Chilean teachers’ beliefs regarding the use of L1 in CLIL settings
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Date
2022
Authors
Profesor/a Guía
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Idioma
en
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Publisher
Universidad Andrés Bello
Nombre de Curso
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Abstract
The use of the mother tongue in EFL classrooms has been a controversial topic for several
years among educators, linguists and researchers; and the term to define the use of more than
one language in the same interaction among people is called code-switching
(Gardner-Chloros, 2009). Some scholars claim, on the one hand, that it evidences a deficient
growth of the linguistic system of monolingual students (Baker, 2001). On the other hand,
advocates for the use of students’ mother tongue in second language learning argue that it is
indicative of language competence for multilingual people (Hopewell & Abril-Gonzalez,
2019). Despite this controversial issue as well as the language policies stated by the Ministry
of Education that emphasizes the need for English to be taught without using L1 (Mineduc,
2019), teachers still face a dilemma when stepping inside a classroom: whether to make use
of students’ first language or confine it to isolated circumstances. The main objective of this
research was to explore the beliefs of Chilean EFL and elementary teachers working in
bilingual environments in regards to the use of L1 in Content and Learning Integrated
Learning (CLIL) settings. The study followed a mixed method methodology and the data
collection strategy included an adapted version of the validated survey: CLIL Programme
evaluation (Pérez-Cañado, 2016) and a semi structured interview. The data was analyzed
using descriptive statistics for the quantitative instrument and thematic coding for the
qualitative instrument. Some major findings involved were related to some participants
giving higher importance to the content than to the language learning when assessing, and
feeling not trained enough to teach in CLIL settings. The conclusions of this study show that
teachers believe they need to use L1 to provide emotional support, scaffolding when teaching
contents and when focusing on assessment of the contents. It would be advisable for teachers in Chile to have the opportunity to develop their skills related to CLIL methodology and
English language proficiency.
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Tesina (Magíster en la Enseñanza del Inglés como Lengua Extranjera)
Keywords
Aprendizaje Integrado de Contenidos y Lenguas Extranjeras, Inglés, Enseñanza Básica, Chile