The Role of the Native Language Assistant

This chapter reports on research into the expectations and experience of Native Language Assistants (or near-native) conducted via interviews in a series of schools in Northern Italy. The research is part of a project on CLIL in early learners, and considers the role that Native Language Assistants (NLAs) play in CLIL activities, supporting the subject teachers in all aspects of language, from lexis to pronunciation, in cultural knowledge and realia, and functional classroom language. It reveals the desire on the part of NLAs to have more time to plan activities, and a certain lack of clarity about what exactly is expected of them.