Clil methodology improves outcomes in L1 written production and does not negatively impact results in other academic subjects taught in L2, from Andalucia has found. But could research support for the controversial Bilingual Education programmes impact enrolment in private sector programmes for Spanish Young Learners?
The Andalucian study, directed by Professor Francisco Lorenzo of Pablo Olavide University, found that 16 year olds in bilingual schools, which operate a CLIL system, tested at B1 and B2 in English at aged 16, compared to the A1–A2 levels typically achieved by their peers in non-bilingual schools. Some 500,000 children in the region are currently enrolled in bilingual programmes.
In 2017, a large study in Madrid involving over 2,000 students in 170 schools, found average levels of English in the capital was higher, at B1 and B2, but only 5 per cent of children in bilingual schools did not reach B1 compared to 45 per cent in the non-bilingual schools. In addition, 27 per cent of 16 year olds in bilingual schools tested at C1 or above compared to just 3 per cent of other state schools students.
The success of the CLIL revolution may already be having an impact on local private language school enrolments. Only 30 per cent of the 15-16 year olds who took part in the Madrid research reported doing extra English outside school, around half of them were enrolled in private language schools. By contrast, an EU language survey in 2012 found that some 40 per cent of Spanish teens took private English lessons.
Anecdotal evidence from language schools in Madrid, however, suggests that enrolments have remained high for under-11s, at least partially because entrance to the elite bilingual sections in the bilingual schools, is based on a student’s English scores at the end of primary.
In Andalucia, however, where entrance into the bilingual section is based on parental choice, schools report enrolments have remained steady or increased slightly from families where the children are not in bilingual schools.
Spain’s language schools, however, have seen the numbers of adult courses increase in the last decade, particularly for teachers. This looks set to continue.
The Andalucian study notes that the main area for improvement in the region’s bilingual schools is the language levels of teachers, where the requirement looks set to move from B2 to C1. C1 is already the base level for teachers in Madrid.
In the short term, language schools in English speaking countries are unlikely to see the dramatic decline in Spanish enrolments experienced when the central government stopped funding courses for school leavers, though as Spain’s English levels reach those of Northern European countries, the number of children travelling to learn English will gradually decrease.
The demand for teacher’s courses, however, is likely to hold steady for some time yet, as new regions of Spain adopt CLIL methodology, and as the level of English required by teachers continues to increase.
