Content-Based Instruction/

Content Language Integrated Learning

Hope you enjoyed watching those short introductory videos by Professor Marsh. During his interview, he mentions "bad teaching" and "bad teaching through another language". Well, that happens because not all instruction through a language other than the native language is CLIL. Regarding this, I would like to make distinctions among some of the terms used in the applied linguistics field that refer to a teaching approach similar to CLIL and give a little background information to help you clarify these concepts: 1) Content-Based Instruction (CBI); 2) English Medium Instruction (EMI); and finally, Content-Language Integrated Instruction (CLIL).

Now, do you feel more familiar with these concepts? In the literature, I found a pretty comprehensive list of definitions given by multiple scholars about each of these terms (Brown & Bradford, 2017). I would like to share them with you to see some commonalities within those definitions. In that manner, you will be able to form a definition of your own. My colleagues and I did the same thing in a workshop I led in 2023, which was very helpful. 

Were those definitions helpful? If not, let me show you a diagram that I created after consulting multiple sources regarding these terms. Many scholars have many different views on how they see EMI, CLIL, and CBI. Below, the diagram is how I understand each of them. So, no judging!

Perhaps, you are one of those teachers in the world who heard of this teaching approach, but still hesitating to use it in their own teaching context. Many teachers do hesitate because they don't know how to successfully integrate content and language. Fear not! I prepared some very useful resources for you to check out. Below, you will find Dr. Do Coyle (a colleague of Dr. Marsh--the one you met earlier at the beginning of this page), another of the prominent CLIL scholars, talking about the indispensable elements for a CLIL course to thrive. Enjoy!

Professor Do Coyle looks very passionate. These videos are from three different interviews (including the additional video), but in each one of them, she is enthusiastic about what she's sharing with the audience. She never mentions enthusiasm as one of the core elements, but I think it is. It would not be one of the CLIL principles, but it should be one for being a good teacher in general.  In sum, the diagram below shows how the 4 Cs interact within a language learning framework.

In the video "What are the principles of CLIL?", Dr. Coyle mentions several important concepts that need to be further explored. The first thing is the concept of deep learning, which cannot be understood without understanding what she calls languaging. Languaging is part of a conceptual framework called Language Triptych, which comprises language of learning, language for learning, and language through learning. 

Whew! That was a lot to take in, right? There's just one more piece of information that I'd like to share with you before I move on to the lesson plan part. Professor Coyle very briefly mentions that all concepts need to be analyzed. This analysis helps teachers figure out what aspects of language their learners would need to successfully learn the content (subject area) being taught in L2. Also, it enables teachers to effectively engage their learners in the learning process. In the next section below, I will talk about how this analysis can help teachers in their teaching. (HINT: it has to do with Cognition of the 4Cs Framework!)

So far, I have shared the theory part of CLIL. Now, it's time for you to glimpse a little bit of a CLIL course! 

In brief, the language I'll be teaching is English, and the proficiency level of my students is set to be intermediate+ because I usually work with intermediate to advanced English learners at a college level. I chose music to be my content, given my expertise. These are the context of my CLIL unit plan you will see shortly.

SLOs are the first things to consider during the planning stage because they allow teachers to set skills and language necessary for their students to have within a given period of time. A typical SLO section starts with "By the end of the lesson/class period/unit, Students Will Be Able To" (SWBAT). With clear SWBAT statements, teachers can measure their students' learning progress. Now, if we are planning on having a CLIL lesson, we need to have two different sets of SLOs: 1) content objectives; and 2) language objectives. Below is a screenshot of my music unit plan in which I decided to teach scales. 

After introducing the concept of intervals, semitones, and tones, I will finally introduce music scales. This time, I decided not to tell them directly what scales are. Rather, I will have my students figure out what I want them to see. I often use this technique in my classroom because it is an excellent way to bring their attention to the lesson and stimulate their mind--just like solving a riddle! The three images above are different patterns. Patterns are everywhere in our lives. I am using this fact to help my students that music also has patterns, and scales are just one type of pattern in the world. After activating their schema with these visual aids--everyday examples, I will revisit the definition of scales in the reading. Up to this point, students would still be engaged in lower-order thinking because everything I tell them is new. Let us not overwhelm them with too many demands at once! 

It was quite a long journey from the beginning until the end. However, I believe it was worth your time because CLIL/CBI has potential! If you have any questions or concerns about this teaching approach, please feel free to contact me. You can use the Contact Me page to share your ideas. I look forward to hearing from many of you!