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Title:
The effectiveness of CLIL approach in enhancing vocabulary acquisition and cultural awareness of CFL learners
Abstract:
For over a decade now, CLIL has proved to be one of the most innovative methodologies to raise awareness on the benefits of integrating a dual focus on non-linguistic disciplines and second language acquisition. Statistics show how its adoption positively affects students’ outcomes in terms of cognitive skills and language communication competence in a lifelong-learning perspective. Although a teaching design based on CLIL methodology has been proposed in the Teaching Chinese ad Second Language (TCSL) area (Orton & Cui, 2016), still little to no attention has been paid to the teaching of Chinese as second language (SL) through said approach.
With these premises in mind, we decided to embrace the CLIL methodology in the delivery of six 120-minute-lessons of Chinese culture to a group of 15 second-year Italian university students with an intermediate level Chinese proficiency.
The research was guided by two questions: (1) to what extent may CLIL based teaching enhance Chinese SL learners’ vocabulary and cultural awareness? (2) What are students’ perceptions of Chinese CLIL based teaching methodology?
Data, collected through pre- and post-test focusing on learners’ cultural and linguistic knowledge of Chinese dining manners and etiquette rules, as well as a perception survey administrated at the end of the course, seem to back up our initial hypothesis of CLIL providing students with the necessary skills to study and work in a globalized environment thanks to their constant exposure to more authentic materials and the instructor’s focus on the scaffolding of cultural awareness and understanding.
