What is Language Assistants

The European Commission call to promote early foreign language learning among citizens in member states has led to a major paradigm shift in national and regional educational systems across Europe. The most extended option to make this shift effective has been applying bilingual education models which involve teaching academic subjects in foreign languages. Among those models, the so-called content and language integrated learning (CLIL) approach has been largely implemented in several countries and regions such as Madrid. This chapter gauges students' attitudes, perceptions, and beliefs on bilingual educational programs in Madrid. The findings revealed important issues related to curricular content, methodology and strategies, challenges, and successes of bilingual programs as perceived by students.