How do young language learners see foreign language use
What is it about?
A foreign language can be learnt through teaching different subjects in the foreign language. This method is called Content and Lanuage Intergrated Learning (CLIL). We asked Finnish 8-year-olds learning French and English through CLIL to draw pictures of foreign language usage. Very often they linked a language to a country and nationality. Situations where foreign language is needed were often linked to travelling. Even though these children use either English or French every day at school, school or classroom did not show in the pictures.
Why is it important?
Previous studies on CLIl have concentrated on learning results, not on views on language. There is also very little research on languages other than English. Even though English is so dominant in the Finnish society and its media compared to other foreign languages, this did not show in the results. More surprising was the fact that even though children's daily activities at school are in French or English, school did not show in the pictures at all.