Unpacking cognitive discourse functions: how does it affect CLIL learners’ written performance in history?

The Cognitive Discourse Functions (CDF) model has been widely used in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) research to explore learners’ academic language performance across disciplines and to facilitate collaboration between teachers and researchers around assessment practices. In this study, we investigate the effects of an English teacher’s explicit teaching of CDFs on year 8 CLIL learners’ written performance of these CDFs in a history class in Spain. After participating in a seminar on CDFs conducted by the researchers, the teacher gave a lesson on CDFs to one group of learners. This experimental group (N = 13) and a control group (N = 13), who had not received any preparation on CDFs, responded to pre- and post-tests eliciting the same four CDFs (classify, define, evaluate, explain). We used the Semantics dimension of Legitimation Code Theory (LCT) to analyse how the teacher unpacked CDFs in classroom talk and Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) to examine students’ written performance. Results show more contextualisation in the teacher’s explanations of more complex CDFs (like evaluate) and mixed results in the effect on students’ writing. They lead to pedagogical suggestions for teachers and researchers interested in improving CLIL learners’ productions of CDFs in content subjects.