CLIL in Latin America: Colombia and Mexico two study cases

Exist tens of bilingual education programs that are under the umbrella of Content
term of Content Language Integrated Learning (CLIL). There is an
extraordinary spread of English throughout the world in recent years has
resulted in its major role and high prestige in the academic, cultural, and
political landscape of a growing number of countries (Kaufman& Crandall, 2005).
Content and language integrated learning (CLIL) is a teaching approach that is
growing in popularity in Latin America. It mixes content and language teaching.
The integrated-skill Approach exposes English language learners to genuine
language and challenges them to interact naturally in the language. Integrating the
language skills also encourages the learning of real content, not just the
segmentation of language forms.

Teaching an effective content requires pedagogical considerations different from
those that are used in L1 instruction, as there are new challenges in the process of
delivery of content material such as the production and assimilation of information
and the ability to communicate with the language in another context outside of the
classroom.

CLIL offers teachers the possibility a variety of possibilities so that, it allows them to use
some approaches in order to integrate content and language. Unlike some English
programs that privilege content learning without having formal language learning
objectives which leaves it up to the teacher to adopt the appropriate method and
sometimes the contents as well.

Moreover, sociolinguistics contexts gives a poor perspective due to some teachers master
their own subjects but they lack of appropriate training in teaching them into a target
language. In some contexts, there are not enough resources to train subject teachers to
be more language-aware or the opposite, to train language teachers in subject areas.



Dr. Coyle of Nottingham University considers four important dimensions or focuses of the
curriculum for CLIL practice that are important in the implementation of CLIL.
The integration of these steps can help us to achieve the goals in the practice of CLIL with
our students in class: (Funiber material, pg 35). Some other problems are mentioned in
respect to CLIL method but they may or not be valid but all of them can be solve and
improve through the good practice and use of CLIL. These problems are: (Funiber
material, page 66 and 67)

The Trojan horse: CLIL seems to be used for politic-linguistic purposes, but disguised as a
pedagogical philosophy. It means that English is introduced as an unwanted language in
the design of the curriculum. But CLIL can be applied taking into account the context and
will be suitable into a particular school context as well. Thus, the Trojan Horse argument
isnt totally valid once CLIL doesnt expect to squeeze out any unwanted language but
offer the chance to teach relevant content through the use of a relevant language,
expanding students knowledge.


Export: It states that CLIL is not exportable because CLIL is still too varied, too diffuse.

English teachers: Nevertheless, the reluctance that the concept has caused about that all
teachers are language teachers, the benefits involved in using a CLIL approach can be
seen in cultural awareness, internationalism, language competence preparing for both
studying and the working life as well as increased motivation (Marsh, 2002).

Backsliding: It says that students learn concepts superficially and they do not pick up new
concepts in their mother tongue.

Culture: It refers to some curriculum that could be iconic and should only be learned in
L1, for example study the Spanish history in English, in Spain seems absurd.

Training: It says that possibly there are not enough resources around the world to train
subjects teachers to be more language aware.

Transfer: It asks if transfer across the languages really take place as smoothly as CLIL
supporters claim?

Materials: It states that the mere translation of home materials into English is insufficient
because it needs adaptation when it is taught in L2.

Assessment: There are here some questions like: How do you test and assess CLIL
students? What do we test content, language or skills?

In spite of these problems mentioned I really think CLIL will be implemented in the future in
schools, language institutions and universities as part of the globalization and technology
changes.

Content: (progression in knowledge, skills and understanding related to specific elements
of the curriculum)
Communication: ( Using language to learn/learning to use language.)
Cognition (Thinking skills which link concept formation (abstract and concrete),
understanding and language processing)
Culture: ( Develop intercultural communication skills in a wider cultural context. )

The matter is how the integration or isolation of skills are not two opposite sides in
language teaching, but rather complementary and inclusive ones. The exercise of
integrate the skills vary according the classroom needs, so only in the teachers hands lie
the possibility of combine these different degrees to engage students with activities that
foster their awareness and ability in one skill or another or in all of them.

Although it is true that the use of CLIL need trained teachers, it is also important to
emphasize that there are many advantages offered, among them are:
CLIL is based on language acquisition, and could be a good deal of conscious
learning is involved, demanding skills from the subject teacher.
Prepare for future studies and / or working life, the rapid technological change and
post industial requirement are employing more qualifying workers with new skills
continuously.
Develop multilingual interests and attitudes
Increase learner motivation.


Likewise, CLIL requires materials adaptation, especially language adaptation when it
comes to teach content in the L2. The choice of appropriate resources is an important
decision to keep learners motivated and engaged. Resources need to be suitable for the
learner or group of learners, for the context in which they are learning and for their level.
CLIL provide opportunities to study content through different perspectives in a sequenced
way. Students can have access to subject-specific target language terminology and get
prepared for future studies abroad. There is also an emphasis on the learning dimension,
that is, CLIL aims to help learners to complement and work on their individual learning
strategies, increasing learner motivation.
I really believe that CLIL is the approach for the future and it will lead students to learn
languages better, considering that current language teaching appears to lack conceptual
authenticity and depth. CLIL will let that students understand the content, the teacher will
reduce-talk time, it will increase the focus on skills allowing students to learn language
items that are always contextualized in a very effective way.
In my country Colombia at the moment we are working with the implementation of
Colombia Bilingue Plan by the Ministry of Education. English is taught as a second
language having students more opportunities to use the language in / out of schools
contexts, in Colombia it is taught as a foreign language and the possibilities of using
English in other contexts outside of the school are minimal.
My particular teaching context is a group of students of sixth, fifth and fourth semesters at
a university in Bogota, Colombia. In my country CLIL is a very young method in which
educational policies, institutions and teachers are starting to take a glance over it, and very
soon it will be applied in schools and universities. There are some universities that work
with CLIL methodologies through team preparation, but it is really beginning. Even though
it applies to all levels of age and education, from primary to secondary, from vocational to
academic, and it improves the learner autonomy, it is not the same with teachers, because
we need to be
willing and able to take a different perspective and attitude, searching for those ways of
learning and to keep motivation high.

But it is important to train teachers to have a proficiency level of subjects and contents to
be taught. Not only the English language. We need to improve The use of innovative
methods, materials and e-learning,
However, there are some bilingual schools and universities that have implemented CLIL
some years ago. In the university where I work sixth semester students take most of the
subjects in English, they take English class, marketing in English, economy in English,
protocol in English and some few in Spanish. Unfortunately, students at run state schools
do not have basic levels of English, and I think this process must begin for all students
since the primary levels in which children can deal with easier cognitive tasks and use the
language learned.
The eventual problems with CLIL can be solved through the use and practice of this
method. So, it is important to bear in mind that certain adaptations need to be
implemented in order to work and apply this method successfully. It requires teacher
preparation and curriculum careful planning. CLIL is now spreading all over the world and
educators have a clear understanding of the advantages of this type of education.

Kaufman, D. & Crandall, J. A. (eds.) (2005). Content-based instruction in elementary and secondary
school settings. Alexandria, VA: TESOL.