CLIL realities through the lens of English and content teachers

Abstract

This research investigated six established areas for quality (Ortega-Martín et al., 2018) in the implementation of CLIL programmes in a Spanish monolingual autonomous community from the perspective of its teachers, in particular focusing on possible differences of opinion between content and English language teachers, an understudied area. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected from 36 teachers at four secondary schools in urban Extremadura so as to assess the perceptions of the execution and the effectiveness of current CLIL education programmes, identifying specifically their potential challenges. Significant differences between content teachers and English teachers’ perceptions in six areas under study are examined, from programme management to academic results. Data results indicate that although programmes are viewed quite positively by both groups of teachers, some important areas of difference exist, including the amount of time the L2 is used in a content class and the language skills that are worked in a CLIL environment. To address this gap, suggestions are made to establish more widely accepted standards for CLIL programme objectives.