Content and language integrated learning in bachelor programs in linguistics: Prospects and potentials

Abstract

Communicative and active learning is recognized as a dominant didactic model in foreign languages teaching and learning paradigm, wherein Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) seems to be very promising. The key principle of CLIL is its dual focus: learning a subject through a language and learning a language through a subject. The focus of a CLIL lesson is on the subject content, which students need not only to understand and learn, but to interiorize in a foreign language. Being placed in a specific cultural context, the content gains certain linguistic and cultural features which are country specific for each professional sphere. The article also addresses how the students develop Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP). The students not only master the subject but also improve foreign language skills by mastering lexico-grammatical patterns and discourse formulas focused on a specific subject area. Using several foreign languages (plurilingual approach) would allow the students to master the subject even more effectively.