediante el análisis de interacciones de adultos y niños con el mismo nivel de competencia y realizando la misma tarea. Así, nuestro estudio analiza las estrategias de negociación de significado (NdS) y sus funciones comunicativas en las narraciones de una historia con vacíos de información de 20 aprendices jóvenes (8-9 años) y 14 adultos con un adulto experto. Los participantes compartían el castellano como L1 y tenían un nivel básico en inglés como lengua extranjera. Los resultados muestran que el grupo adulto utilizó más estrategias de NdS, a excepción de las comprobaciones de comprensión. Sin embargo, ambas poblaciones mostraron una proporción similar en el uso y funciones de dichas estrategias y una clara tendencia a imitar elementos de la producción de su interlocutor, más competente lingüísticamente, mediante el uso de repeticiones. Estos hallazgos sugieren que, con bajos niveles de competencia lingüística, el impacto del factor edad puede estar más relacionado con la cantidad de NdS que con el tipo y funciones de sus estrategias.
Open Access
The impact of CLIL intensity and extramural English on the receptive skills of young EFL learners: CLIL intensity and extramural English
(John Benjamins Publishing, 2025-04-28) Lázaro Ibarrola, Amparo; Roothooft, Hanne; Ciencias humanas y de la educación; Giza eta Hezkuntza Zientziak
Research on proficiency levels among instructed learners is abundant but still has significant gaps. There is little research with young learners, barely any research comparing different degrees of CLIL intensity, and very few studies considering exposure to extramural English (EE), that is, exposure to English outside of school via informal activities or private lessons. To address these gaps, our study investigates how the intensity of exposure in school and EE impact the reading and listening skills of 219 learners (aged 11-12) of English following high-CLIL (n= 85), low-CLIL (n= 82), and non-CLIL (n = 52) tracks. The results for reading and listening, without considering EE, indicate that the high-CLIL group obtained a significantly higher score in reading, but without significant differences in listening. EE was frequent, particularly among high-CLIL participants, and reading, watching TV, and listening to music positively correlated with scores. Private English lessons were associated with higher scores in the non-CLIL group.
Open Access
Intensity matters inside and outside primary school: evidence from high-CLIL, low-CLIL, and non-CLIL learners
(Georgetown University, 2024-11-28) Lázaro Ibarrola, Amparo; Ciencias humanas y de la educación; Giza eta Hezkuntza Zientziak; Institute for Advanced Social Research - ICOMMUNITAS; Universidad Publica de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa
Research involving secondary school EFL learners has demonstrated that greater intensity of exposure, via CLIL lessons, yields notable benefits. However, studies in primary school are scarce and less optimistic. Furthermore, little is known about the effects of different degrees of CLIL intensity and of learners' exposure to Extramural English (EE) through formal or informal out-of-school activities. To address these gaps, this study examines the impact of CLIL and EE on the proficiency of 180 primary school learners of English (aged 10-11 years) divided into a high-CLIL (N = 78), a low-CLIL (N = 56), and a non-CLIL (N = 46) group. Results showed some advantages among high-CLIL learners, including higher scores and less intragroup variability, while no significant differences were observed between low-CLIL and non-CLIL learners. EE activities were common, with several weak but positive correlations found between EE and proficiency, particularly involving watching TV and reading, and mainly affecting non-CLIL learners.
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
Collaborative writing among young EFL learners in a school context: product and process
(Taylor and Francis, 2022) Lázaro Ibarrola, Amparo; Hidalgo Gordo, María Ángeles; Institute for Advanced Social Research - ICOMMUNITAS
The recent surge in studies on collaborative writing (CW) has providedvaluable insights into the product and process of writing. When writingtogether, adults tend to produce better texts and generate and resolvea large number of language-related episodes (LREs). Also, analyses ofthe dialogues of collaborative writers show that learners are able toco-construct knowledge and mainly focus their attention on thegeneration of ideas. As for young learners (YLs), the very few studiescomparing jointly and individually written texts have not identified anyadvantages in the use of collaboratively written drafts.Furthermore,while YLs also produce and resolve LREs in CW tasks, no study to datehas provided a thorough analysis of their dialogues. To address thesegaps, this study compares the products of primary school learners ofEnglish as a foreign language (EFL) aged 11–12 writing in pairs (n= 20)and individually (n= 19) and provides a thorough analysis of pair talk(process). Results suggest that collaborative writers produced moreaccurate texts and focused most of their efforts on the generation ofideas and on the discussion and successful resolution of LREs. In light ofthese results the implementation of CW with YLs is encouraged.
