Integration of language and content (CLIL) has been practised in various contexts to achieve different objectives. This study aims to enhance language skills—reading, writing, and speaking—by integrating Buddhist content into English as a second language instruction within a Buddhist context. Data was collected through two questionnaires; one was administered to lecturers who taught using this integrated approach and the other to students. Additionally, five in-depth interviews were conducted with the students who completed the course module "Buddhist Concepts in English Literary Texts - ENGL 22093(C)" offered by the Department of English. A qualitative methodology was employed to interpret the data from these sources. The results indicated that this integrated teaching approach effectively increased students' engagement, motivation, communication, reading, and vocabulary building. However, some challenges were identified, including lecturers’ limited competence in Buddhist content, insufficient knowledge of Buddhist concepts, students’ greater familiarity with Buddhism than the lecturers, and some students finding the content boring, less challenging, and the vocabulary outdated. Despite these challenges, the findings suggest the potential for meaningful interdisciplinary learning in higher education with the results being transferable to similar educational settings.

Authors:
Nipunika Dilani, Buddhist and Pali University of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka

About the Presenter(s)
Dr. Nipunika Dilani is a senior lecturer in the Department of English at the Buddhist and Pali University of Sri Lanka.

Connect on Linkedin
https://lk.linkedin.com/in/nipunika-dilani-madugodage-418b17262

Connect on ResearchGate
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Nipunika-Dilani

Additional website of interest
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=uH32EDUAAAAJ&hl=en

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