Training quality in CLIL: linguistic and methodological assessment of future Physical Education teachers in bilingual contexts

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47197/retos.v69.115996

Keywords:

CLIL, initial teacher training, linguistic competence, methodological competence, physical education

Abstract

Introduction: In the past few decades, bilingual teaching has gained prominence in Europe, especially with the CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) approach. Physical Education has established itself as an appropriate subject for its application thanks to its experiential and interactive nature.

Objective: The aims of the study were to analyse prospective teachers' perceptions of their English language training and their methodological preparation for teaching Physical Education in bilingual contexts using CLIL.

Methodology: A quantitative, descriptive and cross-sectional design was applied through a questionnaire based on García-Núñez et al. (2023), addressed to 156 students of the Degree in Primary Education with mention in Physical Education of the public university of Madrid.

Results: Students perceived themselves to have an intermediate level of language competence, with weaknesses in productive skills being highlighted. A positive assessment towards learning English was identified, but insufficient methodological training, especially in CLIL, which was confirmed by means of a cluster analysis that classified most of the students in a profile with a lack of training.

Discussion: The findings are in line with other studies that show a gap between university education and the demands of the bilingual educational context. The lack of specific CLIL subjects in the curricula limits teacher preparation.

Conclusions: It is recommendable to review the curriculum plans for the bachelor’s degree in Primary Education to incorporate training and strategies on CLIL, which will equip teachers with the necessary linguistic and methodological competencies to successfully face bilingual education.

Author Biographies

  • Nuria García-Manzanares, Grupo de Investigación consolidado en Innovación y Mejora Educativa (IMEI) de la Universidad Rey Juan Carlos

    Nuria García Manzanares holds a PhD in English Philology and is a Senior Lecturer at the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos in Madrid. She is the coordinator of the Teaching Innovation Group for the Teaching and Learning of Languages in Higher Education (IDEAL.ES) at the URJC. She has been teaching at university level for more than 25 years. At present, she teaches English Didactics in the URJC degrees of Early Childhood and Primary Education, both face-to-face and blended, and also in the Master's Degree in Bilingual Teaching in Primary Schools and English Language Immersion.
    She is a member of the Research Group on Educational Innovation and Improvement at the URJC. She has participated in national projects and in several Erasmus+ European funding projects, as well as in innovation projects for the improvement of second language teaching in formal and non-formal contexts. She has published scientific articles and book chapters in high-impact academic journals and publishers.
    Her research interests focus on language assessment, certification and accreditation, the European Higher Education Area, foreign language teaching-learning methodologies, teacher training and new technologies applied to education, especially the use of generative AI.

     

  • Mª José Luelmo del Castillo, Grupo de Investigación consolidado en Innovación y Mejora Educativa (IMEI) de la Universidad Rey Juan Carlos

    Holds a PhD from Rey Juan Carlos University (Spain) and a Bachelor’s degree in English Philology from the Autónoma University of Madrid (UAM). Since 2003, has been a faculty member at Rey Juan Carlos University, where she teaches undergraduate and postgraduate courses, primarily in English didactics across various levels. Her research focuses on educational innovation, with a particular emphasis on the implementation of Active Learning Methodologies.

  • Virginia Vinuesa-Benítez, Grupo de Investigación consolidado en Innovación y Mejora Educativa (IMEI) de la Universidad Rey Juan Carlos

    Virginia Vinuesa Benítez holds a degree in English Philology from the University of Granada and a PhD from Rey Juan Carlos University. With over 25 years of experience in education, she has worked across all educational levels, from Early Childhood to University Education, in both Spain and the United Kingdom.

    She is currently a faculty member at Rey Juan Carlos University in Madrid, where she lectures on language didactics in the Pre-primary and Primary Education degree bilingual programs, as well as in the master’s degree in Secondary Education and the master’s degree in Bilingual Teaching in Primary Education which she coordinates.

    She has actively participated in training CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) teachers in bilingual schools throughout the Region of Madrid. She has delivered numerous talks in Spain and the United States, focusing on bilingual education and CLIL methodology.

    In addition to her teaching responsibilities, she coordinates the master's program in Bilingual Education at Rey Juan Carlos University. She serves as the Vice President of the Bilingual Teaching Association and is a co-editor of the American NABE Journal of Research and Practice.

  • Elvira Izquierdo Sánchez-Migallón, Grupo de Investigación consolidado en Innovación y Mejora Educativa (IMEI) de la Universidad Rey Juan Carlos

    Graduate in Modern Philology from the UCLM and PhD in English Philology from the URJC. With more than twenty years of teaching experience, during the first stage of her professional life she taught in both Primary and Secondary Education. Since 2007, her teaching work has focused on the university environment, specifically in the training of teachers of Primary Education and Early Childhood Education in the subjects of Didactics of the English Language. On the other hand, since its implementation in the curricula of the URJC degrees, she has been dedicated to the teaching and development of teaching materials for Modern Language, a cross-cutting subject and of which she is currently the academic coordinator. She also teaches on the Master's Degree in Bilingual Teaching in Primary Education and the Master's Degree in Teacher Training in Secondary Education and Baccalaureate, Vocational Training and Language Teaching. Her main lines of research are focused, on the one hand, on the didactic and methodological improvement of the English language, and on the other hand, on the development of Bilingual Education programmes, especially taking into account their contextualisation and the political and socio-economic factors that influence the reasons for their implementation.

     

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Published

16-07-2025

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Vol. 69 (2025)

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Copyright (c) 2025 Nuria García-Manzanares, Mª José Luelmo del Castillo, Virginia Vinuesa-Benítez, Elvira Izquierdo Sánchez-Migallón

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How to Cite

García-Manzanares, N., Luelmo del Castillo, M. J., Vinuesa-Benítez, V., & Izquierdo Sánchez-Migallón, E. (2025). Training quality in CLIL: linguistic and methodological assessment of future Physical Education teachers in bilingual contexts . Retos, 69, 1240-1252. https://doi.org/10.47197/retos.v69.115996