The effect of CLIL on productive thematic vocabulary

Abstract

In recent years, content and language integrated learning (CLIL) has become increasingly popular throughout Spain. One suggested benefit of this approach is that it increases students’ exposure to the language and facilitates their acquisition of subject-specific vocabulary (SSV). However, there is a scarcity of research demonstrating this advantage, particularly in terms of lexical availability (LA). This has led to calls to focus on semantic prompts which are linked to the CLIL subject, to better understand the effect of this linguistic exposure. This study investigates the LA of students taking either science or economics through English. Results indicate that CLIL instruction plays an important role in acquiring SSV, revealing that it can help students improve their token production to the extent that they can effectively bridge the gap between them and students with a higher language level and greater token production in other domains.