Investigating young Finnish CLIL pupils’ perceptions of foreign language use through visual narratives

Abstract

This article explores how pupils in early CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) education perceive language skills and use. The participants were 25 French-medium and 16 English-medium CLIL pupils in Grade 2 (aged 8 years). They had received CLIL education since the 1st Grade. The data were visual narratives drawn by the pupils and some associated open-ended questions they answered in writing. The data were analyzed using visual and content analysis. The results show that the pupils’ perceptions of language were a combination of traditional and modern views of language. The pupils compartmentalized the different languages as separate entities. They mostly saw language being used with native speakers. Technological artefacts were absent even though they are an integral part of children’s life in Finland. Also, the pupils considered language being a vehicle for oral communication outside school. The results bear implications for CLIL education and early language teaching in general.