Content and language integrated learning (CLIL) programmes are increasingly popular throughout Europe, but are sometimes accused of inducing a selection bias in the pupil population, both through selection mechanisms of the schools themselves and self-selection of the pupils (and/or their parents). As a result, the outcomes of the CLIL approach…

This study follows a group of modern foreign languages (MFL) teachers in the Netherlands during a nine-month professional development project around the theme of 'Content in MFL'. The project was initiated following proposals to refocus the MFL curriculum on the basis of integrated learning outcomes for both language proficiency and areas of…

Although the core element in CLIL and immersion programmes is the integration of content and language, it is challenging to achieve a balance between the two to meet the dual-objective of CLIL. Research on the beliefs teachers have about CLIL and the way they understand the role of content and language in their classes is crucial to achieve that…

The aim of this paper is to reflect on the theoretical and methodological underpinnings that provide the basis for an understanding of Content-Based Instruction/Content and Language Integrated Learning (CBI/CLIL) in the field and its relevance in education in the twenty-first century. It is argued that the agenda of CBI/CLIL needs to move towards…

In Australia, although content and language integrated learning (CLIL) has been introduced in some mainstream schools, monolingual structures prevail. In this article, I suggest that translanguaging pedagogy may be a useful way of thinking about the integration of language and content in the Australian mainstream context, but that attention…

This article reports on the outcomes of a longitudinal case study to gauge the impact of content and language integrated learning (CLIL) on two of the least researched language skills: oral comprehension and production. It worked with 24 students in the fourth grade of Compulsory Secondary Education in a public school in Andalusia (southern Spain)…

Over the past decades content and language integrated learning (CLIL) research has predominantly focused on the language proficiency of CLIL learners. The results are very promising and show that working language skills in learners, especially reading and listening skills, can be improved through a CLIL programme. Studies focusing on subject…

This article looks at the characteristics of Content-Based Instruction (CBI) and Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) in order to examine their similarities and differences. The analysis shows that CBI/CLIL programmes share the same essential properties and are not pedagogically different from each other. In fact, the use of an L2 as…

Second language (L2) classroom research has sought to shed light on the processes and practices that develop L2 learners' abilities [Nunan, D. 2004. "Task-based language teaching." London: Continuum; Verplaetse, L. 2014. "Using big questions to apprentice students into language-rich classroom practices." "TESOL…

The present article carries out an in-depth analysis of the differences in motivation, input-related variables and linguistic attainment of the students at two content and language integrated learning (CLIL) schools operating within the same institutional and educational context, the Spanish region of Extremadura, and differing only in terms of…

Content and language integrated learning (CLIL) is a rapidly growing area of both research and practice in all parts of the world, especially in Europe and Asia. As a young discipline, CLIL has a good potential of distinguishing itself from monolingual L2 immersion education models by becoming more flexible and balanced about the role of L1 in…

The purpose of the project described here is to demonstrate how the introduction of subject matter and principles from citizenship education into foreign language education combines objectives from both in order to give meaning to language education on the one hand and extend citizenship education beyond a focus on the local and the national on…

Research on content and language integrated learning (CLIL) has expanded substantially in the last 10 years. While research interests have predominantly focused on language learning outcomes and the comparison between CLIL and English as a foreign language (EFL) students' competence in the foreign language, recent studies have called for the need…

This review of the extant research literature focuses on research about content-based language instruction (CBI) programmes in K-12 foreign/second language education in the USA. The review emphasises studies on one-way language immersion (OWI) and two-way language immersion (TWI) programmes, which are school-based and subject matter-driven. OWI…

This paper shows how the opportunity to encounter the other culture "in my backyard" (IMBY) can be used in landeskunde. This approach moves away from landeskunde as piecemeal factual background information toward developing own-culture and foreign/target culture awareness in mixed groups of native language students. (Contains 15…