Cover not available
Article published In:
Journal of Immersion and Content-Based Language Education
Vol. 11:2 (2023) ► pp.204–228

(Re)construction of teacher identities in a soft-CLIL context

ORCID logo | Yeditepe University
| University of Stavanger

This study investigates 4 secondary school Turkish EFL teachers’ perceptions of their experiences in a new Soft-Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) context and explores whether these experiences led to the (re)construction of their identities. The data was collected through a focus group interview, netnography, and stimulated recalls and analyzed on the basis of inductive content analysis. According to the findings, role conflicts caused by lack of pedagogical knowledge on how to integrate content and language impeded a construction of an encompassing CLIL teacher identity. Therefore, ultimately, identity (re)construction was based on either content or language teacher identities. Adopting an interpretive paradigm, our study highlights the importance of investigating new CLIL teachers’ perceptions of their experiences in understanding their identity (re)constructions. It could thus offer implications for similar contexts, particularly by showing the importance of gathering teachers’ perceptions of experiences for CLIL teacher development.

Keywords: CLIL teacher identity, soft-CLIL, EFL teachers, netnography, identity reconstruction
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The many flavours of CLIL programs
    • 2.1Content-Driven CLIL or hard CLIL
    • 2.2Language Driven CLIL or soft CLIL
    • 2.3Variation in CLIL education
    • 2.4Who CLIL teachers are
    • 2.5Understanding (CLIL) teacher identity (re)construction
      • 2.5.1Subject areas
      • 2.5.2Teachers’ personal and professional experiences
      • 2.5.3Sociocultural context
    • 2.6Studying teachers in a soft-CLIL context
  • 3.Methodology
    • 3.1Context and participants
    • 3.2Data collection methods
      • 3.2.1Focus group interview
      • 3.2.2Netnography
      • 3.2.3Stimulated recalls
    • 3.3Data analysis
    • 3.4Trustworthiness and reliability
  • 4.Findings
    • 4.1Intensive content preparation
    • 4.2Trying to enact a dual role in CLIL lessons
    • 4.3Lecturing in lessons
    • 4.4Teaching through L1
  • 5.Discussion
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 10 May 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/jicb.20038.gul
References
Airey, J.
(2016) Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) and English for Academic Purposes (EAP). In Hyland, K. & Shaw, P. (Eds.), Routledge Handbook of English for Academic Purposes. (pp. 71–83) Routledge.Google Scholar
Akkerman, S. F. & Meijer, P. C.
(2011) A dialogic approach to conceptualizing teacher identity. Teaching and Teacher Education, 27 1, 308–319. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Baecher, L. H., Farnsworth, T., & Ediger, A. M.
(2014) The challenges of planning language objectives in content-based ESL instruction. Language Teaching Research, 18 1, 118–136. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ball, P., Kelly, K., & Clegg, J.
(2015) Putting CLIL into practice. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Banegas, D. L., & Hemmi, C.
(2021) CLIL: Present and future. In C. Hemmi & D. L. Banegas (Eds.), International perspectives on CLIL (pp. 281–296). Palgrave. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Barkhuizen, G.
(2017) Language teacher identity research. In Barkhuizen, G. (ed.) Reflections on language teacher research. Routledge.Google Scholar
(2016) A short story approach to analysing teacher (imagined) identities over time, Tesol Quarterly, 50 (3), 655–665. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Basse, R., & Peña, I. P.
(2021) Does AFL Promote Discussion in CLIL Classrooms? Exploring AfL Techniques and Their Effect on Classroom Communication. In DeBoer, M. & Leontjev, D. (eds.), Assessment and learning in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) classrooms, (pp. 189–204). Springer.Google Scholar
Beijaard, D., P. C. Meijer, & N. Verloop
(2004) Reconsidering research on teachers’ professional identity. Teaching and Teacher Education, 20 1, 107–28. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bovellan, E.
(2014) Teachers’ beliefs about learning and language as reflected in their views of teaching materials for Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL). University of Jyväskylä.Google Scholar
Brinton, D. M., Snow, M. A. & Wesche, M.
(2003) Content-based second language instruction. Newbury House. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Britzman, D. P.
(1994) Is there a problem with knowing thyself? Toward a poststructural view of teacher identity. In T. Shanahan (Ed.), Teachers thinking, teachers knowing: Reflections on literacy and language education (pp. 53–75). National Council of Teachers of English.Google Scholar
Cammarata, L., & Cavanagh, M.
(2018) In search of immersion teacher educators’ knowledge base: Exploring their readiness to foster an integrated approach to teaching. Journal of Immersion and Content-Based Language Education, 6 (2), 189–217. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cammarata, L., & Haley, C.