Open Access
What factors contribute to the proficiency of young EFL learners in primary school?: assessing the role of CLIL intensity, extramural English, non-verbal intelligence and socioeconomic status
(SAGE Journals, 2024-10-30) Lázaro Ibarrola, Amparo; Ciencias humanas y de la educación; Giza eta Hezkuntza Zientziak; Institute for Advanced Social Research - ICOMMUNITAS
Although multiple factors influence language proficiency in instructed settings, the prevalence of content and language integrated learning (CLIL) research in recent decades has placed intensity of exposure (via CLIL lessons) at center stage, sidelining other variables. This study aims to rectify this by examining the impact of CLIL alongside three additional factors: extramural English (EE), socioeconomic status (SES), and non-verbal intelligence (NVI). Specifically, this study analyses the interplay of these variables in the proficiency of 171 young English learners (aged 10-11 years) in Navarre, Spain. The participants were divided into a low-intensity (LI) (n = 54) group and a high-intensity (HI) (n = 117) group depending on exposure to English in school. Results indicate that HI learners are superior in reading, and even more clearly in speaking. EE is very frequent in both groups but more abundant among HI learners, and it shows several positive associations with learners¿ scores. Higher NVI levels positively correlate with all skills in both groups, except for speaking, which appears to be affected by EE and, to a lesser extent, by SES.
Open Access
Talking to write: insights into the oral interactions of young EFL writers repeating a collaborative task
(De Gruyter Brill, 2025) Hidalgo Gordo, María Ángeles; Lázaro Ibarrola, Amparo; Ciencias humanas y de la educación; Giza eta Hezkuntza Zientziak
Writing and speaking, being considered the productive skills, have been traditionally studied in isolation in second language acquisition research. However, these two skills are interwoven in collaborative writing (CW) tasks. In CW, the process of writing a text, which had been traditionally considered a solitary task (Lázaro-Ibarrola, 2023; Storch, 2005), is carried out in collaboration, with two or more learners talking to each other to decide what to write and how to write it. Thus, CW tasks enable the very desirable integration of skills, in this case of writing and speaking, for teaching and research purposes (Hirvela & Belcher, 2016; Lázaro-Ibarrola, 2023).
Open Access
The reading rainbow of young multilingual learners: reading comprehension in the majority (Spanish), regional (Basque) and foreign (English) language
(Elsevier, 2025-03-31) Lázaro Ibarrola, Amparo; Luquin Urtasun, María; Roothooft, Hanne; Ciencias humanas y de la educación; Giza eta Hezkuntza Zientziak
Reading comprehension is crucial in education, serving as the foundation for acquiring knowledge. In multilingual settings, children must develop these skills in multiple languages. However, there is limited understanding of comprehension levels across languages and of the role of influencing factors such as language exposure, non-verbal intelligence (NVI), socioeconomic status (SES), and extramural reading (ER). This study explores how these variables impact the reading comprehension of young learners (aged 10–11) in English (foreign language), Spanish (main language), and Basque (regional language for Basque-immersion participants). The participants were divided into a high-intensity (HI) group (N = 118) and a low-intensity (LI) group (N = 81) within Basque-immersion programs. Results showed correlations among reading comprehension scores in Spanish, English, and Basque. While both groups demonstrated similar Spanish comprehension levels, the HI group excelled in English, particularly among high-NVI learners. LI learners scored lower in Basque compared to Spanish. Regression analyses indicated that NVI and, to a lesser extent, SES influenced reading comprehension across languages. Also, HI learners engaged more in English ER, whereas LI learners favored Basque. However, ER did not have a significant impact on their reading scores. Based on these findings, pedagogical implications for multilingual education contexts will be discussed.