What is it about?
The Taiwan government has enforced educational policies that encourage implementation of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) in elementary school subject courses. Given concerns about the lack of content teachers with adequate English proficiency, the fixed curricula of subject courses, and young EFL learners' beginning English levels, a language-driven CLIL approach was implemented, in which a fifth-grade English teacher incorporated subject knowledge into English courses. This study is an investigation of the experiences of 105 fifth graders and their English teacher after two years of CLIL practice. The results show that this contextually responsive approach positively affected the students' learning as well as their motivation, suggesting that the CLIL approach should be supported by policy makers and stakeholders in the schools. The findings provide implications for future practice, policy, and research in similar settings.
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Why is it important?
The Taiwan government has enforced educational policies that encourage implementation of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) in elementary school subject courses. Given concerns about the lack of content teachers with adequate English proficiency, the fixed curricula of subject courses, and young EFL learners' beginning English levels, a language-driven CLIL approach was implemented, in which a fifth-grade English teacher incorporated subject knowledge into English courses. This study is an investigation of the experiences of 105 fifth graders and their English teacher after two years of CLIL practice. The results show that this contextually responsive approach positively affected the students' learning as well as their motivation, suggesting that the CLIL approach should be supported by policy makers and stakeholders in the schools. The findings provide implications for future practice, policy, and research in similar settings.
Perspectives
The Taiwan government has enforced educational policies that encourage implementation of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) in elementary school subject courses. Given concerns about the lack of content teachers with adequate English proficiency, the fixed curricula of subject courses, and young EFL learners' beginning English levels, a language-driven CLIL approach was implemented, in which a fifth-grade English teacher incorporated subject knowledge into English courses. This study is an investigation of the experiences of 105 fifth graders and their English teacher after two years of CLIL practice. The results show that this contextually responsive approach positively affected the students' learning as well as their motivation, suggesting that the CLIL approach should be supported by policy makers and stakeholders in the schools. The findings provide implications for future practice, policy, and research in similar settings.
Applied Language Sciences ALS
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This page is a summary of: Contextualizing CLIL in Elementary Schools in Taiwan and Beyond: A Language-Driven Perspective, Applied Language Sciences, January 2026, Global Digital Applied Linguistics Association,
DOI: 10.65553/als.260103.
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