Content And Language Integrated Learning Practices Research Articles

Examining the impact of multimodal task design on English oral communicative competence in fourth-grade content-language integrated social studies: A quasi-experimental study

Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) is increasingly adopted globally, including in Taiwan’s educational initiatives, yet challenges remain in implementing effective CLIL practices, such as pedagogy and curriculum design. This study investigated the effectiveness of multimodal task designs, combining hands-on learning with poster presentations, in enhancing oral communicative competence within CLIL contexts. Employing a mixed-methods, quasi-experimental design with a comparative case study framework, the study assessed English oral communicative competence in four intact fourth-grade Taiwanese CLIL Social Studies classes. The hands-on learning group (EG, n = 40) engaged in activities like Chinese Dumpling Making, Bird’s Nest Building, and Succulent Pot Designing, while the non-hands-on learning group (CG, n = 34) used traditional worksheets on the same topics. Both groups proceeded to poster presentations within their multimodal task design, where students’ oral communicative competence was assessed using rubrics developed based on Coyle’s 4Cs dimensions, focusing on Content, Communication, and Cognition. Additionally, students’ cultural knowledge related to the hands-on topics was evaluated through written tests. To complement the quantitative data, qualitative data from self-reported reflections and video recordings documenting interventions were collected for the assessment of oral communicative competence within a CLIL framework. Results demonstrate that integrating hands-on activities significantly enhanced procedural content, communication (i.e., sentence complexity, pronunciation accuracy for target vocabulary, presentation fluency), and cognitive abilities, confirming the efficacy of multimodal learning approaches in fostering linguistic and cognitive engagement. Post-test comparisons show the EG’s superiority in cultural knowledge acquisition across all three hands-on topics. Student reflections endorsed the enrichment of learning experiences through multimodal task design. Video analysis of both groups’ interventions revealed that despite significant engagement and autonomy, EG students commonly utilized general English rather than target vocabulary, a pattern similar to that observed in the CG. These findings highlight the potential of diverse modalities in CLIL to enhance English content learning and oral skills, shaping future pedagogy and language strategies in Taiwan. The study also emphasizes the role of embodied learning, the interplay between physical actions and cognitive processes, to facilitate deeper understanding and engagement with subject matter within CLIL settings.

Teacher Practices and Student Language Proficiency: Insights from CLIL Classrooms in China

This research provides a comprehensive exploration of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) in Chinese educational settings, with a specific focus on teacher practices and their impact on student language proficiency. The study investigates key aspects of CLIL implementation, teacher strategies, and student language outcomes. It offers insights into effective CLIL practices, professional development needs for educators, and policy considerations for policymakers. The findings contribute valuable knowledge to the discourse on bilingual and multilingual education, aiming to inform stakeholders for the successful integration of CLIL programs in diverse educational contexts.

‘Definitions did not effectively help my students’: Pre-service teachers’ language modification strategies in Thai language-driven CLIL classrooms

Content and language integrated learning (CLIL) requires a synthesis of language and content teaching. However, language teachers who are employed to teach CLIL may lack the preparation and knowledge to teach other curriculum subjects. It is therefore necessary to understand how language CLIL teachers make subject-specific language comprehensible to students when they themselves are unfamiliar with subject-specific terms and concepts. However, no research has yet been conducted to explore this in the Thai context. To address this gap, this article presents the findings of a qualitative study exploring pre-service teachers’ use of language modification as negotiation of meaning (NoM) strategies to make accessible subject-specific terms or concepts in the target language to students. Data are drawn from language-driven CLIL classroom video observations and stimulated recall interviews with six pre-service teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) at two Thai secondary schools. The findings show that the participants used various language modification strategies, including definitions, elaboration and simplification, recognizing both the affordances and limitations of these strategies. It is concluded that the capacity to flexibly employ a range of strategies, responsive to the content and students’ comprehension is needed for effective language-driven CLIL practice. We offer practical recommendations for language-driven CLIL practice and professional development to enhance teachers’ language awareness and understanding of how language strategies can be used to support NoM in a language-driven CLIL setting.

