Teachers’ Perceptions of Teaching in English Based on Their Experience of Implementing CLIL Practices for STEM Subjects

Abstract

The educational system of Kazakhstan is now actively implementing the trilingual education policy, which also implies teaching STEM subjects (Chemistry, Biology, Physics, and Computer Science) through CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) in English in grades 10-11. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate teachers’ perceptions on their experience of implementing CLIL practices for STEM subjects. The study is qualitative, and its data collection tool was six semi-structured interviews. The participants of the study were six subject teachers from mainstream schools who had already started teaching the aforementioned subjects in English. Moreover, the four research questions such as “What are the experiences and perceptions of teachers who are in the process of transition to teaching STEM subjects in English?”; “What are their attitudes towards using English as a medium of instruction for science subjects?”; “What are the challenges that teacher may encounter in the process of transition to teaching science subjects in English?”; “Could teachers’ age/experience make an impact on how they acquire the English language competence?”. The finding of the research revealed that teachers expressed both negative and positive perceptions on the idea of implementing CLIL practices. In terms of their experience of teaching the science subjects, the participants shared with such challenges as the long process of class preparation, curriculum design, and low competence of teachers and their students. Finally, the most surprising finding to discover was the fact that teachers with a greater experience of teaching do not face significant problems while adjusting to the new language policy, and are quite positive about it, as the changes have influenced their daily teaching routine.