From Bilingualism to Trilingualism Effects of Introducing CLIL in a Bilingual Community

Abstract

We are entering a new era in which it is an undeniable that foreign language (FL) learning is incredibly important due to globalization. Educational systems are well aware and are committed to improve students’ FL proficiency. Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) appears in this context as an innovative approach to foster multilingualism around Europe, since it is believed to help improve FL competence. CLIL entails the integration of a foreign language in the school curriculum as language of instruction with the dualfocused educational approach for the learning and teaching of both content and language. Research has mainly focused on CLIL’s impact on FL competence, but the number of studies done in multilingual contexts in which more than two languages coexist is insignificant (Merino & Lasagabaster, 2015). The coexistence of three languages in the curriculum is something increasingly common: the majority language coexists with a minority language (whether it is the vernacular language, in the case of bilingual communities, or as the L1 of immigrant children), and the foreign language. Throughout this dissertation we will refer to English as the FL since it is the most popular around Europe, due to its global importance. The overall aim of this dissertation is to examine the effect of CLIL on the learning of three languages and the general effect of its implementation in a bilingual school. Research has shown CLIL’s benefits in FL competence, but there is little attention paid to students’ other languages. The conclusions developed in this dissertation state that neither the minority language (L1) nor the majority (L2) is negatively affected by the implementation of CLIL and a foreign language (L3), even if students were less exposed to L1 and L2 in the school setting. It was also of interest to discover the attitudes of students and teachers in a trilingual school in which CLIL has been implemented. Thus we also analyze the linguistic attitudes that arise from this coexistence of languages.