Cognitive research in pedagogy: conceptual metaphor in CLIL-economics

The paper analyses a prominent topic of current research into implementing cognitive findings in pedagogy. The study pursues a threefold purpose. It aims to review research literature on the instructional application of cognitive research in general and Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) in particular. Conceptual metaphor investigation is a broad strand of cognitive research that has promised to discover new insights in methodological approaches applicable to different specialist subjects including economics known for ubiquitous use of metaphors. The second focus of this study is to review research papers on the use of cognitive findings including Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) which names cognition as one of its key components indispensable for content and language coordination. The paper aims to ascertain whether conceptual metaphor research plays any role in CLIL pedagogy and whether the pedagogical potential of language and theory-constitutive metaphors is used in CLIL-economics instruction. This study finds that conceptual metaphor as a property of both language and thought ensuring the convergence of learning economic language and content has not yet been translated to CLIL practice despite its great potential. Thirdly, the paper looks into the pedagogical implications of CMT findings in CLIL-economics. The paper argues that conceptual metaphor agrees with the tenets of integrated economic language and content learning. A cognitive interface between metaphor-based economic language and content which ensures their integration in CLIL methodology is postulated. Some steps in applying a metaphor-based approach in CLIL-economics are suggested.

Shifting Language Ideology and Teaching Practice in Multilingual Class: Voices of Indonesian Lecturers in CLIL

Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) has grown in popularity due to the idea that it may aid students in enhancing their foreign language proficiency. Previous studies have found that teaching a foreign language in a bilingual setting creates obstacles since students have fewer linguistic features in learning and teaching. While they investigated the significance of various perspectives in this process, this study explores language ideologies and practices in the multilingual background. It seeks the lecturer's voice who taught preparation courses for international students about his language ideologies and CLIL practices using different parameters of CLIL. This narrative study engaged guided dialogues and observations. We adopted Barkhuizen et al.’s (2014) thematic analysis for analyzing the data. It indicated that language ideologies emerged after framing the courses within the students' more comprehensive language ideological contexts, followed by a discussion of its relevance to classroom practice English is used to address gaps between individuals who might not share a common native language or a shared (domestic) identity and with whom English was the favored foreign language of communication. While he created a humanist course for students to use their broad vocabulary and grammar classes were nevertheless immersed in transitory language ideologies.

Research and training in CLIL times: Meeting practitioners’ needs

The widespread implementation of content and language integrated learning (CLIL) across school settings in Europe as an innovative and effective means of improving Foreign Language learning and teaching, has triggered a profusion of academic research on its tenets and rewards. The focus has been on theoretical discussions of CLIL’s ins and outs and few empirical studies on key players’ views regarding its efficacy. A consistent outcome of the latter has been the call made by CLIL practitioners for more guidance in the practical application of this approach. The goal of this study is to encourage a shift of focus from the theoretically-based discussion of this approach to one centred on its practical application. This study is a discussion paper that intends to encourage discussion and research on teacher training to better tackle the methodological concerns of those teachers in CLIL practice. This study concludes that, as a reality, CLIL methodology exists and is not merely a theory. Keywords: CLIL, methodology, practitioners, teacher training

Core Features of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL): An Exploratory Study in Indonesian Primary Schools

This study explores the implementation of an adapted form of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) in primary schools as it is utilized to support the teaching of English to young learners (TEYL) in Indonesia. Three teachers of well-established public primary schools in one of the municipalities of East Java province participated in the study due to their experiences in integrating subject content and English in day-to-day classes. The data collection was conducted using classroom observations, in-depth interviews, lesson plan analyses, and a questionnaire about how CLIL core features were integrated into the class. The results revealed that the teachers performed some core features of CLIL, as defined by Mehisto et al. (2008), such as multiple foci, active learning, scaffolding, and cooperation. However, the teachers reflected that cooperation between content and language teachers should be enhanced to improve CLIL materials. In addition, the teachers argued that they needed more training to improve their competence to conduct effective CLIL practices. The practical application of the current study is summarized in the presentation of some pedagogical suggestions to offer a more efficacious learning process, especially in TEYL practice Hence, the emerging outcomes of the study should serve as practical guidance for the improvement of TEYL acivities by adapting CLIL in the primary schools of Indonesia.

