An applied linguistic investigation of content-based EFL classrooms in Austria

Research activities with regard to the use of English as a medium of instruction at Austrian secondary schools have so far been concerned either with comparing English language attainment of bilingual to that of monolingually taught classes, or on the impact which using English has on the pedagogy of the respective subject (mostly geography). What seems to be missing at the present moment is a treatment of the instructional situation from the perspective of applied linguistics. The present project therefore aims at developing a model of EaA as a method of foreign language teaching and learning. Research emanating form Canadian immersion programmes has shown repeatedly that significant amounts of factual content can be learned through the medium of an L2 but the results regarding ultimate linguistic and communicative competence in the L2 have been more diverse. Especially a bilingual or immersion programme which operates in an otherwise monolingual environment, such as EaA in Austria, carries a considerable linguistic- instructional burden. The study therefore aims at examining EaA classroom discourse from the perspective of current theories on second language acquisition underlining the role of output and interaction alongside the generally recognised significance of comprehensible input. Two main research questions arise in this connection: Firstly, what are the (language) learning theories underlying English medium instruction in Austrian schools? What are the beliefs, convictions, theories and personal knowledge regarding content-based EFL on part of various stakeholders and how do they translate into instructional and classroom behaviour? While the importance of teacher cognition is fairly well-established in educational research at large, applied linguists have only recently developed an interest in teacher cognition. Viewpoints of other stakeholders (pupils, parents, education authorities, school administrators) will be used for triangulation. The second research question focuses on the main characteristics of classroom discourse in EaA classrooms and how they relate to current theories of language acquisition and learning. What are the participation patterns in EaA classroom discourse, to what extent are students required to produce `comprehensible output` and what is perceived as `authentic communication`? Furthermore the project aims at uncovering the instructional relevance of the fact that some teachers in EaA-classroorns are also trained language teachers while others are not. The project opens up a number of perspectives which extend its relevance beyond the research community. The project can provide systematic information on a greater number of EaA classrooms and thus contribute to a more generalisable (and more realistic?) view of what EaA can or cannot be and what it can or cannot achieve.