English learners’ willingness to communicate and achievement in clil and formal instruction contexts

Abstract

With the aim of broadening existing evidence that willingness to communicate (WTC) is strongly affected by learning context, this chapter examines WTC and achievement in CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) and non-CLIL learning contexts, a clearly under-researched area. It also aims to ascertain whether there is a relationship between learning context and participants’ WTC, on the one hand, and between language achievement and WTC in CLIL contexts, on the other. The sample consisted of 185 secondary education students of English from three semi-private schools in the Balearic Islands. Data were collected through the adapted Spanish version of the WTC Scale and the WTC-Meter. The results of the inter-subjects analyses indicate that CLIL participants exhibit WTC levels above their non-CLIL counterparts and that learners with higher WTC get better grades in the foreign language. Moreover, intra-subjects analyses show that there is no significant variation between CLIL learners in the CLIL context (social science delivered through English) and in the conventional English formal instruction context (EFI). These research findings and their pedagogical implications are analysed and discussed.