Negotiating political positions: subject-specific oral language use in CLIL classrooms

Abstract

While extant research on CLIL suggests positive impacts on lexical proficiency and on spoken language, the crucial question of the effect of CLIL on advanced learners, both in terms of language proficiency and content knowledge, has received less attention. Of particular interest here is the nexus between these in the area of spoken subject-specific language use, where the potential of CLIL as providing an additional language learning focus is particularly promising, yet under-researched. We argue here that the ability to negotiate a factual position appropriately is a key element of subject specific language use, relating to both content (through presenting and supporting claims based on an understanding of the underlying ideas) and to foreign language ability (by using formulations acceptable within the subject-specific use of the L2). As a theoretical framework for understanding these negotiations of generally opposing standpoints, we use argumentation theory.

The study was conducted in upper-secondary CLIL classes on European economics and politics in Austria. The classroom data consists of 16 hours of video-recorded classroom data, comprising different classroom events, i.e. teacher-whole class interactions, group work, and role plays. From these data, episodes of argumentation were extracted and analysed. Two types of argumentation patterns emerge, with one focused more on the joint construction and learning of new subject-specific content and language knowledge, and the other one on the enactment of such knowledge in interactions. Findings show that students’ engagement in these argumentations gives clear evidence of their subject-specific language proficiency in both prepared and unprepared oral production. As the type of classroom event has an effect on the specific argumentation patterns, the need for exposing students to a diversity of educational practice is underlined.

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