Expanding students’ linguistic repertoire through CLIL teaching and learning – an action research in a high school chemistry classroom in Taiwan

With the implementation of the new curriculum reform in 2018, the Ministry of Education in Taiwan suggested that students should use English not only for interpersonal communication but also to communicate with other content subject areas. However, educators and researchers need to focus more for learners using English as a foreign language (EFL learners) in learning content subjects, e.g. science. Therefore, strong language support, such as that under Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) approaches, is essential for Taiwanese students who are still mostly EFL learners. This approach can enhance their understanding of chemical knowledge using English as a medium of instruction (EMI). The central thesis of this study is students' performance in a rich language support classroom context in high cognitive demand in a chemistry classroom. This study aims to monitor students' learning progress to evaluate the potential effectiveness of CLIL in 2 months of learning and teaching in chemical kinetics and dynamic equilibrium. Research questions include the extent of students' knowledge acquisition in vocabulary and sentence level and teachers' and students' perceptions of CLIL instructions. This action research, conducted with a group of 29 students, began with content and language instruction through CLIL bridging pedagogies (Lin, 2016) in Grade 10 chemistry lessons. The students' delayed post-test was then analysed quantitatively using a t-test to measure their learning outcomes. Furthermore, oral and written discourse was analysed qualitatively to determine teachers' effectiveness towards teaching and learning using CLIL in the cognitive domain. This comprehensive approach ensures a thorough understanding of the impact of CLIL on both students and teachers. Additionally, semi-structured questionnaires were utilised to understand students' attitudes after CLIL instruction. The pedagogical and empirical implications of this study will be discussed in detail, providing Taiwanese educators with a comprehensive understanding of the benefits of CLIL in content lessons.