(2018) Integrated content, language, and literacy instruction in a Canadian French immersion context: a professional development journey. International Journal of Bilingual Education, 21 (3), 332–348. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cammarata, L., & Tedick, D. J.
(2012) Balancing content and language in instruction: The experience of immersion teachers. Modern Language Journal, 96 (2), 251–269. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Canagarajah, S.
(2011) Codemeshing in Academic Writing: Identifying Teachable Strategies of Translanguaging. The Modern Language Journal, 95 (3), 401–417. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cenoz, J., Genesee, F., & Gorter, D.
(2014) Critical analysis of CLIL: Taking stock and looking forward. Applied Linguistics, 35 (3), 243–262. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cheung, Y. L., Ben Said, S. & Park, K.
(2015) Advances and current trends in language teacher identity research. Routledge.Google Scholar
Connelly, F. M., & Clandinin, D. J.
(1990) Stories of Experience and Narrative Inquiry. Educational Researcher, 19 (5), 2–14. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cohen, L., Manion, L. & Morrison, K.
(2000) Research methods in education (5th ed). Routledge Falmer.Google Scholar
Connelly, F. M., & Clandinin, D. J.
(Eds.) (1999) Shaping a professional identity. Stories of educational practice. Teachers College Press.Google Scholar
Cook, V. J.
(2001) Using the first language in the classroom. Canadian Modern Language Review, 57 1, 402–423. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Coyle, D., Hood, P., & Marsh, D.
(2010) CLIL: Content and language integrated learning. Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dale, L., Oostdam, R. J. & Verspoor, M.
(2017) Searching for Identity and Focus: Towards an Analytical Framework for Language Teachers in Bilingual Education. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 21 (3) 366–383. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dalton-Puffer, C.
(2007) Discourse in content and language integrated (CLIL) classrooms. John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2011) Content-and-language integrated learning: From practice to principles, Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 31 1, 182–204. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2013) A construct of cognitive discourse functions for conceptualizing content language integration in CLIL and multilingual education. European Journal of Applied Linguistics, 1 (2), 216–253. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Day, C.
(2007) School reform and transitions in teacher professionalism and identity. In T. Townsend and R. Bates (eds.) Handbook of teacher education: Globalization, standards and professionalism in times of change (pp. 597–612). Dordrecht: Springer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
DeBoer, M. & Dmitri, L.
(2020) Assessment and learning in content and language integrated (CLIL) classrooms. Springer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Leontjev, D., Jakonen, T. & Skinnari, K.
(2020) Assessing (for) understanding in the CLIL classroom. In DeBoer, M. & Leontjev, D. (eds.), Assessment and learning in content and language integrated learning (CLIL) classrooms, (pp. 205–228). Springer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G.
(1985) Naturalistic inquiry. Sage. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Elsheikh, A.
(2012) Case studies of Sudanese EFL pre-service teachers’ knowledge and identity construction. Unpublished PhD Dissertation. Indiana University, Bloomington, IN.
Elsheikh, A. & Yahia, E.
(2020) Language Teacher Professional Identity. In C. Coombe et al. (eds.), Professionalizing your English language teaching, second language learning and teaching. Springer Nature: Switzerland DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Escobar Urmeneta, C.
(2012) Content-rich language learning in context-rich classrooms. APAC, 74 1, 39–47.Google Scholar
(2018) Docencia Universitaria en Inglés (DUI) en el grado de Educación Primaria: fundamentación, contexto y toma de decisiones. In C. Escobar Urmeneta & L. Arnau (Eds), Los retos de la internacionalización de los Grados Universitarios en el Contexto del Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior (EEES) (pp. 33–59). Madrid. Ed. Síntesis.Google Scholar
(2019) An introduction to content and language integrated learning (CLIL) for teachers and teacher educators, CLIL Journal of Innovation and Research in Plurilingual and Pluricultural Education, 2 (1), 7–19. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fernández-Sanjurjo, J., Fernández-Costales, A., & Blanco, J. M. A.
(2019) Analysing students’ content-learning in science in CLIL vs. non-CLIL programmes: empirical evidence from Spain, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 22 (6), 661–674. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Freeman, D., & Johnson, K. K.
(1998) Reconceptualizing the knowledgebase of language teacher education, TESOL Quarterly, 32 1, 397–417. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Genesee, F., & Lindholm-Leary, K.
(2013) Two case studies of content-based language education. Journal of Immersion and Content-Based Language Education, 1 (1), 3–33. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Goodson, I.
(1992) Studying teachers’ lives. Routledge.Google Scholar
Gray, J. & Morton, T.
(2018) Social interaction and english language teacher identity. Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar
Harun, H., Massari, N., & Puteh-Behak, F.
(2014) Use of L1 as a Mediational Tool for Understanding Tense/Aspect Marking in English: An Application of Concept-based Instruction. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 134 1, 134–139. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hine, C.
