Research and training in CLIL times: meeting practitioners’ needs

Abstract

The widespread implementation of content and language integrated learning (CLIL) across school settings in Europe as an innovative and effective means of improving Foreign Language learning and teaching, has triggered a profusion of academic research on its tenets and rewards. The focus has been on theoretical discussions of CLIL’s ins and outs and few empirical studies on key players’ views regarding its efficacy. A consistent outcome of the latter has been the call made by CLIL practitioners for more guidance in the practical application of this approach. The goal of this study is to encourage a shift of focus from the theoretically-based discussion of this approach to one centred on its practical application. This study is a discussion paper that intends to encourage discussion and research on teacher training to better tackle the methodological concerns of those teachers in CLIL practice. This study concludes that, as a reality, CLIL methodology exists and is not merely a theory.