ELTWeekly Issue#33, ELT Resource of the Week: CLIL

CLIL stands for Content and Language Integrated Learning. It refers to teaching subjects such 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 teacher using English as the language of instruction. Both methods result in the simultaneous learning of content and English.

The term CLIL was coined by David Marsh, University of Jyväskylä, Finland (1994):“CLIL refers to situations where subjects, or parts of subjects, are taught through a foreign language with dual-focused aims, namely the learning of content and the simultaneous learning of a foreign language.”

However, CLIL teaching has been practised for many years, from the Babylonian era to the early sixties when bi-lingual education was introduced in many schools around the world. Even if you are unaware of the term CLIL, you may already have been using CLIL methodology for many years.

Are you a CLIL teacher?

There are many ways of describing the characteristics attributed to CLIL. You may already be following and using many of its principles. If you are teaching on a programme or following a methodology listed below then onestopclil is for you.

  • Bilingual Integration of Languages and Disciplines (BILD)
  • Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL)
  • Content and Language Integration in Primary CLIP
  • Content-based Instruction (CBI)
  • Content-based Language Instruction (CBLI)
  • Content-based Language Teaching (CBLT)
  • English Across the Curriculum (EAC)
  • English as an Academic Language (EAL)
  • English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI)
  • Foreign Language Immersion Program (FLIP)
  • Foreign Languages as a Medium of Education (FLAME)
  • Languages Across the Curriculum (LAC)
  • Teaching Content Through English
  • Teaching English Through Content

Find out more about CLIL in the informative article: What is CLIL? in the free CLIL Teacher Magazine. A more in-depth exploration about CLIL – what it is, what it is not and the challenges faced by CLIL teachers – can be found in the Methodologysection.

Visit OneStopCLIL.com

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