From “This is impossible” to “I will make the standard higher”: A close look at interaction in the CLIL classroom

Miquel Àngel Fuentes,Elena Hernández

doi:10.5565/rev/jtl3.374

Abstract

This paper aims at exploring the complexities of students’ interaction in a collaborative learning task set within a CLIL unit in the EFL classroom. By way of illustration, a sample from a 4th year classroom grade in a secondary school of Catalonia has been collected. The paper examines, through the students’ outcome, the impact of cooperative learning in a content-rich information swap task and discusses the role of content and language integrated learning in the classroom. This paper concludes with several implications for research and practice.

Highlights

Interaction in the Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) classroom has been proven to be a key element both as a medium for the achievement of the goal and the goal itself
The research described here has been carried out by examining the students’ oral productions from a qualitative perspective through content analysis, supported by conversation analysis., The analysis looks at data obtained from the audio files recorded during two sessions and the detailed transcripts of a set of excerpts taken from these recordings
This study focuses on the use of cooperative learning in an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom and its impact on students, observing how they negotiate and cope with the new information through team work

Summary

Introduction

Interaction in the Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) classroom has been proven to be a key element both as a medium for the achievement of the goal and the goal itself. Interaction among students involves numerous interesting implications for empirical research. This paper’s focus is set on how students process the content in an information swap task in an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom though cooperative work. The research described here has been carried out by examining the students’ oral productions from a qualitative perspective through content analysis, supported by conversation analysis., The analysis looks at data obtained from the audio files recorded during two sessions and the detailed transcripts of a set of excerpts taken from these recordings

Objectives

Discussion

Conclusion