Katarzyna Papaja, University of Silesia
Researching motivation in CLIL – a comparative study conducted in Poland, Austria and Holland
Motivation is an important affective variable to consider in the CLIL classroom, especially
when pupils come from different historical and economical backgrounds. CLIL was implemented into
Polish education in the late 1990s mainly in secondary education. In Austria and Holland, on the
other hand, content teaching through a foreign language was formally introduced in the early 1990s
in all types of schools. Even though the aim of introducing this type of education was the same in
Poland, Austria and Holland, namely to improve foreign language learning, the political, economical
and social situation was completely different in these countries.
In order to determine motivation of Polish, Austrian and Dutch CLIL learners from the perspective of
specific requirements imposed by a CLIL curriculum in these countries I decided to conduct a
research among young Polish, Austrian and Dutch CLIL learners.
Unlike regular English courses, CLIL provides additional learning challenges resulting from the fact
that language is not a sole concern, but it is a tool whereby CLIL learners study content subjects. This
fact is predicted to shape learners' motivation that will differ from the one measured for regular
English learners. What is more, I was also interested in discovering whether motivation of Polish CLIL
learners differs from motivation of Austrian and Dutch CLIL learners. The intention of this address is
to discuss the role of the CLIL Polish, Austrian and Dutch learner in understanding motivation to
learn subjects through a foreign language.
Keywords: CLIL, bilingual education, motivation, language learner