Meeting the needs of practitioners through research and training in CLIL times

The widespread implementation of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) across school settings in Europe as an innovative and effective means of improving Foreign Language learning and teaching, has triggered a profusion of academic research on its tenets and rewards. The focus has mainly centered on theoretical discussions of CLIL´s ins and outs but there have also been empirical studies on key players’ views regarding its efficacy. A consistent outcome of the latter has been the call made by CLIL practitioners (the classroom teachers) for more guidance in the practical application of this approach. However, not much attention has been paid to this key issue which should concern researchers and teacher educators from CLIL-supporting contexts. The goal of this study is to encourage a shift of focus from the theoretically-based discussion of this approach to one centered on its practical application. This study is a discussion paper that intends to encourage discussion and research on teacher training to better tackle the methodological concerns of those teachers in CLIL practice. Keywords: CLIL; foreign language; teacher; training.

International Perspectives on CLIL. Hemmi, C., & Banegas, D. L. (Ed.) (2021). Palgrave, Cham, 300 pages, ISBN: 978-3-030-70094-2.

The content and language integrated learning (CLIL) is acknowledged as a dual-focused educational approach and practice for better access in both languages and content learning. In the last two decades, CLIL has been increasingly under close scrutiny, especially in Europe and Latin America (Pérez-Cañado, 2018; Banegas, Poole, & Corrales, 2020). However, it has been expanded globally and takes up a notable position in the field of ELT. Here comes the publication of this edited collection, signal of an increased need and interests in CLIL across the world.
 This book consists of four parts and fourteen chapters. Besides first part serves as introductory overview of CLIL’s theoretical development and last part as conclusional prospect of conduction of CLIL--both of which are presented by the editors of the book under review--this volume encompasses twelve papers falling under two headings: CLIL practice and CLIL professional development.
 The part of CLIL practice addresses a variety of cultural backgrounds and educational contexts where CLIL implementations are conducted. This part discusses assessment issue in CLIL Spanish history course and translanguaging in CLIL science class in Colombia, attesting to the authenticity (chapter 2) and engaging effect of CLIL. Shifting to a less explored contexts in Japan and Taiwan, there are 3 chapters in this part that investigate the possibilities of implementing CLIL in Asian EFL contexts. Chapter 4 investigates the students’ perception of being assessed in a CLIL programme in Japanese University, chapter 6 concentrates on the interaction between teacher and students that ficilitates both content and language learning in a CLIL classroom in Japan. Chaper 7 surveys students in a CLIL programme at a polytechnic university in Taiwan with CQS (Cultural Quotient Scale) and finds that CLIL approach effectively promotes learners’ cross-cultural understanding and CQ competence. This part empirically reveals the malleability and accessibility of CLIL in various cross-cultural educational settings.
 The part of CLIL professional development explores in what ways CLIL can be sustained across educational levels and types of education provision. Chapter 8 reflects CLIL models in Australian TESOL course, chapter 12 offers evidence that CLIL approach can also be utilized in coursebook for very young learners in tandem with second language learning in the context of schooling. This part also mentions language and content teachers’ needs for professional training that can provide instructions and strategies in both their pre- and in-service phases (chapter 9, 10, 11). Chapter 13 shows the significance of teachers’ awareness of possible hegemonic ideologies in CLIL class. It is crucial for people to realize that instead of being regarded as an elitist education/language learning approach (Van Mensel, Hiligsmann, Mettewie, & Galand, 2020), “CLIL can become the platform through which multilingual education is embraced as an option for anyone regardless of personal circumstances” (Hemmi & Banegas, 2021:306).
 Taken as a whole, this anthology helps language teachers to establish a comprehensive understanding of CLIL initiatives and contributes concrete pedagogical implications for language teaching researchers, as well as education policy makers, postgraduates, and language teacher educators all over the world.

