This paper focusses on in-service teachers in CLIL, bilingual and immersion programs in Australia, and their practices in language learning strategy (LLS) instruction. The paper analyses the catalogue of reported strategy instruction practices for language and content learning, and the teachers’ reported needs for further professional development.
This paper explores teachers’ experiences with professional development in pedagogies for Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) and the use of language learning strategy instruction (Oxford, 1990) in CLIL and other content-based language learning settings in Queensland, Australia. Pawlak and Oxford (2018) identify content-based language instruction as a “setting in which empirical investigations of LLS should gain momentum in response to the ongoing changes in how second and foreign languages are taught and learned” (p.530). Based on a survey of 100+ teachers who participated in professional development activities for CLIL, and follow-up interviews with self-nominated focus groups, this paper analyses teachers’ understanding and experience with language learning strategy (LLS) instruction in CLIL settings. Teachers were asked how important they rate memory, cognitive, metacognitive, social and compensation strategy instruction for their work in CLIL, bilingual and immersion lessons and programs. They were also asked what other strategies they teach their students to cope with the demands of learning in two languages, and which strategies (memory, cognitive, metacognitive, social and compensation) they would you like to learn more about, and why. The analysis of data presented here focusses on two aspects: 1) the catalogue of strategy instruction practices reported by teachers in content-based language learning programs; 2) their sense of which strategy instruction development would be most useful for their teaching practices in content-based language learning settings.
