Abstract
Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) programs are often praised for bringing equity to foreign language learning (e.g., Lorenzo et al., 2020). However, streaming processes, such as those of the Community of Madrid Bilingual Program, may reinforce social inequalities among students (e.g., Llinares & Evnitskaya, 2020). In line with recent research comparing CLIL students’ affective factors in high exposure (HE) and low exposure (LE) tracks (e.g., Fernández-Agüero & Hidalgo-McCabe, 2020), the present study examines potential differences in the socioeconomic status (SES), CLIL motivation and exposure to English of HE and LE students at a bilingual (Spanish/English) secondary school in a low SES town in Madrid. A questionnaire measuring cultural and economic capital, CLIL motivation, and teachers’ use of English was administered to a sample of LE and all HE students in year 10. Results show that the students of lowest and highest SES were concentrated in LE and HE tracks, respectively. In the LE track, CLIL and English teachers used English less frequently, and students exhibited lower intrinsic motivation. For students with lower English proficiency (often of lower SES), access to the cultural and economic capital afforded by knowledge of English may be constrained by fewer meaningful learning opportunities.
Highlights
In recent decades, the European Union has set its sights on increasing multilingualism to “unite people,” “strengthen intercultural understanding,” and enhance employability and mobility (European Commission, n.d.)
The results showed that, in this context, median levels of students’ cultural and economic capital were only slightly higher in high exposure (HE) than low exposure (LE), but students with either more or less capital than the median were more frequently found in HE or LE, respectively (Research Question 1)
Research suggests that more extensive, pedagogically informed exposure to English may benefit these students: Lorenzo et al (2021) showed that low socioeconomic status (SES) students perform better academically at bilingual schools without streaming, and Somers and Llinares (2021) demonstrated that HE confers both linguistic capital and cultural capital. It seems that at this school higher SES students were more often placed in the HE strand and granted the opportunity to accumulate this additional capital
Summary
The European Union has set its sights on increasing multilingualism to “unite people,” “strengthen intercultural understanding,” and enhance employability and mobility (European Commission, n.d.). Compared with programs in other autonomous communities, its admission process is unique: families choose whether to send their children to bilingual or monolingual schools, and bilingual schools place, or “stream,” students in high exposure (HE) or low exposure (LE) tracks based on English proficiency. Both self-selection and streaming have come under scrutiny, as they may lead to “cream skimming” in which the most socioeconomically and academically select students enter bilingual schools and HE tracks, respectively (Mediavilla et al, 2019; Fernández-Agüero & HidalgoMcCabe, 2020). As for affect, HE students expressed feelings “Both self-selection and streaming have come under scrutiny, as they may lead to “cream skimming” in which the most socioeconomically and academically select students enter bilingual schools and HE tracks, respectively
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