English as an object and tool of study in classrooms: Interactional effects and pragmatic implications

This paper analyses classroom discourse in Finnish EFL classrooms where English is the object of study and content-based (Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL)) classrooms where non-language subjects are taught in English. The students in both groups are Finnish teenagers. Approaching the data from a discourse-pragmatic perspective, the paper investigates how these two settings compare with each other in terms of local practices of using English. In particular, attention is paid to how both choices between English and Finnish and ways of using English reflect the way participants perceive and construct their social relationships in the classrooms. The findings show differences between the two contexts that point toward their discursive practices being differently placed on the pragmatic dimension of detachment versus involvement, CLIL discourse tending towards the latter. It is also shown that the role of English as an object and tool of study is not only institutionally determined but also discoursally constructed in these classrooms.