Enhancing Iranian Pilots’ Aviation English Proficiency and Motivation through the Application of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL)

The present study sought to investigate the pedagogical effectiveness of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) as an innovation in language learning and teaching, in enhancing Iranian aviation students motivation in dealing with the highly specialized features of aviation English. For this purpose, from the population of pilots studying at Mahan air in Tehran, two intact classes of 20 each, were selected based on a purposive sampling method and were subsequently assigned to two groups randomly: experimental and control. The participants were male whose age ranged between 20 and 30. While the experimental group received their instruction through CLIL, the control group were taught by a traditional approach. The analysis of the data revealed that the experimental group did much better than those in the non-treatment group on posttest. Alternatively, the findings on a questionnaire reflected that the experimental group had a positive attitude about the pedagogical utility of their method of instruction and enjoyed a higher level of motivation compared with those in the control group. Overall, the results demonstrated that the participants in the experimental group not only experienced a higher achievement of the learning outcomes, but they were also highly motivated and had a positive perception about the effectiveness of CLIL activities. Notably, the findings of the study may have important implications for material developers, course designers, and language teachers who work in the area of teaching English for Occupational Purposes (EOP).

Keywords:

aviation English , CLIL , perception , motivation , EOP