La integración pedagógica de contenido en un curso universitario de inglés jurídico en Finlandia

Abstract

This study presents research conducted in a university pedagogical context in which the development of legal knowledge was explored during a course in legal English. As a case of soft CLIL, the approach adopted promoted English learning through tasks that also facilitated the development of disciplinary knowledge. Students were surveyed at the beginning and end of the course to analyze possible differences in their self-perceptions over the course of the study. In this context, the data show that students perceived improvement not only in their linguistic abilities but also in their legal knowledge within their professional or academic area of interest. Specifically, differences were observed between self-perceptions obtained before and after the course for oral English, legal English vocabulary, and legal knowledge. Additionally, the magnitude of these differences tended to be larger for students with higher levels of English. The study suggests that soft CLIL can be considered a viable pedagogical option for university language instructors who seek to promote the learning of disciplinary knowledge outside their area of specialization. However, students’ language proficiency must also be taken into account, as it constitutes both a facilitator and a goal of CLIL.