Clil

Contents



1. What is CLIL ...............................................................................................2
1.1 From abstract to concrete……………………………………………….3
1.1.1Definitions of CLIL…………………………………………………....3
2. The development of CLIL……………………………………………..…..…...7
3. Convergence ………………………………………………………………….…8
4. CLIL in the Knowledge Age……………………………………………..……10
5.Driving forces behind CLIL……………………………………………..……..11
5.1 Reactive reasons……………………………………………… ……..……11
5.2 Proactive reasons…………………………………………………………....11
6. Why is CLIL relevant to contemporary education? .....................................12
7. Why is CLIL relevant to the teaching profession……………………….........13
8. CLIL: Lesson Plan………………………………………………………….…..14
8.1 The Secret Life of aCell…………………………………………………15
9. CLIL Summary………………………………………………………………16
9.1 Viewpoints………………………………………………………...……..17
10. Charts…………………………………………………………………….…18
11. Bibliography………………………………………………………………...20
























What is CLIL?


Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) is a dual-focused educational approach in which an additional language is usedfor the learning and teaching of both content and language.
That is, in the teaching and learning process, there is a focus not only on content, and not only on language. CLIL is not a new form of language education or a new form of subject education. It is an innovative fusion of both. CLIL is content-driven, and this is where it both extends the experience of learning a language, andwhere it becomes different to existing language-teaching approaches. The term CLIL is inclusive in that it binds together the essence of good practice found in the different environments where it principles have been adopted. It involves a range of models which can be applied in a variety of ways with diverse types of learner.







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From abstractto concrete

However, the problem with definitions, particularly when it comes to educational approaches, is that they tend to remain rather abstract. Let’s take a look at some of the most common definitions on the web. In each definition, there is a part underlined I think is particularly useful. Each of those underlined sections will represent a distinct but significant aspect of CLIL thatneeds highlighting, at least at this stage of the discussion. 


Five definitions of CLIL

1. CLIL is a member of the curriculum club.

Here’s the simplest of all, from the European Commission itself:

“Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), in which pupils learn a subject through the medium of a foreign language...”
On this purely descriptive level, this quotation endorses CLIL asa construct – as a member of the curricular club. It seems uncontroversial because we do not know to what extent or to what level pupils ‘learn a subject’ through the foreign language, and we are left unaware of any reasons for doing CLIL.

2. CLIL has a dual focus.

The next one offers a more detailed description:

“CLIL refers to situations where subjects, or parts of subjects, are taughtthrough a foreign language with dual-focused aims, namely the learning of content, and the simultaneous learning of a foreign language".
(Marsh, D. 2002. Content and Language Integrated Learning: The European Dimension – Actions, Trends and Foresight Potential).
This quote is useful because it highlights some of the educational intention inherent to the CLIL paradigm. Through CLIL-typepractice, one learns [subject] content whilst at the same time learning a foreign language. What could be better than this? The ‘dual-focused’ objective would seem to be implying that CLIL kills two birds with one stone. 

3. CLIL buys us time.

Indeed, if we return to the European Commission’s quotation, and read a little further, we encounter the following phrase:

“It [CLIL] provides exposure...