Page 15 - ELG1810 Oct Issue 461

CLIL SPECIAL

Is the world

switching to Clil?

EL Gazette editor in chief Melanie Butler looks at the spread
of Clil across the world and asks what could we be doing better?

s this edition of the EL Gazette goes to press, the the deal read Matt Salusbury’s in-depth report on page 23.
government of Taiwan announced plans to create over If you want to see what is on offer, you can find a listing of courses in
700 bilingual schools (see page 23). Even the British have the UK and Ireland by turning to pages 18-20.
Alaunched a research study to measure the effect of using Clil So, Clil marches ever onward. But will it become the universal norm
methodology, developed in the Netherlands, with migrant children in in education? Xavier Gisbert, founding father of Madrid Clil and social
the UK. media superstar, hopes not.
British educational research tends to focus on a single question: He set Twitter alight recently by tweeting that an education system
what is the impact of a particular methodology on student outcomes made up entirely of bilingual schools was a terrible idea. There should
and, in particular, on the outcomes for at-risk children who, always, he argues, be choice.
for demographic or developmental reasons, are less likely to do But until we have solid, empirical data, granular enough to show us
well in school? the results by differentiated groups of learners, that
This is a question that European Clil has been a little slow in still leaves one question:
answering, particularly when it comes to the impact of the method on How do parents know which children will benefit
outcomes in academic subjects. most by choosing bilingual schools?
The Madrid data, reported in March 2017, was a good start, at least
in terms of overall academic results. But lack of demographic detail MELANIE BUTLER,
only gives us some of the picture. EDITOR IN CHIEF
Are there children whose outcomes will be negatively impacted by
learning academic subjects in a bilingual classroom?
The anti-Clil cavalry scream loudly on Twitter that common
sense tells us all children will be damaged. But for thousands of years
common sense told us the world was flat. Until the data showed us
that, in fact, the world is round.
What we need is data.
When asked about the data on at-risk children, Clil aficionados
tend to start quoting the endless statistics pouring out of the Canadian
French immersion system. But as we show on page 16 Canadian
educational outcomes are pretty unique, particularly when it comes to
at-risk children.
As you will see from the Pisa data on that page poor children in
Canada suffer the lowest educational disadvantage in the world. As
for their migrant children, they are at no disadvantage at all. Their
performance on international tests is exactly the same as their native
speaking peers.
There is no Pisa data on educational outcomes for children with
Special Educational Needs nor on those, such as dyslexics, who have Teacher Training courses
specific difficulties with language processing.
The Canadians tell us that these children, can do well in bilingual Wimbledon School of English
systems as long as they get specialized support. But that support is not
always forthcoming. London
Classroom teachers can do much to help. And Professor Judit
Kormos tells us on page 17 how we can adapt our Clil methodology to Quality Education | Perfect Location
best help children with difficulties to thrive in the Clil classroom.
Of course, student outcomes are not the only things we need Ranked as the Number 1 English Professional, dedicated and
to measure. In Italy, as Letizia Cinganotto tells us on page 24, the language school in the UK highly experienced trainers
research has focused on motivation among teachers and children. The CLIL - Content and Language Teaching with Technology
results are very positive but challenges remain, particularly in the areas Integrated Learning
of teacher workload and training. Teachers’ Refresher courses TKT - Teaching Knowledge Test
In recent years, many European Clil teachers have gone to the Worldwide training Webinar training
English-speaking EU for language and methodology. With Brexit
drawing ever closer, will EU funding still be available for courses Plus online follow-up courses and Erasmus+
in Britain? To book, email: info@wimbledon-school.ac.uk
There is no need to worry. The UK government has guaranteed to T: +44 (0)20 8947 1921 | W: www.wimbledon-school.ac.uk
underwrite the fees for Erasmus teachers for 2019 if Brexit negotiations
go badly and the EU withdraws its funding. To find out the details of
editorial@elgazette.com 15