Students' response to CLIL in tertiary education: the Case of Business administration and economics at Complutense University

Abstract

The implementation of CLIL in Spanish education is a natural consequence of the global use of English as a ‘lingua franca’. This affects not only primary and secondary education but also university, where a wide range of degrees are being taught in English as a medium of instruction (aka EMI). However, in contrast to Spanish primary and secondary education, which have received more attention (Sierra, 2011; Llinares and Whittaker, 2009; Halbach, 2009, inter alia), there is still a considerable lack of studies focusing on the Spanish university context and the attitude of both lecturers and students to the implementation of these EMI courses (Dafouz, 2011; Dafouz and Núñez, 2009; Dafouz et al, 2007; Muñoz 2001). The aim of this paper is to analyse students’ response to pro-CLIL implementation in the degrees offered by the Economics and Business Administration schools at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. The data used in the study have been collected by means of a questionnaire addressed to students where aspects like the effects of FL instruction on their own linguistic competence or their general attitude towards instruction in English are considered.

Keywords

• CLIL, tertiary education, students’ response, questionnaire