Introductory Guide

Presentation

This course deals with CLIL: Content and Language Integrated Learning. It is intended for teachers who want to teach non-linguistic content through a foreign language. It is also for teachers who wish to engage with pedagogic issues, including strategies, techniques and resources for introducing and developing the approach in their classrooms.

Today, there is much concern in our society to provide youngsters with a foreign language effectively. It is broadly perceived that, though students spend many hours trying to learn a particular foreign language, they are unable to use it in real-life situations at the end of their compulsory studies. CLIL tries to bridge this gap between language lessons and real life by placing youngsters in an environment where the foreign language appears naturally in context. Nevertheless, this new environment has to be comfortable both for teachers and students to achieve success, and therefore the need to know a “non-threatening” methodology that makes this possible

This course is for teachers who want to do their classes in English and offers an interesting opportunity to their students; you will find here ways on how to deal with language in your classes and how to plan engaging tasks for them. Engagement, at the end, is behind the true essence of CLIL.

Here is a video with a brief introduction of CLIL, enjoy it!

Main Aims

  • To introduce the CLIL theoretical and practical framework.
  • To share and analyse CLIL planning examples.
  • To advise and guide the CLIL units design and development.
  • To foster a CLIL effective implementation adding resources and teaching repertoire.
  • To state some of the acquired concepts explicitly in a project.

At the end of the course participants will have a general overview of the CLIL theoretical framework as well as a compilation of useful resources and ready-to-use didactic proposals.

Structure

The course is divided into 6 modules, with several practices, and a final project. It is intended to require 45 hours of work: 6 hours per module plus 9 hours for the final project. The modules have been designed with a special care to balance the theoretical and practical aspects of CLIL; using CLIL to learn CLIL. The final aim is to foster analysis and reflection from whoever interested in this methodology.

These are the modules:

  • M1: What is CLIL?
  • M2: Content and Language
  • M3: Cognition and Culture
  • M4: Sequencing and Auditing Activities
  • M5: Assessment in CLIL
  • M6: CLIL in Practice

You will also find an introductory module, a Starting Point, to reflect on your background knowledge of CLIL and to express your own expectations of the course. This module contains also a guide of CLIL for parents and students. This offers an excellent overview of the potential of the methodology.

Before starting to develop the modules we encourage you to have a careful look at each introductory page, paying special attention to the exercises and the final project you are expected to do.

Technical requirements

The materials for this course are designed to work with the most common computer software and can be viewed with any browser, but are optimized for Mozilla Firefox.

You are not supposed to have further computer knowledge than the average user: to create folders, copy files, paste files and browse the internet.