Advantages and Challenges with CLIL- a study examining teachers' thoughts on learner engagement and confidence within content and language integrated learning

The purpose of this study is to investigate how content and language integrated language learning (CLIL) is applied in international school classrooms in the southern part of Sweden, and to elaborate on how confidence in language use and learner engagement is best triggered in a content integrated setting. Previous findings regarding common practices in language education in Swedish schools reveal that authentic materials are still scarce in language classrooms. Textbooks and workbooks are the primary teaching resource. On the basis of our own observations we have noted that students’ confidence in using the language in authentic situations seem low and learner engagement is often lacking in such traditional educational settings. Hence, in this study, semi-structured, indepth interviews with three experienced language teachers at international schools were conducted. Our purpose was to explore how to bring the successful practices of those classrooms into the language classrooms of mainstream Swedish schools. A conclusion that can be drawn from the study is that both learner engagement and students’ confidence in using the language are characteristic. It can also be noted that content integration, with extensive focus on authentic materials and cooperation, promote language development. In their experiences, all different types of learners do benefit from the approach, but the main challenge outlined by the participants is the planning of the teaching units, as to provide the right support and challenges for the different learners, and to design the tasks so that natural collaboration will occur. According to the respondents, a key factor for introducing a content integrated collaborative language classroom to new students, is to inform them ofthe reasons for the change, and to allow time for adaption, taking small steps at the time