Sarah Quinn, a teacher of English at the British Council, shares her reflections on our two-day international workshop on maximising learning outcomes linked to Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) in primary and secondary education.
In November the British Council and France Education international hosted a two-day workshop on CLIL, bringing together researchers, policymakers, school leaders, teachers, teacher educators and representatives from international organisations. Following the publication of the British Council’s report on the current landscape of CLIL in primary education in France, and France Education international’s bibliography on international CLIL/EMILE/DNL practice, the event was a unique opportunity to draw from different perspectives and to gain key insights into developing and supporting successful CLIL programmes.
Balancing subject and language
While CLIL is often discussed in the context of language education, the subject content is considered the driving force of successful programmes. Dr Jason Skeet, author of the British Council report, explained that the subject provides different ways of learning and thinking, while language is given purpose by making the thinking explicit. Round-table discussions offered examples of successfully balancing content and language. Blake Ramsay (Expertise France) shared how the US system prioritises disciplinary objectives from academic subjects alongside language descriptors, while Professor Ana Llinares (Universidad Autonoma de Madrid) shared a study where teachers varied their approach to teaching a subject according to the language capabilities of learners. Flexibility is required, as well as acceptance that content and language will not be in continuous equal balance.
Global and local context
Professor Do Coyle (University of Edinburgh) highlighted that CLIL does not follow a one-size-fits-all model because it must be contextually sensitive and specific. Dr Jason Skeet emphasised that CLIL has always been an innovative approach and could be researched as a model for 21st century education. By working with subjects from different cultural and linguistic viewpoints, it encourages criticality, creativity and global citizenship, enabling learners to situate their own experience and find their voice. Sarah Breslin, Executive Director, European Centre for Modern Languages (ECML), and Head of Language Policy, Council of Europe (COE) highlighted the importance of placing CLIL within a wider perspective of plurilingual, democratic education, keeping the classroom space ‘sacred’ for learners to speak safely about what is going on in the world.
Multilingual approaches
Another consistent theme was the need to encourage ‘plurilingual wellbeing’, helping teachers develop the confidence to use all their languages in the classroom and, in turn, to help students use their own. Taking into consideration the diverse range of languages spoken in most classrooms today, teachers need help developing specific skills to help them take advantage of this diversity. Teachers need to be trained in using translanguaging strategically as a pedagogical tool. This is just one aspect of multilingual practice that crosses over into CLIL.
Benefits for learners
A panel of sixth-form students described how CLIL has helped them to develop confidence, creativity and flexibility from learning in multiple languages, enhancing their communication skills and relationships as well as giving them certain career opportunities and an open mentality towards other cultures and languages. In a fascinating keynote speech on multilingual education and learner identity, Dr. Nayr Ibrahim (Associate Professor, Nord University) argued that this type of education promotes deep learning and understanding by using various linguistic pathways. Learners reflect on and articulate their identity and understanding of the world through their languages, and subject-specific learning gives language development a concrete purpose.
