| Content and language integrated learning (CLIL) is a dual-focused educationalapproach in which an additional language is used for the learning and teaching ofboth content and language. The framework of CLIL integrates four components:context (subject matter), communication (language learning and using–meaningfulinteraction), cognition (learning and thinking processes) and culture (developingintercultural understanding and global citizenship).This empirical study attempts explore the following questions:(1) Does CLIL influence the English learning motivation of vocational schoollearners?(2) If yes, to what extent does CLIL influence the English learning motivationof vocational school learners with different English proficiency?(3) If no, why doesn’t CLIL influence the English learning motivation ofvocational school learners?The participants, totally75people, consisted of two intact classes ofGuangzhou Electronics Information School, a vocational school. One class wasdesigned as the experiment group (n=40) and the other as the control group (n=35).During the14-week experiment, both groups had two English classes per week. Theonly difference was that the experiment group learned computer English under CLILcontext, whereas the control group learned with grammar–translation approach--inthe traditional way as the rest classes of the school did. On one hand, the participantscompleted the self-report student motivational state questionnaire three times:pre-experiment, while-experiment and post-experiment; on the other hand, anEnglish teacher completed student motivational state questionnaire also three times:after observing the three English classes in pre-experiment, while-experiment and post-experiment. In addition, the interview was the supplement of the validity of thedata.This study adopted a comparative research method, which included not onlyinter-group comparison but also inner-group comparison. The inter-groupcomparisons of English learning motivation between the two groups at the beginning,in the middle and at the end of the experiment were carried out respectively.Meanwhile, the English learning motivation between pre-experiment andpost-experiment of high English proficiency sub-group and low English proficiencysub-group in the experiment group was compared respectively. The results revealedthe following major findings:(1) CLIL did improve the English learning motivation of vocational schoollearners after the experiment, although there were no significant change of Englishlearning motivation between CLIL learners and non-CLIL learners in the middle ofthe experiment.(2) Under the CLIL circumstance, the English learning motivation of both thehigh English proficiency students and low English proficiency students increasedobviously, and the former increased more significantly than the latter.In conclusion, CLIL is an effective teaching method in increasing the Englishlearning motivation of vocational school students, particularly that of the highEnglish proficiency. Based on the above findings, the suggestions for furtherresearches on related issues are proposed. |
