The term CLIL was first proposed by David Marsh in 1994. At first, this term referred to the process in which academic disciplines or their individual parts were taught in a foreign language. To achieve the ultimate goals of the educational process, a two-pronged goal was set: the study of an academic subject and the simultaneous study of a foreign language. CLIL is not a new form of learning a foreign language or subject – it is an innovative technology that combines many previous techniques (Mahan, 2020). CLIL is a didactic technique that allows students to form linguistic and communicative competencies in a non-native language in the same educational context in which they form and develop general academic knowledge and skills (Feddermann et al., 2021). This approach has a number of specific advantages that contribute to the development of communication skills. The motivation to learn English increases when modeling specific situations at work or in life. Moreover, the main emphasis is not so much on mastering the grammar of a foreign language but on developing students’ communicative abilities.
Students also understand that increasing foreign language communicative competence provides more opportunities to expand and deepen knowledge, satisfying their cognitive interests. The increase in the ability to understand and evaluate the content of a subject, a specific topic with complex terminology, is directly related to how well a student knows a foreign language (Feddermann et al., 2021). That is why teaching methods depend mainly on whether the CLIL teacher of primary education is a linguist or a teacher of a particular discipline unrelated to the theory and methodology of teaching foreign languages (Mahan, 2020). Teachers who are not linguists should have well-developed skills of pedagogical reflection in order to understand what difficulties students may experience in perceiving the material of a discipline studied in a foreign language. They should choose methods and forms of training that contribute to the removal of cognitive load and the development of the necessary language skills and abilities.
The use of authentic materials in the lessons contributes to a deeper immersion in the language environment, makes it possible to compare textbooks in native and English. It also discusses similarities and differences in the presentation of the studied material. This technique allows to train specialists in specific professional fields and specialists who speak foreign languages (Mahan, 2020). Thus, CLIL teachers are changing teaching methods, abandoning traditional lectures to transfer knowledge from the teacher to the trainees. They use active problem-search forms of training organization that promote independent search and understanding of information with subsequent consolidation of knowledge in practical application (Pérez Cañado, 2018). The CLIL methodology is mainly based on interactivity and dialogic, with the help of which knowledge of the subject is acquired, subject and cognitive skills related to its study are developed. This interactive technique allows immersing in studying the subject with foreign language development.
However, with the considerable presence of positive aspects, some problems may arise when introducing this technique into the educational process. The two main ones are the lack of sufficient knowledge of a foreign language teacher in a particular subject and insufficient knowledge of the language of the subject teacher (Martínez Agudo, 2019). The negative aspects include the imperfection of some English textbooks and the insufficient number of training sessions according to the educational program. The application of the methodology makes it difficult for students to have different levels of foreign language proficiency, which can lead to an increase in the academic load and, accordingly, to psychological and psychosomatic problems (Feddermann et al., 2021). The teacher, in turn, also has to face certain requirements: to use a variety of forms and methods of presentation of educational material and organization of educational activities, to take into account the individual abilities of students, and to be in constant creative search.
References
Feddermann, M., Möller, J., & Baumert, J. (2021). Effects of CLIL on second language learning: Disentangling selection, preparation, and CLIL-effects. Learning and Instruction, 74, 101459. Web.
Mahan, K. R. (2020). The comprehending teacher: Scaffolding in content and language integrated learning (CLIL). The Language Learning Journal, 50(1), 74–88. Web.
Martínez Agudo, J. D. D. (2019). The impact of CLIL on English language competence in a monolingual context: A longitudinal perspective. The Language Learning Journal, 48(1), 36–47. Web.
Pérez Cañado, M. L. (2018). CLIL and educational level: A longitudinal study on the impact of CLIL on language outcomes. Porta Linguarum Revista Interuniversitaria de Didáctica de Las Lenguas Extranjeras, 29, 51–70. Web.