Irene Guzman

The impact of language exposure on language learning is acknowledged (Pujadas & Muñoz, 2020; Pattemore & Muñoz, 2020), but few studies have addressed its influence on writing (Strobl & Baten, 2021). This study examines how English exposure beyond the classroom relates to student writing. A total of n = 40 participants (n = 20 with B2 level; n = 20 with C2 level) participated in the study.

The study explores the impact of language attitudes on third language (English) writing. A total of 40 participants (20 from the B2 level and another 20 from the C2 level) from an Official Language School in the Valencian Community took part in the study. Data were collected by means of semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire adapted from Lasagabaster and Huguet (2007), together with and a written composition evaluated using Jacobs et al.’s (1981) taxonomy.

Content and language integrated learning (CLIL) has captured the attention of both teachers and researchers (Dalton-Puffer, 2017; Pavón Vázquez, & Méndez García, 2017; San Isidro, 2018; Otto & Estrada, 2019). However, while research interests have predominantly focused on the comparison between CLIL and EFL students’ competence, there seems to be a need to explore the methodological approaches that best trigger the learning of language and content in CLIL settings.

The study of teachers’ attitudes towards languages has received some attention, as multilingualism has become one of the main educational targets for European school systems (Cenoz 2019; Liyanage & Tao 2020). Several authors (Lasagabaster 2017; Safont 2007) have claimed that language attitudes may play a crucial role in multilingual education.

The exclusive use of the target language in the classroom has dominated language teaching in the past. However, the mixing of languages, often referred as translanguaging is frequently observed in multilingual classrooms. The aim of this paper is to examine teachers’ linguistic choices in the classroom, and their attitudes towards the three languages in the educational context in the Valencian community. Data were collected in three schools adopting three different language models, namely those of an English-based, a Catalan-based, and a Spanish-based language model.

It is widely accepted that the learning of a new language, among other advantages, promotes respect and interest of the students towards other cultures and languages. The question is how learning languages can be promoted in educational settings. The aim of the present study is to explore the principles of communicative language teaching in primary-education CLIL and FL classrooms.