CONTENT AND LANGUAGE INTEGRATED LEARNING (CLIL) IN DEVELOPING THE LANGUAGE COMPETENCE OF BILINGUAL CHILDREN

Abstract

This small-scale exploratory study examined the use of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) with bilingual children of primary-school age. It investigated the didactic potential of CLIL for developing subject knowledge and language competence simultaneously in a non-native language. The study involved 24 children aged 7-9 and used structured classroom observation, analysis of instructional materials, pre- and post-cycle oral and written tasks, and brief consultations with two teachers. The instructional cycle comprised ten lessons organised around the CLIL 4Cs framework. Descriptive comparison indicated broader and more independent use of subject-specific vocabulary, less frequent complete reversion to the home language when difficulties arose, and greater willingness to participate in target-language communication. However, children with lower target-language proficiency sometimes experienced cognitive overload and required additional visual, gestural, or translation-based scaffolding. The findings suggest that CLIL can support functional language development in bilingual primary classrooms when tasks are differentiated and language support is carefully planned.