The Concept of CLIL

Content and Language Integrated Learning

Content and language integrated learning (CLIL) is a concept that has gained attention in modern educational settings. This concept refers to a learning approach in which students learn a second language and a subject simultaneously. The use of this approach to learning is geared towards the successful integration of language and content. As a result, CLIL does not necessarily focus on simplifying content relating to a new language. Given the increased attention on this concept, CLIL has been the subject of numerous studies conducted in the field of education in recent years. This paper reviews a recent study conducted on this concept with a view of examining the applicability of its contents in modern classrooms.

Summary

Li et al. (2020) conducted a study in which they explored curriculum development in light of the CLIL concept. The study was conducted on the backdrop that this concept is a thriving innovation in many educational settings as shown in its wide application across the globe. Schools across the globe as increasingly adopting the CLIL approach to promote teaching and learning of content and a second language. While this approach is increasingly adopted in the classroom, there is a lack of systematic curricular for CLIL. Many teachers are implementing this approach without the support of appropriate resource banks or published literature. The study sought to examine curriculum development in this approach to teaching and learning. The significance of this study was to propose a holistic model for CLIL curriculum development that would support its continued application in educational settings.

A total of 281 studies published between 2009 and 2019 were reviewed systematically and used to propose a model for CLIL curriculum development. Through the review, the researchers developed a framework for CLIL curriculum development comprising five interacting stages with 15 components. They concluded that CLIL curriculum development should be transdisciplinary, encourage teamwork between stakeholders and integrate elements of each stage. Additionally, the proposed framework involves the establishment of a holistic learning philosophy, identification of holistic learning goals, design of holistic plans, multi-focused implementation of the approach, and multi-focused evaluation of the approach.

Analysis

The researchers relied on secondary data to propose a holistic model for CLIL curriculum development. To identify suitable sources of information, these researchers conducted a search of existing literature in two electronic databases i.e. EBSCOHost and ProQuest Research Library. The use of electronic databases and focus on peer-reviewed journals enhanced the credibility of the study findings. Newman & Gough (2019) note that peer-reviewed journals are suitable sources of data for systematic reviews in educational research. The credibility of the study findings was also enhanced by the use of a comprehensive search strategy, which resulted in an exhaustive search. While the reviewed literature was limited to studies published in English-language journals, the identified sample of 281 studies was adequate for the study. However, the systematic review is rather biased because studies with negative findings were not included. In essence, this research was characterized by publication bias since it only employed studies with positive findings on the phenomenon under investigation. Additionally, the search term employed by the researchers inadvertently excluded literature with an alternative conceptualization of this approach to teaching and learning.

For data analysis, these researchers employed thematic analysis in which emerging themes and patterns from the data were extracted. Thematic analysis is commonly employed in qualitative studies and used to answer research questions through identifying emerging themes and patterns in data. Through this technique, the researchers identified five interactive stages of CLIL curriculum development and a holistic model. While the technique generated significant insights relating to CLIL curriculum development, it has some inherent weaknesses that could have affected the study’s findings. These researchers could have introduced some themes or patterns into the data because of the ambiguity of some expressions of each stage of CLIL curriculum development. Moreover, the researchers seemingly ignored some themes/patterns relating to the phenomenon under investigation because of the ambiguity surrounding CLIL curriculum development. Therefore, the conclusions provided by the researchers on CLIL curriculum development are not exhaustive because of the inherent limitations of the data analysis technique they employed. This study could have benefited further from the inclusion of non-English journals and a comprehensive data analysis technique.

This article has provided significant insights regarding curriculum development for CLIL as an approach to teaching and learning. It has challenged existing views regarding CLIL, its development, and use in classrooms across the globe. The interesting thing about the paper is its proposal of a specific model for CLIL curriculum development. It contributes to existing literature on this concept and addresses CLIL shortcomings by proposing a supportive model for curriculum development. As noted by Harrop (2012), one of the shortcomings of this model is the lack of suitable model to promote its development and increased implementation. This article helps to address this limitation by proposing a model for CLIL curriculum development.

Application

Despite some of the weaknesses surrounding this study, it provides significant insights regarding CLIL curriculum development. Insights derived from the article are applicable in a classroom school-based or educational context as they provide supportive evidence for the implementation of CLIL in the classroom. Based on insights obtained from this article, the application of CLIL in a classroom school-based or educational context would involve establishing holistic learning philosophy, goals, and plans. The philosophy, goals, and plans would be utilized as the premise for CLIL curriculum development. Using these three components, language and content learning strategies will be formulated to help make language learning easy and support specific content learning. The lack of a holistic philosophy, goals, and plans has affected the implementation of CLIL and resulted in poor outcomes. Therefore, implementing these components will help improve the implementation of this approach.