In this presentation, the objective is to introduce a critical approach to English language teaching in EFL contexts. This approach takes into consideration the curricular and contextual factors in a content and language integrated language learning (CLIL) program in a primary school context (grades 1 to 4). We will be focusing on teachers’ awareness of principles of CLIL and its implementation in young learners’ English language classrooms. We discuss the significance of the teachers’ methodological awareness to understand and implement a CLIL approach in English language teaching in their primary classrooms. In Turkey, a CLIL-based curricular approach in primary and secondary school settings has been a very popular methodology especially in private schools in Turkey since late 1990s. In this respect, the present study focuses on to what extent teachers are aware of CLIL and its significance in teaching English to young learners in their private primary school context where students are exposed to an intensive English program as well as their Turkish Ministry of National Education based subject curriculum. In this presentation, the findings of the study concerning the analysis of all year long tasks elicited from spoken and written language production will be reported. The Cognition, Culture, Content, Communication (4Cs) framework (Coyle, 2005) is used to analyze the results of the study. The results revealed that the use of a CLIL methodology facilitates teachers’ implementation of a CLIL-based curricular approach on subjects covered in general primary school curricula in helping students gain confidence in their English language use. The findings will be dicsussed in relation to contextual factors as well as SLA principles and pedagogies.
