Concepts and Principles of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL)

Abstract

The present article seeks to encourage reflection on the characteristics and considerations when implementing Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) in a diverse context. CLIL, a method where students learn content through a foreign or a second language, is a dual-focused educational approach in which an additional language is used for the teaching and learning of both content and the language. That is, in the teaching and learning process there is a focus not only on content and not only on language. Each is interwoven, even if the emphasis is greater on one or the other at a given time. It can be effective with all levels of students, from primary to adults, and it can cover a wide range of subjects. Although CLIL incorporates both language and content it is neither a language nor a content lesson, but stands somewhere in-between the two. A successful CLIL lesson should combine elements of the 4Cs: 1) Content 2) Communication 3) Cognition and 4) Culture.