CLIL research in Europe: past, present, and future

Abstract

This article provides a comprehensive, updated, and critical approximation to the sizeable literature which has been produced on the increasingly acknowledged European approach to bilingual education: content and language integrated learning (CLIL). It begins by tracing the origins of CLIL, framing it against the backdrop of its predecessors: North American immersion and bilingual education programs, and European international schools. It then provides a synthesis of the research which has been conducted on our continent into the effects of CLIL programs. It transpires from this review that, while at first blush it might seem that outcome-oriented investigations into CLIL effects abound throughout our continent, there is still a well-documented paucity of research in this area. The article concludes by identifying future research agendas to continue mapping the CLIL terrain. The ultimate aim of this three-pronged examination of the past, present, and future of CLIL is to depart from the lessons learned from recent research and to signpost ways forward in order to guarantee a success-prone implementation of this timely solution to European plurilingual education.