(2000) Virtual ethnography, Sage. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Huberman, A. M., & Miles, M. B.
(1994) Data management and analysis methods. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (pp. 428–444). Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Johnson, K., & Golombek, P. R.
(2016) Mindful L2 teacher education a sociocultural perspective on cultivating teachers’ professional development. Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Koopman, G., Skeet, J. and Graaff, R.
(2014) Exploring Content Teachers’ Knowledge of Language Pedagogy: A Report on a Small-Scale Research Project in a Dutch CLIL Context. The Language Learning Journal 42 (2): 123–136. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kozinets, R. V.
(2010) Netnography: Ethnographic research in the age of the internet. Sage.Google Scholar
Lehesvouri, S., Jouni, V., Rasku-Puttonen, H., Moate, J., & Helaakoski, J.
(2013) Visualizing communication structures in science classrooms: Tracing cumulativity in teacher-led whole class discussions. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 50 (8), 912–939. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Llinares, A., Morton, T., & Whittaker, R.
(2012) The roles of language in CLIL. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Llinares, A., & Lyster, R.
(2014) The influence of context on patterns of corrective feedback and learner uptake: a comparison of CLIL and immersion classrooms, The Language Learning Journal, 42 (2), 181–194, DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lo, Y. Y., & Lin, A. M. Y.
(2014) Designing assessment tasks with language awareness: Balancing cognitive and linguistic demands. Assessment and Learning, 3 1, 97–119.Google Scholar
Lo, Y. Y.
(2020) Professional Development of CLIL Teachers. Springer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mann, S., & Walsh, S.
(2017) Reflective practice in English language teaching: Research-based principles and practices. Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Margaret, D. L.
(2000) Analysing qualitative data. Theory into Practice, 39 (3), 146–154, DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Marsh, D., Mehisto, P., Wolf, D., & Martin, M. J. F.
(2012) European framework for CLIL teacher education: a framework for the professional development of CLIL teachers. Austria: European Centre for Modern Languages.Google Scholar
Mead, G.H.
(1962) Mind Self and Society. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Google Scholar
Mehisto, P.
(2008) CLIL counterweights: Recognizing and decreasing disjuncture in CLIL. International CLIL Research Journal, 1 (1), 93–119.Google Scholar
Merriam, S. B.
(1998) Qualitative research and case study applications in education. Jossey-Bass Publishers.Google Scholar
Mertler, C., & Charles, C.
(2005) Introduction to research. Pearson Education Inc.Google Scholar
Met, M.
(1998) Curriculum decision-making in content- based language teaching. In Cenoz, J. & Genesee, F. (Eds.), Beyond bilingualism: Multilingualism and multilingual education (pp. 35–63). Multilingual Matters. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Moate, J.
(2011) Reconceptualising the role of talk in CLIL. Journal of Applied Language Studies. 5 (2). 17–35.Google Scholar
Morton, T.
(2016) Conceptualizing and investigating teachers’ knowledge for integrating content and language in content-based instruction. Journal of Immersion and Content-Based Language Education, 4 (2), 144–167. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2018) Reconceptualizing and describing teachers’ knowledge of language for content and language integrated learning (CLIL). International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 21 (3), 275–286. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Morton, T. & Jakonen, T.
(2016) 7. Integration of Language and Content Through Languaging in CLIL Classroom Interaction: A Conversation Analysis Perspective. In T. Nikula, E. Dafouz, P. Moore, & U. Smit (Ed.), Conceptualising Integration in CLIL and Multilingual Education (pp. 171–188). Multilingual Matters. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Motallebzadeh, K. & Kazemi, B.
(2018) The relationship between EFL teachers’ professional identity and their self-esteem. Cogent Education, 5 (1), 1–9. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Nikula, T.
(2007) Speaking English in Finnish content-based classrooms. World Englishes, 26 (2), 206–223. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Nikula, T., Dalton-Puffer, C., & Llinares, A.
(2013) CLIL classroom discourse: Research from Europe. Journal of Immersion and Content-Based Language Education, 1 (1), 70–100. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Nikula, T., Dafouz, E., Moore, P., & Smit, U.
(Eds) (2016) Conceptualising integration in CLIL and multilingual education. Multilingual Matters. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ó Ceallaigh, T. J., Hourigan, M. & Leavy, A.
(2018) Developing potentiality: pre-service elementary teachers as learners of language immersion teaching, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pappa, S., Moate, J., Ruohotie-Lyhty, M., & Eteläpelto, A.
(2017) Teacher agency within the Finnish CLIL context: tensions and resources. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 65 1, 61–70.Google Scholar
Pappa, S.
(2018) “You have got the colour but you don’t have the shades” Primary education CLIL teachers’ identity negotiation in Finnish context (Doctoral Dissertation). University of JYVÄSKYLÄ.
