In our modern multi-cultural world being able to speak more than one language brings many opportunities such as ability to communicate with people from other countries, learning about different cultures, better employment options and many other assets. Learning other languages is very important, especially in younger age, which means that teachers need to adapt their teaching strategies and models as foreign language learning starts at lower age than in the past. One of the most effective ways of teaching foreign languages today is Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), a teaching approach, where contents of non-language subjects are addressed in the target foriegn language.
In the theoretical part of the master's thesis we defined CLIL approach, its development, aims, forms of implementation, advantages and disadvantages, then we presented its execution in European educational systems and in Slovenia, then we provided an overview of the teacher education for using CLIL, and finally, summarized the research findings in the field of CLIL. In the empirical part we investigated to what extent and how is CLIL present in the 3rd grade in different primary schools in Goriška region and what teachers think about their competence for its use in English lessons in the first triennium. We used quantitative research approach. In the research we integrated teachers that teach English in the 3rd grade in Goriška region. We collected data with partially structured observation schema and partially structured interview. The aim of the research was to discover to what extent and in what ways is CLIL present in our schools and what teachers think about their competence for its use in English lessons in the first triennium.
The results have shown that teachers in the studied sample know the CLIL approach and that most of them occasionaly use it in their lessons in different forms. The approach in English lessons is presented by four dimensions: content, cognition, communication and culture. The most distinct indicator of the approach in the area of content is integration of English with other subjects of the curriculum with different themes, in the area of cognition the indicator is planning activities on different levels of difficulty in the CLIL matrix, in the area of communication the indicator is appropriate use of language in English lessons, and in the area of culture the indicator is infusion of culture elements in the lessons in different ways. The results of the study have also shown that most of the teachers feel competent to use CLIL in English lessons in the first triad.
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