Content and Language Integrated Learning Practice in English for Accounting Course

The contextualization of materials in the context of teaching English for specific purposes (ESP) is a prerequisite to gain maximum input of language knowledge. The present study sheds some light on the practice of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) approach in English for accounting course. This study involved 38 Indonesian ESP students majoring in accounting of a public university in Surakarta Indonesia as the participants. Pre-experimental research design was conducted in eight meeting during the course, including the administration of vocabulary test to examine the participants’ score in pre-test and post-test. A focus group discussion (FGD) was also carried out to reveal the students’ perception about the practice of CLIL approach in English for accounting course. The results depicted that there was a significant difference on the participants’ vocabulary scores between the pre-test and the post-test. It was also portrayed that the participants positively perceived the CLIL practice in their class. The results of this study contribute to providing fruitful insights for teachers and future researchers about CLIL practice in English language teaching, specifically in the context of teaching English for specific purposes.

Revisiting CLIL: Background, Pedagogy, and Theoretical Underpinnings

This state-of-the-art article reviews the literature on content and language integrated learning (CLIL) – enseignement d’une matiere par l’integration d’une langue etrangere (EMILE) – through an analytical lens. Since its inception in the 1990s, CLIL has evolved and become part of the educational literature as a dual-focused and multi-dimensional educational approach. CLIL is not only about using an additional language (AL) (e.g., foreign, autochthonous, heritage, second language) as a medium to teach subject content. The approach also aims to build and reinforce learners’ knowledge of other disciplines while using the language creatively to solve problems and develop critical thinking. Some research evidence has indicated that CLIL practices vary according to context, curricular constraints, and available teaching force. This multi-dimensionality and diverse implementations of CLIL have led to misunderstandings and what CLIL is and is not have been the topic of countless debates. An accurate description of CLIL would not be possible without understanding its historicity and the reasons for its emergence. CLIL now represents an approach that integrates language and content teaching in a variety of language learning and bilingual education contexts. CLIL was not created out of thin air. Its creation was influenced by a multitude of factors such as (a) the historical, political, epistemological and societal influences of the 1980s, (b) research on second language acquisition, (c) current theories of learning and, (d) educational philosophies on languages and approaches to language teaching that drew on postmodern views that emerged in the 1980s.

CLIL PRACTICES IN TOMSK POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY: SUCCESSES AND FAILURES

Introduction. Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) has recently been applied into education system, but a range of supporters is rapidly increasing, covering diverse countries. The CLIL approaches simultaneously use a foreign language as an object to studying and as an instrument to learning other subjects. The emergence of CLIL was related to a wide distribution of bilingualism in society and the need to cope with the problems related to this process, including the elimination of international conflicts, the consolidation of society as the factor of a social well-being, the support of a competitive labour market, etc.Despite growing popularity of CLIL across the world and recognised status by the European Union as one of the leading effective means to implementing international language policy of multilingualism, the academic teaching staff of Russian higher school does not still fully understand the organisational mechanisms and forms of a similar learning process, largely as a result of national characteristics and traditions. In a globalising world, CLIL didactics is currently becoming a perspective direction of higher education and an effective way both of acquiring and improving language and communicative competencies to provide further successful professionalising of students and to facilitate their career promotion in the chosen field of activity.Theaimof this paper was to sum up and discuss the experience of Tomsk Polytechnic University in conducting CLIL-based courses.Methodology and research methods. The concept of practice-oriented vocational education was used as the methodological base of the experimental work in order to search optimal variants when developing foreign language knowledge in the students of engineering specialties. In the course of the research, the approaches of comparative analysis, synthesis, generalisation, forecasting, design, modelling, prolonged monitoring of learning outcomes, observation and questionnaire survey were applied.Results and scientific novelty.The actualising reasons for CLIL approach in the Russian high school education were formulated and proved. The brief historical overview of didactic concepts was presented. The authors analysed temporary challenges which preceded the implementation of CLIL methodologies in the learning process of Tomsk Polytechnic University (TPU) and the introduction of programme “Vocational Training and Education in a Foreign Language” (3rd-4th years of education). The stages of teaching foreign language evolution at the university were distinguished: the anglification of engineering education transformed into multidisciplinary model of English for Specific Purpose (ESP); the creation of “pedagogical tandems” – the organization of courses with “double agents”; and, finally, CLIL training in which a cognitive component can be seen as the key characteristic and the main advantage. Success and failure in the field of CLIL practices available today at TPU were revised. The examples of private implementable practices were described and analysed. The research findings revealed the rationality when using various applied variations of CLIL methodology.Practical significance. The research outcomes allowed the authors to adjust not only the main educational programmes of higher education institution, but also internal programmes of professional development of teachers. Although the long-term experiment summarised in the publication in a single higher education institution does not apply for universality and mass circulation, the authors believe that experimentative materials will contribute to consistent embedding of CLIL courses into a complete system of vocational training.

