Note: This article was originally posted to an older version of the site in October 2021.
There are various types of teaching methods and approaches that are used in classrooms, both online and in-person.
One such method is called CLIL, or Content and Language Integrated Learning, a teaching method that brings together two subjects so that a student could learn a foreign language, such as English, for example. If a student likes literature, s/he could study literature in English and explore an interest while increasing fluency at the same time using CLIL.
BridgeUniverse recently hosted a webinar to discuss the topic in-depth.
The panelists were Erin Hernandez, Owner of Selnate International School, Leticia Moraes, Partner, Troika, an educational start-up, and Anna Hearrell, Product Manager, Bridge Education group.
Anna and Leticia both have experience using CLIL, and shared valuable, straightforward advice with the audience.
While very useful in the right situation, CLIL can sometimes be difficult to understand or implement, especially as you’re beginning to become familiar with it. This is because the modality is very academic-based. There are lots of textbooks about it, and while this makes for good reading, it’s hard to directly translate this into a tangible course of action for the classroom.
As with any other teaching method, CLIL requires adaptability.
It is, however, praised for its ability to address language conflicts, communication, competence, and confidence when used effectively.
CLIL is “treasured” as an instruction method, as it offers lots of support for the learner. It’s a helpful way to switch things up in bilingual teaching methods, which can be done in many ways.
Language for learning, language through learning, and language of learning are all emphasized through CLIL. The method also emphasizes Bloom’s Taxonomy, a hierarchy which places importance on creating, evaluating, and analyzing on the student’s part.
In a poll titled “Rate your awareness of CLIL”, attendees gave the following answers: 32% – “I think I saw that somewhere…”, 26% – “Familiar with it”, 17% – “uh, what?”, 16% – “I can tell you about it, but I’m not engaged in it”, and 9% – “I’m doing it right now.”
Attendees were also asked “Which method of bilingual education are you most familiar with?” 49% answered “Content-based instruction”, 17% answered “Full English Immersion (FMI)”, 13% answered CLIL, 11% answered “Other”, and 9% answered “Dual-Immersion”.
There are 5 C’s of CLIL, and each of them involve aspects that are important to be aware of as a teacher, even if you don’t use CLIL as your main instruction method. They are Content, Communication, Cognition (mental involvement), Competence, and Culture.
CLIL can be used with learners of any age, however, the content used in classes must match up with the student’s language level.
Brazil commonly uses CLIL in the primary school and lower secondary school levels, and Europe has been a CLIL leader for the past 3-5 years.
To create an effective CLIL lesson plan, you’ll want to have both content and language objectives, input from your student, and activities that allow students to organize and interact with content.
If you’re wondering what makes this different from immersion, the answer is that CLIL gives students more room for developing fluency in different aspects of general English and connection to their native languages. Switching between languages is important in CLIL, whereas an immersion environment has a goal of helping students speak English as much as possible.
I’m curious to hear what you think about CLIL. Do you use it yourself, or has a teacher ever used it with you? What do you think about it? I can’t wait to read in the comments!