Effective CLIL Program Implementation: Key Factors & Strategies
Effective CLIL Program Implementation
For optimal progress, cognitive challenge and intrinsic motivation must be infused into teacher-student interactions. Students need appropriate contextual supports to operate at a high level in their L2. These supports apply in all content-based and bilingual education situations, including:
- Activating prior knowledge and building background knowledge (through the L1 where necessary).
- Modifying instruction to build sufficient redundancy.
- Using graphic organizers to transmit conceptual content.
- Hands-on activities in subjects like Science, Mathematics, and Social Studies.
- Cooperative learning and project work that encourages students to generate new knowledge.
- Creative use of technology as a “cultural amplifier” (e.g., research using CD-ROMs or the web, word processing, data analysis, networking, video creation).
- Integration of reading and writing in various genres.
Key Factors for CLIL Success
Based on the Ikastolas’ experience, four key factors are crucial for successful CLIL implementation:
- CLIL programs must be embraced and promoted by the whole school, not just individual teachers.
- They need support from didactic materials that meet the needs of the students.
- They must emphasize teacher training, as teaching through a foreign language is more than just changing the language of instruction.
- Results need to be evaluated to measure if objectives are met and if the learning benefits justify the resources invested.
2.1 School Project
Implementing a CLIL program requires a school-wide decision, addressing issues such as:
- The academic profile of students in the CLIL program: Is it for all students or only those with good command of the foreign language and/or subject content?
- Will CLIL be carried out by subject teachers or English teachers?
- Which subject will be taught through the foreign language?
- Will the subject be taught only in English, or will the school offer similar content in the school’s usual language of instruction?
If subject teachers implement CLIL, what is the role of the English teacher? Should the school’s English curriculum be modified?
The Ikastolas decided that:
- All students should have access to SSLIC (Social Sciences through a Second Language); therefore, the opportunity to learn Social Sciences through English should be offered to all students regardless of their command of English or Social Sciences.
- SSLIC students should study the same curriculum as if they were studying Social Sciences in Basque.
- The CLIL program should be implemented during Social Science hours (preferably by the Social Science teacher), not during English hours.
- There would be no additional Social Science instruction in Basque; therefore, those contents will only be taught through English.
- SSLIC should develop students’ linguistic competence in English and achieve the objectives of Social Sciences as a school subject.
- English classes would be adapted to support the language needs derived from studying Social Sciences through that language.
2.2 Didactic Materials
The Ikastolas created Social Science didactic materials integrating content and language. They also created materials for English teachers to provide extra support in linguistic structures, skills, and text genres needed for success in Social Sciences.
2.2.1 Creating CLIL Materials for Social Sciences
The starting point was the translation-adaptation of materials created to teach Social Sciences through Basque. This resulted in the textbook Ostadar Social Sciences. The process involved analyzing the original content from linguistic and cognitive perspectives. Activities were created to break down linguistic and cognitive difficulties and facilitate students’ access to the subject content. Linguistic activities were added to help students comprehend and produce Social Science texts. Activities were also created to guide students through the cognitive processes required by the subject, integrating both language and content.