Integrating Animal Protection Content in Primary English Writing Lessons

The present study investigated the effect of English lessons that integrate animal protection content. The research addressed the following questions: (a) What are the results of English-animal protection integrated lessons on students’ writing ability?, (b) What are the results of English-animal protection integrated lessons on students’ awareness and attitude toward animal protection? For this study, the features of CLIL approach were employed. In a CLIL classroom, students can promote their synthetic as well as creative thinking ability while they build their communicative competence through the contents stimulating their thinking skills. Based on the CLIL approach, this study reconstituted the English curriculum to include animal protection content in order to guide students to grow into mature global citizens. The integrated curriculum was applied to a class of twenty-three 6th grade students over 7 weeks. Student questionnaires were analyzed quantitatively, and their writing products and journal entries were analyzed using a qualitative method. The study revealed that English-animal protection integrated lessons engaged students in the process of learning, which led to their development in English writing. It was also found that students’ attitude toward animals showed positive changes. This study suggests that English lessons can serve to develop students’ personality and global citizenship by employing CLIL, which directs for a new paradigm of primary English education.