Innovations and Challenges: Conceptualizing CLIL Practice

The continued emergence of content and language integrated learning (CLIL) is linked to how it creates, adopts, and leads to the design of innovative didactic processes. In systems, theory emergence occurs when features of smaller entities are brought together through interaction to form a larger ecosystem, one that acquires qualities not readily accessible to the original sources. Having drawn on the theoretical underpinning of a range of language and broader educational philosophy, the emergence of CLIL is driven by processes and practices. This article conceptualizes subsystems of CLIL and describes how CLIL practice through English can be designed and implemented through phenomenon-based learning. CLIL practice provides a systemic process by which to simultaneously advance not only additional language fluency but also adoption of innovative methods across the curriculum.

Competing Bilingual Schools in La Mancha City: Teachers’ Responses to Neoliberal Language Policy and CLIL Practices

This article analyzes how neoliberalism as ideology and practice permeates CLIL-type bilingual education teachers’ narratives collected as part of the sociolinguistic ethnography conducted in four Spanish-English bilingual schools in La Mancha City (pseudonym). The rapid implementation of Spanish-English bilingual programs in Castilla-La Mancha schools in the last decade (e.g. «MEC/British» programs; «Linguistic Programs» regulated by the regional «Plan of Plurilingualism», last amended in 2018; «Bilingual Programs» in semi-private schools) invites to reflect on how neoliberalism plays a role in the commodification of English language teaching and learning in these programs. Particularly, the article discusses how teachers participating in these programs position themselves towards their personal experiences teaching CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) subjects in these bilingual programs. The analysis shows how these teachers are appropriating and resisting in some cases bilingualism as a neoliberal ideology and practice that reconfigures their professional identities as self-governing free subjects who must know English at all costs to compete in the highly commodified global market of English.

A good CLIL practice among European educational institutions

Content and language integrated learning (CLIL) has been recognised in the educational platforms in many European countries. It provides a unique chance to combine foreign language competences and knowledge with the content of other subjects such as geography, arts, history, maths and many others. Despite the fact that professional and scientific papers provide a high number of evidence on a positive impact of CLIL lessons, the truth is that the less experienced countries face problems with CLIL implementation at their institutions due to many problems. This paper interprets the findings from the project Erasmus+ comprising primary and secondary schools, and their experience gained within the CLIL implementation in Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden and Italy. It also focuses on interpretations of the data collected through document analyses and observations concerning the CLIL lessons carried out in the above-mentioned European countries.
 
 Keywords: CLIL, education, good CLIL practice.

Putting CLIL into Practice

Facilitated by widespread grass-roots activity on the one hand and a favourable EU-level policy climate on the other, the teaching and learning of some school subjects through the medium of a foreign language (most frequently English) has experienced considerable spread in European educations systems since the 1990s. One might even say it has become an established niche in the mainstream. While local labels vary greatly (as do the exact practices), the name Content-and-Language-Integrated-Learning (CLIL) has established itself as an international umbrella term. Meanwhile, interest in this type of educational provision has also been growing in other parts of the world notably Latin America and South-East Asia. Links with related North American initiatives have also intensified in recent years. Since CLIL practice cuts across many apparent certainties that are deeply ingrained in education systems, such as the identity and responsibilities of individual subjects and those who teach them, CLIL has evoked a keen demand for guidance. The book market has responded to the demand with a number of publications that vary in their mix of practical, programmatic and conceptual content (Deller and Price 2007; Mehisto, Marsh and Frigols 2008; Coyle, Hood, and Marsh 2010; Dale and Tanner 2012; Llinares, Morton, and Whittaker 2012). The authors of the present book have been active as consultants, teacher trainers and materials writers in this arena in different contexts.

