CLILCONTENT LANGUAGE INTEGRATED

LEARNING

MEd. Maria Luisa Mu

Implications

• CLIL(Content Language Integrated

Learning): Teaching subjects as Science,

History and Geography to students

through a foreign language.

• This can be by the English teacher using

cross-curricular content or the

subject/content teacher using English as

the language of instruction.

Conceptualisation

Students need the language to communicate with the teacher and

one another so as to access or apply content.

• By doing so, students strengthen the connections between language

and the previous knowledge, increasing learning and retention, a

form of acquiring knowledge in a friendly way for the brain.

Language use

• Language of learning: the language neededfor learners to access basic concepts andskills relating to the topic.

• Language for learning: the language alllearners need in order to operate in a foreignlanguage environment.

• Language through learning: learningcannot take place without active involvementof language and thinking.

Breaking down knowledge

• Scaffolding: the process of helping

learners move “into the new by using a

little of the old”.

Projects

• Bring together content and language.

• The finished product can be displayed in class,

included in a portfolio and often include

collaborative tasks.

• Consolidate information from different parts of the

curriculum in a natural way and provide variety for

both students and teachers.

• They integrate the four skills while, at the same

time, promote learner autonomy and cooperation.

Summing up

• CLIL has a dual focus: introducing students to content areas such asscience, music, art, maths or geography using a foreign language toteach all or part of the subject curriculum.

• CLIL learners need language to assist their thinking and they need todevelop their higher-order thinking skills to assist their languagelearning.