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The present study investigates whether CLIL learners' high scores in English as a foreign language (EFL) can be attributed to three specific learner variables: 'EFL aptitude', 'EFL confidence' and 'international orientation' -- and whether out-of-school EFL exposure has an effect. The study was undertaken in eight secondary school CLIL classes in four European countries: the Netherlands, Germany, Italy and Hungary. The results showed a number of significant effects, both initially and after two years. In particular, learners' EFL confidence was found to have a stronger influence on L2 proficiency results than either EFL aptitude, involvement in the international world or the presence of English in society at large.

Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) has become increasingly popular all over Europe. As the target language is invariably English, many see CLIL as a way of helping learners develop an optimal command of English as a foreign language (EFL). The focus of many research studies has been on gains in language proficiency but the aims of CLIL reach well beyond this. The present study concentrates on whether CLIL also contributes to building pupils' confidence as EFL users, well-prepared for life in an internationalised world. Specifically, it looks at the impact on two constructs: 'EFL confidence' and 'international orientation'. The study was undertaken with 11 groups of 12-15-year-olds at 'grammar' schools (i.e. preparing for university) in the Netherlands, Germany and Italy and involved 231 pupils: 123 pupils following CLIL streams and 108 mainstream pupils. The results indicate that all pupils, both CLIL and mainstream, showed a positive development on our two variables during their first two years at grammar school. The CLIL intervention seemed to produce only a small added value. This was only a small-scale study but it highlights the need for further investigation of the impact of CLIL with a wider range of learners.

Background. In the studies of acceleration conducted so far a multidimensional perspective has largely been neglected. No attempt has been made to relate social-emotional characteristics of accelerated versus non-accelerated students in perspective of environmental factors. Aims. In this study, social-emotional characteristics of accelerated gifted students in the Netherlands were examined in relation to personal and environmental factors. Samples. Self-concept and social contacts of accelerated ( n = 148) and non-accelerated ( n = 55) gifted students, aged 4 to 27 ( M = 11.22, SD = 4.27) were measured. Method. Self-concept and social contacts of accelerated and non-accelerated gifted students were measured using a questionnaire and a diary, and parents of these students evaluated their behavioural characteristics. Gender and birth order were studied as personal factors and grade, classroom, teachers' gender, teaching experience, and the quality of parent-school contact as environmental factors. Results. The results showed minimal differences in the social-emotional characteristics of accelerated and non-accelerated gifted students. The few differences we found favoured the accelerated students. We also found that multiple grade skipping does not have negative effects on social-emotional characteristics, and that long-term effects of acceleration tend to be positive. As regards the possible modulation of personal and environmental factors, we merely found an impact of such factors in the non-accelerated group. Conclusions. The results of this study strongly suggest that social-emotional characteristics of accelerated gifted students and non-accelerated gifted students are largely similar. These results thus do not support worries expressed by teachers about the acceleration of gifted students. Our findings parallel the outcomes of earlier studies in the United States and Germany in that we observed that acceleration does not harm gifted students, not even in the case of multiple grade skipping. On the contrary, there is a suggestion in the data that accelerated students are more socially competent than non-accelerated students. The findings in this study can reassure those parents and teachers who worry about the social-emotional consequences of acceleration in school: If a student is gifted, acceleration seems to be a sound and, in many cases, appropriate measure in gifted education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]