9. Developing CLIL (Content language integrated learning)

This quote by Do Coyle makes a brief about what I understand about a CLIL project.

“When language “is using” experience are positive,  when students are challenged to understand, think and reconceptualise prior learning in more than one language, when alternative perspectives are presented to our learners in different languages, as the number of successful language users increases, we can consider ourselves as having matured as a plurilingual, and pluricultural society. CLIL’s role is vital to that maturation process.”

A CLIL is a project which pupils learn a subject through a foreign language. It refers to situations where subjects are taught with two focused aims, these are namely the learning of content and the learning of a foreign language. It focuses on an inclusive capacity for integrating varied, dynamic and innovative learning environments.  The integration between the language and the subject curriculum areas is really important to deal with a CLIL. Also CLIL is dynamic, a flexible concept where topics and subjects are integrated in some kind of mutually beneficial way so that provide value-added to educational outcomes for the largest possible range of learners.

Different kinds of research find that CLIL:

Raise learner linguistic competence and confidence

Raise teacher and learner expectation

Develop risk-tasking and problem-solving skills in the learners

Increase vocabulary learning skills and grammatical awareness

Motivate and encourage learner’s independence

Take students beyond “reductive” foreign language topics

Improve literacy

Encourage to talk

Develop study skills, concentration

Generate positive attitudes

Put cultural awareness back to agenda

To understand properly the CLIL, we have to consider the 4c Framework. It focuses on the interrelationship between content, communication and cognition. It takes account of integrating learning and language learning.  

 I think it can be difficult to do CLIL in classrooms, but there is a big difference between teaching different subjects in a foreign language than integration of language and content. If we want to implement this flexible and innovating approach, language teachers and subjects teachers have to work together in one direction to do that CLIL will work in the schools.

I would like to stand out that CLIL is not a translation of the contents, is an integration of contents and language. Both have the same importance. The language is the tool to learn, so it is meaningful for students, because they relate the language with their everyday life, they world.

To summarise, lots of school across Europe take on the challenge of CLIL, and all the experience have been successful. So, here in Catalonia, we should make and effort and star fostering this new approach that give us such as good results for learning effectively our students.

This is an interesting video that shows how we can teach maths by social activity, that can be useful for a CLIL ( math's CLIL)