2018

Roiha, Anssi; Sommier, Mélodine

CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) has been claimed to create a positive attitude towards languages and language learning in general and to raise intercultural awareness. The studies on the topics have however remained scarce. This study examines the issue from former pupils’ perspective. The 24 participants, who received English-medium CLIL during their comprehensive school in the 1990s, were interviewed in-depth and the data were analysed qualitatively. Most participants felt that CLIL had had a very positive effect on their attitudes towards English. However, many considered that CLIL had partly been detrimental to their attitudes towards and learning of other languages. The views on intercultural attitudes differed more. Some participants however considered that CLIL had raised their intercultural awareness. This case study demonstrates that CLIL can be an effective teaching approach regarding pupils’ target language and intercultural attitudes which provides implications for future CLIL education and language teaching in general.