How useful is literature-based CLIL for EAL students in Australia? An analysis of students’ Gothic narratives using the 4Cs framework

The research aimed to explore the suitability of a Gothic-based Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) syllabus for English as Additional Language (EAL) students. Nineteen year-10 EAL students from an Australian high school were taught extracts from quintessential Gothic texts in six weeks as a part of their EAL program. After that, they were asked to create a narrative in 50 minutes, using Gothic motifs learned in the model texts. Analyses of the students’ narratives based on Coyle et al. (2010) 4Cs framework demonstrated positive impacts of the Gothic texts on the students’ linguistic, cognitive and intercultural development as well as their engagement with contemporary social issues. Students were able to incorporate Gothic motifs into their narratives while also exhibiting an uptake of Gothic vocabulary when receiving explicit instruction on the lexical items. The narratives also conveyed mature philosophical messages and employed Anglophone sociocultural imagery to express metaphorical representations.