Teachers’ engagement with CALS-oriented practices in a multilingual context: evidence from a mixed-methods study

Supporting students’ academic language development is a major challenge in multilingual secondary education. Although academic language has been widely linked to students’ achievement, less is known about how teachers engage with specific academic language practices. This study examines secondary school teachers’ engagement with Core Analytical Language Skills (CALS)-oriented practices. A convergent mixed-methods design was adopted. Quantitative data were collected through a validated questionnaire administered to 737 secondary school teachers in the Basque Autonomous Community. Qualitative data were obtained through interviews, focus groups, and classroom observations conducted as part of three pedagogical interventions. Results showed that language teachers reported significantly higher implementation of CALS-oriented practices than content-area teachers across all seven CALS dimensions. Teachers with multilingual education training also reported greater use of these practices, whereas teaching experience showed only limited effects. Qualitative findings revealed that teachers viewed CALS as a response to students’ academic language and reading comprehension difficulties, valued explicit instruction and linguistic scaffolding, and considered the interventions important professional learning opportunities. Classroom observations further demonstrated that teachers across disciplines successfully implemented CALS-oriented practices when provided with appropriate support. Overall, the findings highlight the importance of professional learning and support a cross-curricular approach to academic language development.