Journal of Immersion and Content-Based Language Education - Online First

This article explores pre-service teachers’ L1 use in Thai Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) secondary classrooms through the translanguaging frame, which emphasises the use of the whole linguistic and semiotic repertoire in the classroom to make meaning and construct new knowledge. Teachers may choose to make deliberate use of learners’ linguistic repertoires in classroom activities to enhance understanding and develop learners’ communicative abilities beyond narrowly defined language codes. We investigate how pre-service English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers employed a translanguaging approach to model tasks and provide definitions of key terms. We explore the teachers’ beliefs concerning L1 use, drawing attention to the apparent tension between teachers’ practices and beliefs. The findings indicate that the teachers utilised translanguaging in different modes, including modeling tasks and translating L2 terms, to address students’ comprehension problems. However, the teachers expressed mixed beliefs concerning how and when L1 should be used.

The language learning outcomes of students in CLIL settings outstrip those of their peers who study the language in stand-alone classes. Research also indicates that in some cases the language development of CLIL students lacks grammatical accuracy, appropriate syntax, and lexical specificity. To combat this, CLIL teachers need to interweave the teaching of content and language. This can be a complex task as the vast majority of CLIL teachers do not have specific CLIL training. The issue is particularly complex at secondary level where teachers are content specialists. This article presents the research and theoretical underpinnings of SIOF, a pedagogical tool that focuses on scaffolding, input, output and feedback practices in the classroom. This tool has been developed to guide teachers in their efforts to place a more explicit focus on language. The authors discuss how SIOF can lead to what they term a Language Sensitive Learning Environment and the development of both language proficiency and subject knowledge.