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6 Syntactic and lexical complexity in CLIL and EFL written production: Evidence for ELF as a WEs paradigm in Turkey

  • Zeynep Köylü and Kenan Dikilitaş
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Acquisition and Variation in World Englishes
This chapter is in the book Acquisition and Variation in World Englishes

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the effects of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) on written second language (L2) development in the Turkish context over one semester compared to an intensive integrated skills English as a foreign language (EFL) programmed high school. Drawing on Schneider’s Dynamic Model (2012) and Edwards’ (2016) notion of “foundation-through-globalization,” this study aims to see the relationship between the type of linguistic exposure and how it affects written performance, as the participants have been exposed to a mixed variety of English including both native-speaker English and English as a lingua franca (ELF)/World Englishes (WEs) forms and features in a non-postcolonial context. The data analyzed were collected from two schools: a CLIL-based and an EFLbased private secondary school. Thus, there are two groups of participants: (1) the CLIL group (N = 15) and the EFL group (N = 18). A written task was used twice to collect performance data which were analyzed in terms of syntactic and lexical complexity and lexical profiling. This dataset was also qualitatively analyzed to discern ELF features following a coding scheme by Dewey (2007) and Schneider (2012). The quantitative results indicated no significant effects of time or context on all measures, except for significant gains detected in the range of lexical diversity, while the qualitative data revealed ELF-compatible lexical frequency profiles and syntactic and word-level characteristics typical of ELF as a WEs variety. Our results highlight the need to accentuate the dynamic link between CLIL and written L2 development in relation to EFL in a non-postcolonial context, namely Turkey (Edwards 2016).

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the effects of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) on written second language (L2) development in the Turkish context over one semester compared to an intensive integrated skills English as a foreign language (EFL) programmed high school. Drawing on Schneider’s Dynamic Model (2012) and Edwards’ (2016) notion of “foundation-through-globalization,” this study aims to see the relationship between the type of linguistic exposure and how it affects written performance, as the participants have been exposed to a mixed variety of English including both native-speaker English and English as a lingua franca (ELF)/World Englishes (WEs) forms and features in a non-postcolonial context. The data analyzed were collected from two schools: a CLIL-based and an EFLbased private secondary school. Thus, there are two groups of participants: (1) the CLIL group (N = 15) and the EFL group (N = 18). A written task was used twice to collect performance data which were analyzed in terms of syntactic and lexical complexity and lexical profiling. This dataset was also qualitatively analyzed to discern ELF features following a coding scheme by Dewey (2007) and Schneider (2012). The quantitative results indicated no significant effects of time or context on all measures, except for significant gains detected in the range of lexical diversity, while the qualitative data revealed ELF-compatible lexical frequency profiles and syntactic and word-level characteristics typical of ELF as a WEs variety. Our results highlight the need to accentuate the dynamic link between CLIL and written L2 development in relation to EFL in a non-postcolonial context, namely Turkey (Edwards 2016).

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Contents V
  3. 1 The current role of children and adolescents in World Englishes research 1
  4. Part I: Language in the family
  5. 2 Language among Trinidadian-heritage children raised in diaspora 13
  6. 3 Language use patterns and strategies for children’s English language development: Insights from Chinese descendant mothers in multilingual Malaysia 37
  7. 4 Family language policies in Thailand: Multiliteracy practices and Global Englishes 59
  8. 5 Parental language ideologies and children’s language use in Singapore – raising speakers of “Standard” English? 83
  9. Part II: Language acquisition and language learning in multilingual contexts
  10. 6 Syntactic and lexical complexity in CLIL and EFL written production: Evidence for ELF as a WEs paradigm in Turkey 111
  11. 7 Investigating child language acquisition from a joint perspective: A comparison of traditional and new L1 speakers of English 133
  12. 8 Speech rhythm in Cameroon English: A cross-generational study 159
  13. 9 From second to first language: Language shift in Singapore and Ireland 177
  14. Part III: Attitudes and identity
  15. 10 Children’s language attitudes in a World Englishes community: A focus on St. Kitts 205
  16. 11 Youth identity as linguistic identity: Political engagement and language acquisition and use in Hong Kong 227
  17. 12 Varieties of English and Third Culture Kids in Hong Kong 255
  18. 13 Variation and change in the NURSE vowel in Trinidadian English: An apparent-time analysis of adolescent and adult speakers 279
  19. 14 How linguistically tolerant or insecure are school-aged children? A matched-guise, gamified approach for 6- to 12-year-olds in Canada 307
  20. 15 Caught between languages and cultures: Exploring linguistic and cultural identity among Maldivian adolescents 335
  21. Part IV: Summary and discussion
  22. 16 Conclusion and envoi: Language acquisition at the intersection of sociolinguistics and World Englishes research 361
  23. Index 379
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110733723-006

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Contents V
  3. 1 The current role of children and adolescents in World Englishes research 1
  4. Part I: Language in the family
  5. 2 Language among Trinidadian-heritage children raised in diaspora 13
  6. 3 Language use patterns and strategies for children’s English language development: Insights from Chinese descendant mothers in multilingual Malaysia 37
  7. 4 Family language policies in Thailand: Multiliteracy practices and Global Englishes 59
  8. 5 Parental language ideologies and children’s language use in Singapore – raising speakers of “Standard” English? 83
  9. Part II: Language acquisition and language learning in multilingual contexts
  10. 6 Syntactic and lexical complexity in CLIL and EFL written production: Evidence for ELF as a WEs paradigm in Turkey 111
  11. 7 Investigating child language acquisition from a joint perspective: A comparison of traditional and new L1 speakers of English 133
  12. 8 Speech rhythm in Cameroon English: A cross-generational study 159
  13. 9 From second to first language: Language shift in Singapore and Ireland 177
  14. Part III: Attitudes and identity
  15. 10 Children’s language attitudes in a World Englishes community: A focus on St. Kitts 205
  16. 11 Youth identity as linguistic identity: Political engagement and language acquisition and use in Hong Kong 227
  17. 12 Varieties of English and Third Culture Kids in Hong Kong 255
  18. 13 Variation and change in the NURSE vowel in Trinidadian English: An apparent-time analysis of adolescent and adult speakers 279
  19. 14 How linguistically tolerant or insecure are school-aged children? A matched-guise, gamified approach for 6- to 12-year-olds in Canada 307
  20. 15 Caught between languages and cultures: Exploring linguistic and cultural identity among Maldivian adolescents 335
  21. Part IV: Summary and discussion
  22. 16 Conclusion and envoi: Language acquisition at the intersection of sociolinguistics and World Englishes research 361
  23. Index 379
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