ABSTRACT
Background and purpose: Foreign language (FL) learning in many school contexts is often just another subject in a crowded curriculum. Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) has been found to be a viable way to deliver content curricula while devoting instructional time to the development of students’ FL proficiency. The current study focused on a CLIL approach used to teach Mandarin as an FL in an Australian primary school and asked the overarching question: How does the teaching of content through a CLIL approach support children’s L2 acquisition?
Methods: Targeted observations of student-teacher interactions were conducted over two years in four science and math classes with children aged 5–9 years, totaling 164 hours of observation data. We examined whether and how four CLIL teachers and their students engaged in the type of interaction found to be facilitative of L2 acquisition, by focusing on meaning-focused input, meaning-focused output, corrective feedback, and focus on form. In addition, teachers’ and students’ use of first language was analyzed.
Findings: The results showed that the teachers scaffolded students’ understanding of L2 input; however, students’ age mediated the teachers’ use of the instructional techniques.
Conclusion: The CLIL approach used for teaching Mandarin in this context was effective in that it provided learners with abundant opportunities facilitative of L2 learning.
Pedagogical suggestions: CLIL enhances teaching efficiency, allowing school-aged students to learn content while learning an L2. Teachers are encouraged to promote the interactional moves that facilitate SLA in CLIL classes.
