EXPLORING VIETNAMESE PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS’ KNOWLEDGE, EXPERIENCES, AND PERSPECTIVES IN CLIL IMPLEMENTATION

In Vietnam, content and language integrated learning (CLIL) has been introduced as an innovative approach to simultaneously develop elementary students’ language skills and academic subject knowledge. This study aims to investigate elementary teachers’ knowledge, experiences, and perspectives on CLIL implementation in Vietnam. Employing a mixed-methods design, this study administered a questionnaire comprising 20 five-point Likert-scale items to 100 teachers in the pilot phase and 183 teachers in the main phase, and conducted individual interviews with six teachers using nine open-ended questions. The findings reveal that although teachers possessed basic insights, relevant experience, and positive perspectives on CLIL (with mean scores exceeding 3.6), they faced several challenges related to professional development, collaboration and administrative support, and disparities in students’ language proficiency. In addition, teachers’ knowledge and experience were positively associated with their perspectives on CLIL (r = .68, p < .001; r = .52, p < .001, respectively), with knowledge emerging as a significant predictor (β = .62, p < .001), and a positive trend was observed between teachers’ language proficiency and their attitudes toward CLIL. Based on the participants’ responses, this study proposes several suggestions concerning training programmes, cooperation, and administrative support to enhance the effectiveness of CLIL implementation in Vietnamese elementary schools.