Pennington, M. C., & Richards, J. C.
(2016) Teacher identity in language teaching: integrating personal, contextual, and professional factors. RELC Journal, 47 (1), 5–23. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pillen, M. T., Brok, P. J. Den, & Beijaard, D.
(2013) Profiles and change in beginning teachers’ professional identity tensions. Teaching and Teacher Education, 34 1, 86–97. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Richards, L. M.
(2005) Handling qualitative data: A practical guide. Sage Publication.Google Scholar
Ruohotie-Lyhty, M., & Moate, J.
(2016) Who and how? Preservice teachers as active agents developing professional identities. Teaching and Teacher Education, 55 1, 318–327. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Saito, H.
(2020) Gearing teaching and assessment towards CLIL: theorizing assessment for learning in the junior high school soft CLIL classrooms in Japan. In M. DeBoer & D. Leontjev (eds.), Assessment and learning in content and language integrated learning (CLIL) classrooms, (pp. 167–188). Springer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sexton, D. M.
(2008) Student teachers negotiating identity, role, and agency. Teacher Education Quarterly, 35 (3), 73–88.Google Scholar
Snow, C. M., Met, M., & Genesee, F.
(1989) A conceptual framework for the integration of language and content in second/foreign language instruction. TESOL Quarterly, 23 (2), 201–217. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Steinberger, P., & Magen-Nagar, N.
(2017) What concerns school teachers today?: Identity conflict centrality scale for measuring teacher identity: A validation study. Teacher Education Quarterly, 44 (1), 35–57. 〈[URL]〉
Strotmann, B., Bamond, V., Lopez Lago, J. M., Bailen, M., Bonilla, S., & Montesinos, F.
(2014) Improving bilingual higher education: Training university professors in content and language integrated learning. Higher Learning Research Communications, 4 (1), 91–97. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sylvén, L. K.
(2013) CLIL in Sweden – why does it not work? A metaperspective on CLIL across contexts in Europe. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 16 (3), 301–320. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tanış, A., & Dikilitaş, K.
(2019) Exploring CLIL in Turkish context: Teacher and student voices. Argentinian Journal of Applied Linguistics - ISSN 2314-3576, 7 (2), 144–165.Google Scholar
Tao, J., & Gao, X.
(2017) Teacher agency and identity commitment in curricular reform. Teaching and Teacher Education, 63 1, 346–355. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Troyan, F. & Cammarata, L. & Martel, J.
(2017) Integration PCK: Modeling the Knowledge(s) Underlying a World Language Teacher’s Implementation of CBI. Foreign Language Annals, 50 (2), 458–476, DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Walsh, S., & Mann, S.
(2019) The Routledge handbook of English language teacher education. New York. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
West, L. K., & Chiu, A. S.
(2013) Content and language integrated learning & identity: Charting a way forward, presented at 2nd Annual International Conference on Language, Literature and Linguistics, Berlin, 2013, Berlin: GSTF.
Wever, T.
(2020) Assessment of young learners’ english proficiency in bilingual content instruction (CLIL) in Finland: Practices, challenges, and points for development. In M. DeBoer & D. Leontjev (eds.), Assessment and learning in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) classrooms, (pp. 137–166). Springer.Google Scholar
Varghese, M., Morgan, B., Johnston, B., & Johnson, A. K.
(2013) Theorizing language teacher identity: Three perspectives and beyond, Journal of Language, Identity and Education, 4 (1), 21–44. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Vollmer, H. J.
(2007) Language across the curriculum: A way towards plurilingualism. In W. Martyniuk (Ed.), Towards a common European framework of reference for languages of school education (pp. 177–192). Universität Osnabrück.Google Scholar
Wilkinson, R.
(Ed.) (2004) Integrating content and language: Meeting the challenge of multilingual higher education. Universitaire Pers Maastricht.Google Scholar
Wolff, D.
(2007) CLIL: Bridging the gap between school and working life. In D. Marsh & D. Wolff (Eds.), Diverse contexts – converging goals. CLIL in Europe (pp. 15–25). Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Xavier, A.
(2020) Assessment for learning in bilingual education/CLIL: a learning-oriented approach to assessing english language skills and curriculum content in Portuguese primary schools. In M. DeBoer & D. Leontjev (eds.), Assessment and learning in content and language integrated learning (CLIL) classrooms, (pp. 109–136). Springer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Yang, M.
(2016) ESP vs. CLIL: A coin of two sides or a continuum of two extremes? ESP Today, 4 (1), 43–68. [URL]
Yazan, B.
(2017) It just made me look at language in a different way: ESOL teacher candidates’ identity negotiation through teacher education coursework. Linguistics and Education, 40 1, 38–49. DOI logoGoogle Scholar