GOBIERNO CONSTITUCIONAL DEL ESTADO DE CHIAPAS

SECRETARÍA DE EDUCACIÓN
SUBSECRETARÍA DE EDUCACIÓN ESTATAL
DIRECCIÓN DE EDUCACIÓN SUPERIOR
DEPARTAMENTO DE SERVICIOS ESCOLARES

CLAVE 07PSU0162R RVOE PSU-90/2015

Assignment:

Assignment 1: Material analysis

To pass the subject of:

IV4 Aprendizaje Integrado de Lengua y

Contenidos

Student:
ABRIL MEDINA CRUZ

Subject Advisor:
NORMARELIZ EPINOSA

Corregidora, Querétaro, September 17th, 2022.

INTRODUCTION

Maybe, we can start our analysis by defining what CLIL is. According to the reading:

Content and Language lntegrated Learning (CLIL) refers to any dual-focused educational context in which an additional
language, thus not usually the first language of the learners involved, is used as a medium in the teaching and learning of
non -language content. lt is dual-focused because whereas attention may be predominantly on either subject-specific
content or language, both are always accommodated.

(Marsh, D. 2002. Content and Language Integrated Learning: The European Dimension - Actions, Trends and Foresight
Potential).

' . . . an approach to bilingual education in which both curriculum content (such as science or geography) and English are
taught together. lt differs from simple English-medium education in that the learner is not necessarily expected to have the
English proficiency required to cope with the subject before beginning stud y. Hence it is a means of teaching curriculum
subjects through the medium of a language still being learned, providing the necessary language support alongside the
subject specialism. CLIL can also be regarded the other way around - as a means of teaching English through study of
specialist content. (Graddol D, 2006)

For me:

It refers to teaching subjects such as science, history and geography to students through a foreign language. It‟s a
methodology where students learn a subject and a second language at the same time, not focusing so much in form but in
content.
On the other hand EFL to English being taught in a Non-English speaking country but may also refer to any situation
where English is being taught to a speaker of another language, the focus in this case is in Grammar and Vocabulary.

CLIL EFL
The type of education that allows This type of education is primarily
second language learning by letting language based. Typically, this is an
students follow classes in a second English class for students who do not
language, taught by subject teachers have English as a first language,
Definition who focus on both content and although this can apply to any other
language. language as well of course.
“A foreign language is used as a tool in
the learning of a non-language subject EFL is only English. No subject is
in which both language and the subject taught through English at all. EFL is the
have a joint role” (Marsh 2002) type of a lesson a non-CLIL school
offers to students who want to learn
English as a second language.

Often focuses on survival and social

English (based on Council of Europe‟s
Threshold Level)
Curriculum and Pedagogy Its content centred, the languages are Communicative Language Teaching
used to learn another subject, and at (CLT), Grammar Translation Method
the same time students learn (GTM), and Total Physical Response
languages. It has an intercultural (TPR) were the dominant approaches
understanding, focused on learning used in EFL classrooms.
thinking skills and problem solving.
(Coyle 2007)
Aims Cognition Proficiency in L2
Community and Culture
Content
Communication
Syllabus 4Cs Language skills
Content subject: geography, history, Structural and functional areas of
etc language
Vocabulary
Learning to learn
What is taught? Derived from content subject Generally graded
No structural grading Based around topics of general
CALP (Cognitive Academic Language interest, daily activities and needs,
Proficiency) is the more school-like survival
approach to language; oriented Generally BICS (Basic Interpersonal
 (Cummins 1979) Language Communication Skills) which is
of/for/through learning essentially „everyday English‟; oriented
(Cummins 1979; English for
social/transactional purposes)
Methodology Exposure and acquisition Communicative
Scaffolded learning Structural
Interactive and dialogic Task-based
Little focus on form of language Eclectic
Focus on 4Cs Focus on meaning and form
Context of learning Language and/or subject teacher Language teacher
Few materials readily available Many materials available
Varying amounts of time More standard allocation of time
Issues Takes time from L1 learning at primary Insufficient exposure to FL
level, leaving children unsure in their Meaningfulness of input and interaction
mother tongue (Kirkpatrick, 2009) Learner motivation Learner motivation
Teachers have insufficient L2 Insufficient classroom interaction
proficiency (Ibrahim, Gill, Nambiar, Hua Level of language processing
2009) (Perez- Vid l 2009)
Weaker learners are disadvantaged
(Clegg, 2009)
Conclusion

My personal conclusions are that both ways of learning English are equally necessary, giving the example that in our
language we learn different subjects as in CLIL, not focused on the form but on the content. But we also take the subject
of Spanish and spelling, where the emphasis is on the form, tenses, structures, vocabulary, on how to write properly,
which would be similar to EFL.

In my experience, I consider that implementing a CLIL in a school in Mexico is quite complicated because English
teachers are not, for the most part, trained to teach another subject such as Natural Sciences or Geography; especially
when we talk about levels like middle school or high school; where you really need to master the topic or subject and also
the vocabulary of the subject. For me, teaching Healthy life has been very disappointing, because I don't feel qualified to
teach a subject that I completely don't know. So, I think we should put the situation on a scale, what is more important?
Learning English or learn the subject well? I was left with the following sentence:

…. there is a potentially large downside to it. In many countries they just don't seem to be equipped to implement CLIL.

When it works, it works extraordinarily well, but it is actually quite difficult to do well.

My feeling is that it may actually take 30 or 40 years for a country to really pull this one off.

(David Gradoll, 2005)

REFERENCES

Spratt, Mary. CLIL and EFL Side by side, Lisbon, November 2009 (pages 2-15)

Universidad IEXPRO. (n.d.). Content and Language Integrated Learning. Chapter 2. Defining CLIL (pages 11-20)