Lexical availability and motivation in CLILthe effects of language of instruction and gender

Résumé

Over the last two decades, Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) has become widely implemented throughout Spain, with the hope of enhancing foreign-language abilities and encouraging multilingualism (Ruiz de Zarobe & Lasagabaster, 2010). However, there has been such enthusiasm for the approach that its implementation has largely outpaced research into its effectiveness (Pérez-Cañado, 2012). In particular, there are four key issues which need to be addressed: the language of instruction, the acquisition of vocabulary, the learners’ motivation, and the influence of gender. Firstly, the vast majority of CLIL programmes throughout Spain are taught through the medium of English, prompting the use of the term CEIL (content-and-English integrated learning) (Dalton-Puffer, 2011). However, several schools also implement programmes through other important target languages (TLs) such as French (Ruiz de Zarobe & Lasagabaster, 2010). These languages other than English, however, have largely been neglected, both in research and practice. Within CLIL research Dalton-Puffer, Nikula and Smit (2010) have consequently called for comparative research across different TLs, so as to provide insight into the strengths and weaknesses of CLIL language-independently. Secondly, CLIL modules have been shown to produce positive effects on students' learning of content-related vocabulary (Heras & Lasagabaster, 2015). Within the field of lexical availability (LA), there have been recent calls to better understand this effect, by focusing on LA prompts which may be relevant to the CLIL subject and by including some measure of proficiency in order to determine its influence (Canga Alonso, 2017). Thirdly, motivation is well understood as an undeniably important factor in learning a foreign language (FL) and has been found to play a more significant role in CLIL than in non-CLIL settings (Navarro & García Jiménez, 2018). However, there may be a fundamental difference between the motivation for learning English compared with other languages, given that English is increasingly regarded as a basic educational skill, crucial to professional development (Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2013). There is thus a clear need to investigate CLIL language learning motivation in English as compared to other TLs, so as to determine whether the benefits hold true for languages other than English. Finally, research into gender and LA in Spain has largely shown a female advantage in younger learners and in early secondary school students. However, more research is needed to understand whether this advantage remains in later school years, and whether CLIL instruction plays a role. Female students have also generally been found to exhibit higher language learning motivation, however, there are suggestions that a CLIL context may provide a blurring effect of gender differences (Lasagabaster, 2008), given the assumption that male students may compensate for lower FL learning motivation with higher motivation towards the CLIL subject (Heras & Lasagabaster, 2015). However, research to date has produced mixed findings on whether this is in fact the case. To address these gaps, this thesis aims to analyse the LA and language learning motivation of secondary school students enrolled simultaneously in English and French CLIL, exploring the influence of the language of instruction, the role of gender, and the effect of CLIL on these different factors. The participants are native Spanish speakers from 9th, 10th and 11th grade who in addition to studying English as a Foreign Language (EFL) and French as a Foreign Language (FFL) also study content subjects through the medium of these languages. The study adopts both a cross-sectional (9th to 10th grade) and longitudinal (10th to 11th grade) approach, with participants completing language level C-tests, LA tasks and language learning motivation questionnaires both in English and French. Results point to clear differences between participants’ LA and language learning motivation in English and French, to the advantage of English. In terms of LA, exposure to content-related vocabulary was found to influence the results from one grade to the next, and language level was found to play a clear role. Regarding motivation, in addition to reporting greater motivation towards English, there was a much stronger relationship between LA and motivation and between language level and motivation in English than in French. There were also indications that attitudes toward CLIL classes may play a vital role. In terms of gender, female students were found to produce a higher number of words than male students, however, there are indications that male students may exhibit greater lexical sophistication in terms of LA. While male and female students were equally motivated towards learning English, clearer differences arose in French. Finally, CLIL instruction was also found to play a very important role in the acquisition of content-related vocabulary. In particular, results revealed that CLIL has the potential to help students improve their LA to the extent that they can effectively bridge the gap between them and students with a higher language level and greater LA in other domains.