CLIL, unequal working conditions and neoliberal subjectivities in a state secondary school

The introduction of English and other foreign languages as media of instruction, which is generally referred to as content and language integrated learning (CLIL), has transformed the teaching experiences of a large number of educators. Yet their daily struggles and personally ambivalent stances have hardly been examined. This paper addresses this overlooked area of CLIL practice by taking a critical sociolinguistic stance towards language-in-education policy. Drawing on an ethnographic case study, it analyses the on-the-ground implementation of PEP, a government initiative to foster the plurilingualisation of the Catalan education system, in a state secondary school near Barcelona. Through the situated analysis of policy makers’, administrators’, and educators’ actions and discourses, the paper shows how the different groups of actors rationalise their engagement with the programme differently, while still aligning themselves with the official imagination of PEP, and constructing a collective ethos of commitment and hard work to improve the school’s reputation. Three neoliberalised worker subject positions are identified: the entrepreneurial head teacher, who anticipates avenues for school transformation before they are put into place; the activised civil servants, who construct themselves as exemplary moral agents; and the maximally flexible temporary teachers, who live their participation in PEP with anxiety and a sense of burden, but are also aware of the many opportunities PEP offers. This paper contributes situated insights on CLIL implementation and addresses issues of power and inequality overlooked by the dominant paradigms in the field.

Training teachers for English Medium Instruction: lessons from research on second language listening comprehension

CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) and EMI (English Medium Instruction) practices have outpaced theory and teacher training. There is a need to provide answers to some of the key issues such as the language requirements. This paper aims to show that knowledge from English for Specific Purposes and English for Academic Purposes, fields which have provided effective teaching practices and materials, could now be used in CLIL/EMI. The paper focuses on two of these. First, the issues related to second language academic listening comprehension and, secondly, the findings from research on it and their implications for student / lecturer training and materials design. These implications and suggestions are summarized. The paper concludes providing some language learning resources originally targeted to students but which could become tools for (self) training of those teachers who need to update their language skills for CLIL.<p> </p>

Grass Roots’ Voices on the CLIL Implementation in Tertiary Education

Twenty-first Century era has brought great challenges in Indonesian education system, i.e. the increasing demand for the students to have foreign language skills to succeed in global world competition. Particularly in the higher education, the awareness of learning English leads some lecturers in Accounting Department Faculty of Economics State University of Malang to apply the concept of Content-and-Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) during the classroom instruction (CLIL) – dual-focused education in which the content subject is delivered through foreign language. It is expected that students are benefited from content and language integration so that they can compete in the real global market. This study, then, elaborated the CLIL practice reflections in Accounting Department as seen from the students’ viewpoint. The data were collected by means of questionnaire and interview. The respondents were students of accounting department class QQ 2012. The result of this current study, then, is aimed at examining students’ general attitude toward CLIL and the effect of English instruction on their language competence. Moreover, the findings in this present study are also intended for evaluating CLIL implementation for further betterment.

Early Bilingual Education and Content and Language Integrated Learning Assessment in Primary Education: Assessment Beliefs, Knowledge and Practice in Portuguese State and Private Schools

Abstract Educational provisions, such as Early Bilingual Education (EBE) and Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), where curriculum content is learnt, taught and assessed through the means of an additional language, are not yet widespread in general primary and secondary education in Portugal. Knowing how to assess in such provisions, which have a dual focus on the mastering of language proficiency and content knowledge and skills, can be intricate. The first step towards building a rationale for soundly assessing language and content at early primary level in Portuguese schools needs to first understand how teachers working in EBE and CLIL education settings view assessment and what they do with it in the classroom. This article analyses the research findings of a small scale national research study conducted in Portugal in 2013/2014 on EBE and CLIL assessment beliefs, knowledge and practice on the part of teachers working in a national pilot on early bilingual education – the Bilingual Schools Project teachers (BSPT) and teachers working in similar provisions in private schools – the Non-Bilingual Schools Project teachers (NBSPT).