Thirteenth International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Abstract

This study deals with the professional development of content and language integrated learning (CLIL) and the specific implications for professors at the university level. Some universities find themselves in what Donald Schön calls a “squeeze-play”: An educational institution in which educational policy plays a small role. There are some specific considerations related to professionals in higher education, their needs and their expectations. Without the practical element, professional development in education is detached from the setting and the real challenges professors face every day. We will focus the discussion on student performance to include interaction, final results, as well as student opinion. The initial purpose of the research project was professor assessment through student data. It is this student data that will be the focus of this paper and the three research questions are as follows: Will Spanish students interact in a CLIL class? How will CLIL student results compare with control group taught in first language? How do students rate themselves and their instructors after the CLIL experience? All of this data were used in an action research project whereby professors shared in the data analysis and found students’ response to their teaching enriching to their professional practice.