Students’ perception of CLIL in higher education : Preliminary results of the CLIL HET project

Abstract

There has been a growing research interest into the implementation of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) in higher education, however, limited research attention has been devoted to the investigation of the situation in the Visegrad countries. These countries have seen an increasing pressure on higher education institutions to provide courses taught through English in order to enhance teacher and student mobility, to share knowledge and to network. Still, disciplinary teachers are not always prepared for this task. The aim of this paper is twofold. First, it introduces the Visegrad 4+ Project CLIL-HET (Content and Language Integrated Learning – Higher Education Teacher). In the course of the project, a special platform for CLIL, ESP, and disciplinary teachers has been created. Disciplinary teachers can complete a course on CLIL methodology at the website, and the project also aims to assess the linguistic weaknesses of disciplinary teachers who teach their subject through English. The second aim is to report on international students’ expectations on courses taught through English at the Hungarian partner institution of the project, the Faculty of Education of the University of Szeged.